Risotto assistance for a first-timer

JustStarting

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I'm getting ready to make risotto for the first time… and I'm going to make it in the microwave! Yes, as many highly-rated recipes attest, this is totally doable. Most microwave recipes look something like this:

Nuke butter, olive oil, onion and garlic for a few minutes
Add the rice, stir to coat, and nuke for a few more minutes
Add broth (and sometimes wine) and nuke for about 17 minutes, stirring well about halfway through
Stir in Parmesan right before serving

So here are my questions:

1) A significant minority of recipes do NOT include the step of nuking the rice in the butter and seasonings… Should I do this or not? How does it affect the crucial step of getting the starch out of the rice?

2) There's a disturbingly wide range of amounts of liquid that recipes require to be added to 1 cup of rice, from 2.25 cups to 4 cups… What's my best bet?

3) Should it be cooked covered or uncovered? It seems like this should make a big difference!

Answers to any of these questions would be a big help, as would any other helpful hints… Just FYI, I know to get proper rice, and to heat the broth before adding it, but not much else, LOL!
 
Can't help you with that. I don't cook dishes in the microwave. I would never consider doing risotto in one.
 
Can't help you with that. I don't cook dishes in the microwave. I would never consider doing risotto in one.

People said the same thing about polenta... but my microwave polenta is spectacular!

Do you cook risotto? Do you cook the rice in the butter and oil before you add the stock? I don't think that's a microwave-specific question. :)
 
Onions are the first thing that goes in the butter, then the rice (arborio preferred or valencia) gets toasted in the butter and onion. Then hot/warm stock gets added a ladle at a time until absorbed, then repeat stock additions until the risotto is done to your liking. If adding other items like mushroom, they get added about half way through the additions of stock or shrimp are added at the last addition of stock so they aren't over cooked. Overcooked seafood is one of my pet peeves!
The choice of stock depends on the risotto you are making. If we use truffles on a mushroom risotto, they are added when the dish is served. Again, we don't cook dishes in the microwave.
 
I've not cooked risotto in the microwave but I have cooked rice - my thoughts are that cooking Risotto in the microwave isn't such a good idea because the whole point is to add liquid, stir, add liquid, stir and so on, in order to release the starch and achieve a creamy consistency. This would be a bit of a pain if one had to keep taking the bowl in and out of the microwave.

If the idea is to add all the liquid in one go, my thoughts are that you wouldn't get the creamy consistency.

I've absolutely nothing against cooking all sorts of things in the microwave, by the way. I use mine a lot. Its brilliant for making Béchamel sauce, for example.
 
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I'm reminded of a professional cook leading a class we were attending, when someone asked if something the instructor was making could be cooked in the microwave.

"Oh, you can cook just about anything in the microwave - the question is, should you?"
 
"Oh, you can cook just about anything in the microwave - the question is, should you?"

There is a lot of snobbery about microwave cooking. The truth is - its just another kitchen tool and it ain't just for re-heating! Some things work cooked in the microwave, some things don't - just as some things work in a slow-cooker and some things don't.
 
I've not cooked risotto in the microwave but I have cooked rice - my thoughts are that cooking Risotto in the microwave isn't such a good idea because the whole point is to add liquid, stir, add liquid, stir and so on, in order to release the starch and achieve a creamy consistency. This would be a bit of a pain if one had to keep taking the bowl in and out of the microwave.

If the idea is to add all the liquid in one go, my thoughts are that you wouldn't get the creamy consistency.

I've absolutely nothing against cooking all sorts of things in the microwave, by the way. I use mine a lot. Its brilliant for making Béchamel sauce, for example.

As I discovered making polenta in the microwave, you don't need to keep adding liquid and stirring to get starch to release; I add all the liquid at the beginning, stir TWICE, and it comes out creamy and delicious!

Unless all the people making microwave risotto recipes are lying through their teeth and posting photos from food made elsewhere, the starch releases from rice in the same way. I've ordered my rice, so hopefully I'll know soon! :)
 
...meant to add that Chef Ferran Adrià used the microwave in some of his recipes He was the head chef of the elBulli once recognised as the best restaurant in the world.
 
As I discovered making polenta in the microwave, you don't need to keep adding liquid and stirring to get starch to release; I add all the liquid at the beginning, stir TWICE, and it comes out creamy and delicious!

Far as I know, you don't generally keep adding liquid to polenta. I thought it all goes in at the start. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm sure polenta works very well in the microwave.

Good luck with your 'experiment'. Post photos if you can...
 
...meant to add that Chef Ferran Adrià used the microwave in some of his recipes He was the head chef of the elBulli once recognised as the best restaurant in the world.
Jacques Pepin recommends microwaving (streaky) bacon - I'll generally do that if I'm using it as a crumbled topping, but not if I'm eating it outright.

I don't really have any snobbery over the microwave, it's just that when I've used it, it generally underperforms. Baked potatoes in the microwave are a horrible travesty - overcooked ends, undercooked centers.

Scrambled eggs in a microwave are quite good. I don't even use it to reheat much, because the oven/stovetop usually does better (though takes longer). My main use is as a butter melter and milk warmer. :)

OP - good luck with that risotto; I'm interested in seeing/reading about the results.
 
I make it in the pan, pretty much as Craig c says, I would never try it in a microwave, never. However, my daughter makes the best ever microwave rice. It's so fluffy it's unbelievable. So I won't knock your method. What works for you is good. I too use arborio. My daughter uses jasmine rice a lot.

Russ
 
Jacques Pepin recommends microwaving (streaky) bacon - I'll generally do that if I'm using it as a crumbled topping, but not if I'm eating it outright.

I don't really have any snobbery over the microwave, it's just that when I've used it, it generally underperforms. Baked potatoes in the microwave are a horrible travesty - overcooked ends, undercooked centers.

Scrambled eggs in a microwave are quite good. I don't even use it to reheat much, because the oven/stovetop usually does better (though takes longer). My main use is as a butter melter and milk warmer. :)

OP - good luck with that risotto; I'm interested in seeing/reading about the results.

My microwaved potatoes are perfect, potato pricked with fork then light coat of evoo, then zapped twice moving potato around. Must do this again soon.

Russ
 
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