This *is* a great thread! Thanks so much everybody for the rice tips and brands and ideas! I am loaded with facts now!

I have tried the Trader Joe's frozen brown rice but they've been out the last 2 times I was there, hence my need to make my own.

I knew there had to be some extra nutritious rices out there and that this was just the place to ask! I will buy and try! The Lundberg Farms and the Lotus Foods Jade rice are next on the list.

I am going to try the oven bake method tonight for dinner!

You might look for the shelf-stable pre-cooked rice. I think it tastes just as good and they tend to run out of that a lot less often (and, as a bonus, it doesn't take up room in your freezer). It should be with the rest of the bagged rice.

I am from south India and rice is staple part of my diet. I steam my brown basmati rice. I measure and add requisite amount of water to the rice and steam it for about 35 minutes. No sticking to the bottom ever.

Sometimes I also use a pressure cooker to cook the rice.

I use a rice cooker. I love the fact that I can set the timer and the rice will be ready when I get home, or shortly there after. I have had good luck with cooking rice on the stove as well, I think the important thing is to use a heavy bottom pot with a tight lid.

Brown rice always takes 45-50 minutes to cook on the stove top (at least for me it does.) This will also vary depending on the elevation of where you live. It may take longer at a higher elevation (and you may need to add more water.)

Lundburg is my favorite brand of domestic rice. I usually buy it in bulk at my local health food store. Nothing beats a good basmati for a nice fragrant pilaf though!

Just wanted to say I tried Photochick's baked brown rice recently and it was very good! I should have frozen what we didn't eat that night. That's what I'll do next time.

another vote for lundenberg farms rice- i love the brown jasmine rice but its hard to find where i live.

i always had a hard time cooking rice until i figured out a couple of things.
1. i never ever use minute rice anymore.
2. i use a liquid measuring cup for the water and a regular measuring cup for the rice- before i'd just use the regular cup and i think it threw off the ratios.
3. the type of rice really seems to make a difference. i have no trouble now with the long grain rice- sometimes i still can't get short grain to come out right.
4. when in doubt- TJ's frozen cooked brown rice really is delish!

now that i finally mastered rice- i just need to figure out why i ruin every single soup i ever try to make. lol.

I buy POSB (plain old store brand) brown rice and use a fully excellent rice cooker I bought in an Asian grocery store. I can't imagine trying to cook brown rice on a stovetop with that cooker around! Viva technology!

Now, I'm not talking about a cheap $20 cooker with a lightweight aluminum pot you see at Wal-mart. Those things are junk - they scortch something fierce, and the only control is an on/off switch. They're practically useless for anything other than plain white rice (which scortches).

If you're going to invest in a rice cooker, sink your money into something of quality. Get a cooker with a HEAVY bowl that uses "fuzzy logic". They'll usually have several different settings including white rice, brown rice, and rice porridge. A timer is nice, and most of these have a "keep warm" feature which kicks in automatically after the cooking cycle is done. I've actually cooked rice in my Sanyo cooker in the evening and forgotten about it - only to find the cooker on "Keep Warm" in the morning - with perfect rice at a safe temperature.

I've also figured out that a rice cooker cooks steel cut oats flawlessly on the porridge setting. They look a bit thin when the lid is opened, but as the bowl cools down, they thicken up beautifully.