How much salt to add to rice?

[crankin]

If I am making 4 portions of rice (1 cup uncooked) and using water (I have no broth), about how much salt should I add with the rice when cooking to season it?

 

[Andy M.]

Enough to make it taste good.

 

[taxlady]

For one or two cups of uncooked rice, I use 1/4 tsp of salt. I use it because if I don't, the rice gets a bit sticky.

Salt for flavour can be added by each person.

 

[BoracayB]

I have watched my wife make rice twice a day every day for 6 years and she has never put salt in the water to cook rice.
But I guess it might make a difference if the rice is not new.

 

[pacanis]

Salt in rice?
I've never salted my rice either. Not that I see anything wrong with that.

 

[menumaker]

I add about 1/2 teaspoon per pt of liquid. Sometimes after draining it's nice to add a knob of salted butter as well but that's a matter of taste

 

[msmofet]

I add 1/4 tsp salt to my rice. I usually make 4 servings.

 

[MrsLMB]

I've never put salt in my rice when cooking .. each person can season to taste when it's done. I've never had a problem with it cooking, being too sticky or dry due to no salt.

 

[puffin3]

I've used my little Black and Decker rice cooker two or three times a week for the last few years. I've never added any salt. Never had a batch that was anything but perfectly cooked.

 

[taxlady]

I have watched my wife make rice twice a day every day for 6 years and she has never put salt in the water to cook rice.
But I guess it might make a difference if the rice is not new.

That might be it. I almost always cook brown basmati rice. Basmati is usually aged.

 

[Snip 13]

I always add salt to my water. 1 tsp of sea salt for 2 cups of raw rice. I always fill the water till it's half a thumb lenght above the rice. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 mins. Cover with the lid and switch the stove off. Then it steams till it's done. Perfect rice every time! The way my grandmother taught me.
I rinse my rice well before cooking too.

 

[msmofet]

I always add salt to my water. 1 tsp of sea salt for 2 cups of raw rice. I always fill the water till it's half a thumb lenght above the rice. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 mins. Cover with the lid and switch the stove off. Then it steams till it's done. Perfect rice every time! The way my grandmother taught me.
I rinse my rice well before cooking too.

My mom made rice that way except she never rinced the rice.

 

[Snip 13]

My mom made rice that way except she never rinced the rice.

Sometimes the old fashioned way is best!
I always stir fudge in the figure 8 too A lot of my Gran's ways stuck.

 

[roadfix]

I never add salt, regardless of whether short or long grain.
But my wife, OTOH, sometimes sneaks a pinch of salt into the cooker when I'm not looking. Doesn't seem to make much difference, at least to me, one way or other.

 

[GotGarlic]

I would guess I use a half teaspoon or so per cup of raw rice - a couple of pinches. I don't think it has any effect on cooking, but it seasons the rice itself, like salting pasta water, which tastes different than surface seasoning.

 

[msmofet]

I would guess I use a half teaspoon or so per cup of raw rice - a couple of pinches. I don't think it has any effect on cooking, but it seasons the rice itself, like salting pasta water, which tastes different than surface seasoning.

YUP!! Gotta salt rice, pasta and potatoes while cooking THEN adjust and correct after if needed. Just salting after just doesn't taste the same.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

The correct answer is none. If you want it salty after it's cooked, hit it with a shot of soy sauce, or a little Nước Mắm.

 

[salt and pepper]

Skip the salt and use chicken or beef stock. If you must use salt, 1/2 tsp per cup will be fine if using 2 cups just use 3/4 tsp. I would not double it.

 

[BoracayB]

That might be it. I almost always cook brown basmati rice. Basmati is usually aged.

I love basmati rice. Especially the smell while it's cooking. yum

 

[puffin3]

YUP!! Gotta salt rice, pasta and potatoes while cooking THEN adjust and correct after if needed. Just salting after just doesn't taste the same.

Salt was added to pasta water a long long time ago when the pasta was always fresh made. The salt helped keep the pasta firm rather than falling apart in the boiling water. Back then people where paid wages in salt so it was used very sparingly I imagine. That pasta water was used somehow later I think.
There are as many opinion about what salt does and doesn't do when cooking rice as there are rice eaters. It would seem logical that salt added to rice when cooking would add some salty flavor to the rice but that could be accomplished by the person just before eating it. Anyway. I don't add it to the rice cooker.