brown rice vs white rice

Brown rice - an environmentally friendlier choice

Brown rice is not only better for you, but it's better for the environment than white rice too.

So what's the difference?

Rice goes through a variety of processes before it's ready for cooking. After harvesting, the seeds are run through a rice huller/husker for milling to remove the outer grain husks. After this process, you're left with brown rice. Nice and simple.

To create white rice, there's added steps. The germ and the inner husk (bran) is removed, the grain is then polished, usually using glucose or talc.

The crazy thing is that these added steps to turn brown rice to white remove nutrients that are sometimes then introduced back in via synthetic sources - this is called fortified white rice. The same type of thing happens in brown bread vs. white bread scenario.

The loss of nutrients is broad and substantial. Plain white rice has far less Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folacin, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron and over dozen other nutrients. Added to that, the dietary fiber contained in white rice is around a quarter of brown rice.

So, brown rice certainly appears to be more healthy, but where does the environmental benefit come from? It's basically down to processing - the less processing of a food, the less energy required. There's also the issue of the synthetic vitamins added back in - produced in laboratories and factories from a variety of chemicals; and these sorts of processes are well known for their negative impact on the environment.

If you're accustomed to white rice, making the switch to brown suddenly can cause a taste bud rebellion - it certainly did for me. It's somewhat of an acquired taste for many people. I suggest adding extra sauces to mask the "wilder" taste of brown rice for a while to allow your tastes to adjust. Once you've acquired a taste for brown rice, it's likely you'll never go back to white.

When you buy rice, because it keeps so well, try and buy in quantity to save on packaging. The rice we buy comes in cloth bags which we've put to very good use after finishing the contents.

Added notes: A couple of readers have pointed out (thanks by the way!) that uncooked brown rice doesn't keep for as long as white rice. Stored in an airtight container, I'm told brown rice will keep fresh for about six months.

Brown rice does take a little longer to cook than white rice, but the time isn't much longer if you pre-soak the rice for a while and cook using the absorption method. This is where you use less water and cover the pot, leaving very little excess water left by the time the rice has cooked - the steam generated using this method also helps speed up the cooking process.

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saving energy when cooking

12 tips for conserving energy when cooking

I was marvelling at how energy efficient my gas camp stove is - 4 pound bottle lasted me 3 weeks - and wondering why the ones in domestic kitchens aren't the same.

Some of the reason is due to the type of gas; but much of the issue is noise - a camp stove is quite noisy compared to a household gas range, but it's this feature that makes it so efficient - the size and number of holes in the burner. It's another example of how we have swapped efficiency for aesthetics to our wallet's and environment's detriment.

We do use a heck of a lot of energy when cooking - think about how long it takes to bring a pot of water to boil on the stove - turned up full blast, it's chewing around 2400 watts per hour. While there may not be noxious fumes pouring out of your kitchen, they are produced elswhere; for example, where your electricity is generated. Coal fired electricity generation is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions; the main culprit causing climate change.

There are some ways to work around the inefficient appliances in our kitchens; here's a few tips

1. Cover up

Where possible, cover up your pots and pans. This will help your food to cook more quickly and generates a higher temperature allowing you to turn down the stove.

2. Taking the heat off

Instead of turning off the stove when the food is done, experiment a little with switching it off just before the food is cooked. An electric frypan can be switched off a minute or two earlier, and oven up to 10 - 20 minutes depending on how well it's insulated and sealed. It may not sound like a huge saving, but particularly with electric stoves, the dollars will add up.

3. Nuke it

Instead of boiling water in a pan; zap it in a microwave instead. In fact, try to use a microwave as much as possible as it will save a stack of electricity.

4. In the raw

What is it with cooking carrots? They taste great uncooked in my opinion; as do many other veggies. Experiment a little more with raw foods. You'll not only save electricity and gas, but nutrients which cooking destroys.

5. Be prepared

I fired up the fry pan tonight and then started slicing and dicing - tch tch; wasted a bit of gas in the process. Always ensure your ingredients are prepared as much as possible for turning on the heat.

6. Slow food

Growing up in the 70's, crock pots were all the rage. These were heavy pots that took ages to cook anything, but cooked at a very low temperature. The idea was to switch it on before you head off to work and by the time you came home, the food was done. Saved power and was delicious too!

7. Hot stuff

Not ready to eat just yet? Instead of having the stove top going to keep it warm, wrap the pot up in a towel - this will help insulate it for quite a while.

8. Splurge on pots and pans

Resist buying cheap pots and pans - they'll cost you more in the long run. A good sturdy, thick walled set will last you a lifetime and while they take a little longer to heat up, the heat distribution is better and they'll also store heat for longer. Glass and ceramic pots and pans are said to be the most efficient, but personally I like heavy steel as I'm a bit of a klutz at times.

9. The right pan for the job

If you can see the heating element or the gas flame is licking a little on the side of the pot or pan, it's too small and much of the heat is being wasted.

10. Keep the door closed

How's your oven door glass looking? It's worth spending the time to keep it clean so you can see in rather than opening the door to check on the food.

11. Drop the pilot

(Apologies to Joan Armatrading). Older gas ovens may have a pilot light that burns 24/7. While it's a small flame, over the period of a day, it uses a lot of gas. Consider switching it off (properly).

12. Water, water everywhere

Only use as much water as you need in a pot. Every extra drop requires more energy to heat and will increase the cooking time.

Observing some or all of the points above won't single handedly save the environment, but when millions of us take these small steps in conserving energy, it certainly adds up!

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