h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So, I got a shiny new 3-cup Sanyo rice cooker for my birthday several weeks ago (thanks, K!). I love it! But after a few perfect batches of rice, I find that now my rice has been turning out too sticky- it's really starchy. Apparently, the culprit is the water; I guess I'm using too much. But I've been following the rice cooker instructions to the letter.

I normally rinse, but don't soak. It's my understanding that soaking means stickier rice.

What do you all suppose I'm doing wrong?

If it matters- I normally use brown rice or brown basmati rice.

I'm to say i'm not good at all with rice!!I use two minute ,microwave rice,and it's reall quite good,especially the lemon and thyme!!

I've used microwave rice in the past, especially in a pinch.

Tonight's rice turned out perfect. Either I've been misjudging the water, or I've opened it up and peeked at it too much.

To much water cut it down a bit , brown rice is difficult my wife said

We have a 5 cup rice cooker but It's almost time to get a new one , the start button is getting hard to use, we usually put 2 cups of white rice (Grow our own) with half a cup of brown shop bought rice and put the water in for three cups of rice , I like my rice a bit softer ,I am trying to keep a pic record of our rice growing if you want to look but they are back closer to the start http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/dna/h2g2/brunel/F1694533/ext/_auto/-/http://www.flickr.com/photos/21128589@N02/

Oh, Anold, thank you for the link to your photos! I loved them!

And thanks for confirming my "too much water" suspicions. I'll get the hang of it. Thank your wife for all of her advice for me, too.

The Moosewood Cookbook offered this advice:

'DO NOT PEEK! The rice will cook perfectly happily without your attention.'

I guess I'll have to resist the urge to peek in the future, too.

I checked out the Moosewood cookbook, since I'd heard they were vegetarian cookbooks. They're not: cheese, fish, milk...

Well, at least we got a copy from the library rather than buying it. But the "no peeking" advice is good advice: it turned out much better the last couple of times I've made it.

Out of curiosity, what cooker setting would you think should be used to prepare jasmine rice?