Cooking Rice with Fleece: saves fuel and mess

First published on 11/30/17 on firstmatesguide.com  
Cooking rice aboard, especially while underway, used to cause me lots of problems. I hated cleaning up the burnt pots. Serving under-cooked rice embarrassed me. Turning my back just at the moment when the rice water boiled all over the stove drove me nuts. And I always worried we'd be met by a tanker's wake, and everything would go flying. Maybe you've experienced the same.
​   Well, I've found a solution that's not as crazy as it sounds. 
​   I boil the ingredients in the pot for five minutes, and then I wrap everything up in several layers of fleece. In an hour, voila!
​Here's how I do it: ​

HE POT: 
​   Use a pot that's just a little bigger than all the ingredients you be using. It should have a tight fitting lid. If your pot's too big, it will have a tendency to cool off a bit, and your rice might be under cooked. Experiment!

THE FLEECE: 
​   I use 58"-60" wide fleece. I use normal fleece that's found in Joann's. I have not experimented with the ultra insulating fleece, but I'm planning too.  
​   I cut the fleece into 20" lengths. I usually use just two 20"x58" lengths. 
   I fold each in half, so I have two 20"x36" pieces. 
​   I set on piece on the counter in a north/south direction. I lay the other piece on top of it in a east/west direction. It should look like a plus sign (+).

THE CLIPS
   I usually have four or more clips or clothes pins available to batten down the fleece edges after I've wrapped it all around my hot pot.

THE RECIPE
​The recipe's basic ratio:
1 cup long-grained rice (not precooked or instant)T
2 cups water
1 pat of butter to taste (or olive oil)
salt to taste
- Put all the ingredients in your pot. (No need to grease the pan. Nothing will stick.)
- Boil for five minutes.
- Put the lid on tightly.
- Place the pot in center of fleece (at center of the + sign).
- Wrap top layer of fleece around pot.
- Wrap the bottom layer of fleece around pot.
- Secure with clips or clothes pins.
- Set timer for 1 hour.
- After an hour, unwrap and remove the lid. Voila! Your rice is cooked.
Can you keep it wrapped for longer than an hour? Sure.
​Why not give it a try at home before trying it on the boat.

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