# Should doubling rice change cooking time?



## phoebe (Jul 3, 2002)

Hello Old Friends! It's been awhile.

I use the recipe for Paella from _Cook's Illustrated_ and it works well. I doubled it for a dinner party, but it took a lot longer for the rice to cook! Needless to say, this threw the timing off for dinner in a big way. Thus my question: should doubling the amount of rice change the cooking time? I doubled the liquid (and all the other ingredients). When I've Googled a similar question, the answers were: yes, no, maybe. So I'm back "home" asking people I trust. Any thoughts?


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

The time will increase simply because you are using the same BTU of burner and have a larger mass of food to be heated.

It should not take a huge increase in time though - average is probably 15%-25% longer.

My first guess as to why it took so long is because you didn't use a large enough Paella Pan, therefore the depth of rice to water level was thrown off.

I don't have access to the recipe you mentioned so it's just a guess.

(maybe explain the techniques to get a more accurate idea)


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## phoebe (Jul 3, 2002)

Thanks for responding MichaelGA.  I'm using a Le Creuset Dutch oven instead of a Paella pan.  At the point where the pot is covered, it is put into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, until almost all the liquid is absorbed.  Then the shrimp and bell peppers and peas are added.  The pot is covered and put back in for about 10-12 minutes.  The original recipe calls for 2 cups Valencia rice to 3 cups chicken broth.  There is also 1/3 up white wine.  This ratio worked perfectly well.  But doubling is when I ran into timing problems.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

If you were cooking on the stove top instead of in the oven, the times for different quantities of rice would be the same -- at least once the liquid had come to the boil.    But because you're cooking in a covered pot in the oven, different masses of rice and liquid will make a significant difference in the total time needed for the rice to fully absorb the liquid.

Without expressing any criticism of your method, your dish is an "arroz" but not "paella."  Paella is more a technique than a set of ingredients.  Consequently, for timing and quantity guidelines you might want to look at something more similar to what you're doing; "arroz con pollo" for instance.

BDL


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