How this calculation works
Water assigned to rice absorption is different from water lost to the surroundings. Simply scaling an absorbed-water ratio can miss a fixed-duration evaporation component. This page separates those terms so a measured kitchen experiment can be reconciled.
Initial water budget = dry rice × entered absorption ratio + entered evaporation rate × time + residual free waterA worked example
At 200 g dry rice and 1.5 g/g entered absorption, the absorption term is 300 g water. Two grams per minute over twenty minutes adds forty grams of modeled evaporation. Ten grams residual water gives a 350 g initial budget. Compared with an entered 300 g starting amount, the difference is fifty grams under these supplied assumptions.
Good to know
Entered constant-rate mass budget only; no rice-specific hydration, doneness, cooking instruction or food-safety prediction. Do not transfer a measured rate between very different pots or cooking conditions without justification. The page intentionally keeps those unknowns explicit.
What this calculation answers
Water assigned to rice absorption is different from water lost to the surroundings. Simply scaling an absorbed-water ratio can miss a fixed-duration evaporation component. This page separates those terms so a measured kitchen experiment can be reconciled.
The inputs are your own empirical assumptions. The calculator does not know rice variety, soaking history, lid fit, pot geometry, altitude or heat setting, and it does not supply a recommended cooking ratio.
The Raw to cooked food portion yield calculator scales portions from measured food yield. This page budgets water components and should not add evaporation again to a yield factor that already includes it.
Use the right input conventions
All masses use grams. The absorption input means grams of water assigned to the rice per gram of initially dry rice. It is not a raw-to-cooked food yield ratio that already includes a separate evaporation loss.
Use a comparable measured evaporation rate and duration. Holding that rate constant is a deliberate simplification; a changing simmer or lid opening can make the real loss vary with time. Residual free water is an independently entered end-of-budget term.
Interpret the result
The headline is the sum of absorbed, evaporated and residual water. The comparison subtracts water already entered at the start; a negative difference means the starting amount exceeds this budget. It is not a way to reverse absorption.
A water balance can close while the food is still unsuitable or incorrectly cooked. Texture, doneness, temperature control and food safety are outside this arithmetic model and cannot be inferred from its gram totals.
Work through the example
At 200 g dry rice and 1.5 g/g entered absorption, the absorption term is 300 g water. Two grams per minute over twenty minutes adds forty grams of modeled evaporation.
Ten grams residual water gives a 350 g initial budget. Compared with an entered 300 g starting amount, the difference is fifty grams under these supplied assumptions.
Where the model stops
Entered constant-rate mass budget only; no rice-specific hydration, doneness, cooking instruction or food-safety prediction.
Do not transfer a measured rate between very different pots or cooking conditions without justification. The page intentionally keeps those unknowns explicit.
A few questions, answered
Does this recommend a rice-to-water ratio?
No. The absorption ratio and evaporation rate are supplied observations or assumptions.
Why can a larger batch need a different total ratio?
A time-based evaporation amount does not necessarily scale in proportion to dry rice mass.