--- title: Cooking Rice in a Coffee Maker Reduces Arsenic Levels description: The method lowers the risk by about half canonical: https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-28T15:05:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:39:18.447Z article:section: Health og:title: This Weird Cooking Method Helps Lower Arsenic Levels in Rice og:description: You'll need one unexpected piece of kitchen equipment og:url: https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a0e4c7b355fd5b2/69885cc5524fc00d14df3c70/rice.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 546858143 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Weird Cooking Method Helps Lower Arsenic Levels in Rice twitter:description: You'll need one unexpected piece of kitchen equipment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a0e4c7b355fd5b2/69885cc5524fc00d14df3c70/rice.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Weird Cooking Method Helps Lower Arsenic Levels in Rice by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 28, 2015 3:05 PM UTC  Steamed Rice Served In Bowl On Table Steamed Rice Served In Bowl On TableAlex Ortega—EyeEm/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 28, 2015 3:05 PM UTC High levels of arsenic can naturally occur in rice, making the food dangerous to consume in too-great quantities. But an unconventional cooking method might help reduce the risk. Researchers knew that the standard method of boiling rice in a pot or rice cooker only fixes the arsenic to the grain. But a different preparation method could wash away some of the dangerous chemical element. So they tried cooking it in a coffee maker, which not only distilled the cooking water (which can also contain arsenic) through the steaming process, but also allowed excess liquid to drip through the filter, removing more arsenic. This method effectively reduced the level of arsenic by about half. The researchers do not expect most people to start cooking their rice in their percolators, but they do hope that the proof encourages manufacturers to develop new rice cookers that operate on the principle. \[[_Scientific American_](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/simple-cooking-method-flushes-arsenic-out-of-rice/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/"},"headline":"This Weird Cooking Method Helps Lower Arsenic Levels in Rice","datePublished":"2015-07-28T15:05:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:39:18.447Z","description":"You'll need one unexpected piece of kitchen equipment","url":"https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","rice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a0e4c7b355fd5b2/69885cc5524fc00d14df3c70/rice.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a0e4c7b355fd5b2/69885cc5524fc00d14df3c70/rice.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"546858143","caption":"546858143","creditText":"Alex Ortega—EyeEm/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3974793/rice-arsenic-coffeemaker-cooking/","name":"This Weird Cooking Method Helps Lower Arsenic Levels in Rice"}}]}] ```