KITCHEN PRACTICE 2 — Adding All the Stock at Once
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Chapter: Italian Cookery 8 — Risotto Technique

TASK
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Make a second small batch, this time adding all the stock at once
instead of gradually. Compare the texture against your properly-made
risotto from Kitchen Practice 1.

WHAT TO DO
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1. Make a small second batch, following the same tostatura step as
   Kitchen Practice 1 — soften onion, add rice, toast for 1-2
   minutes.
2. This time, instead of ladling stock in gradually, pour in enough
   hot stock to fully cover the rice all at once.
3. Cover the pan (or leave it uncovered, but don't stir constantly)
   and let it simmer for roughly the same total time as Kitchen
   Practice 1's batch, stirring only occasionally.
4. Taste-test near the end for doneness, the same way as before.
5. Compare the texture directly against your Kitchen Practice 1
   risotto — side by side if you can manage both in the same
   session, or from memory/notes if made separately.

WHAT TO EXPECT
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- The all-at-once batch will likely cook the rice through
  successfully, but the texture should be noticeably different —
  less creamy and cohesive, with the liquid and rice feeling more
  separate rather than bound together into one glossy mass.
- Without the repeated stirring that comes from gradual stock
  additions, less starch gets rubbed loose from the grains and
  worked into the surrounding liquid, so the characteristic creamy
  risotto texture is harder to achieve.
- The result may still taste fine as a rice dish, but it likely
  won't have that distinctive, cohesive risotto consistency the
  gradual method produces.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
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This comparison isolates the "gradual addition plus frequent
stirring" technique as the real driver of risotto's own
characteristic texture, rather than simply "cooking rice in stock."
The repeated cycle of adding a little liquid, stirring, and letting
it absorb is what physically works starch loose from the rice grains
over and over — a mechanical action that a single big pour and a
passive simmer simply can't replicate, no matter how long you cook
it for.