Do you wash quinoa before cooking?

I just took a quick glance at Google instructions for cooking quinoa and don’t see any of them saying you need to wash it.

If you did want to wash it, use a strainer.

It’s not much different to washing rice, swoosh it around and drain carefully.
I wash quinoa to get dust off and any non-quinoa plant bits that came along for the ride.
Often I will also soak the quinoa before cooking as I always do with rice, this activates useful enzymes, but reduce the cooking time if you soak.

According to me rinsing removes quinoa’s natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste bitter or soapy. Although boxed quinoa is often pre-rinsed, it doesn’t hurt to give the seeds an additional rinse at home

I’ve not cooked it a lot, but when I did, I did not wash it.

Imagine trying to sort it, like beans.
Nevermind, I never sort beans, either.

Yes. It tastes weird (bitter) if you don’t.

Yes I do and for the reason @elielina456 gave. I soak it for 15 mins or so and use a strainer during the final rinse.

I cook nearly every day, and I don’t have nearly enough time to wash quinoa before cooking. Nor do I have enough quinoa to wash that frequently, either. (And where would I hang it to dry afterward, and with what kind of pins on what kind of line?) Not to mention that I only cook quinoa about once a month or less…

But when I cook quinoa… I don’t wash it then, either. Quinoa dust. Yeah, I’m terrified of quinoa dust. The thought of it keeps me up at night…

Unless pre-washed, yes, quinoa should be rinsed before using it in cooking. The outer layer may contain saponins, which can be toxic. I’ve only cooked it once and used a wire mesh sieve for rinsing during prep.

It’s a grain that very likely has traveled a long way through many situations and hands. Of course you wash it—even if the package says that it has been pre-washed. You don’t know what has happened since pre-washing, or that a bribe may have been paid somewhere along the line in a less regulated environment than your own in order to save in production costs. The Chinese, for instance, are notorious for that. Just check their honey products. It’s disgusting.

So, you don’t know. Use the method @Pied_Pfeffer above describes. Wash your rice, all your dried beans and any grain where it is practicable, as well. Kinwa has the added problem, like many stored grains, of growing live mold on it’s surface after it has been harvested—live mold that contain steroids These may be beneficial—which may explain the Incas’ reverence toward this grain—or damaging. You don’t know. You don’t know shit. So, of course you wash it.

Always ask yourself: WWABD? *(What Would Anthony Bourdain Do?)

My wife was on a quinoa kick for awhile. That was a dark time.

OK, it looks like the vote here is to wash/rinse it. The trick is finding an appropriate strainer!

And, @elielina456, welcome to Fluther!

I saw a sprouting jar at Goodwill today for $1. It would be perfect for you washers. Glass jar with a stainless steel mesh top.
I almost wish I’d bought it. I never considered how handy it would be for rinsing or washing small things.

I was going to link to a Google Image of a sprouting jar, but my Google Images are now linked to products for sale. Can I change that somehow?

I wash it in a strainer with small holes like This