RICE

[kc5tpy]

Hello Folks.  I know we are all about food safety.  I have one issue I can't get a handle on: reheating rice or rice dishes ( no meat involved ).  So I read it isn't about the rice it's about a bacteria and their remains and or droppings; I think!  I read NEVER reheat rice, then I read it is ok to reheat ONCE.  I read that folks think that reheating rice from a take out may be the problem.  You do not know how many times that rice has been reheated.  So what is the consensus?  I have been reheating rice all my life.  Do we reheat it or throw it out?  Confused.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[bbqbrett]

Wow, not sure. I have never heard you were not supposed to reheat rice. I don't eat a lot of rice but would be interested to see what is safe and what isn't.

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello Brett.  Yeah.  It's a big thing.  Most folks have no idea.  I didn't for years.  Hopefully we can get a yea or na on this.  I know folks who go to a Chinese restaurant and will not eat the rice unless they see steam coming off it.  

  BUT!  Even then, has it been reheated?  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[foamheart]

If you serve me reheated rice, chances are I won't be back to eat.

I live in probably the most predominate rice eating american section of the US. Unless you are talking in mass quanities, I would ask why would you re-heat. I throw rice out a couple a times a week. you always cook more than needed. You could make rice pudding with the left overs but here rice is a mainstay not so much a desert food.

Rice is too easy to make. Its the cheapest starch to buy. You can usually taste reheated rice. 

Rice is the fastest of all starches to turn to sugar. Its why it spoils so fast, its why runners and athletes eat it. Its like jet fuel in the human body because of it. What I am saying is, it is the fastest and easiest for the body to convert to food/energy that it can use.

I know, I ramble. Its too easy to make fresh delicious steaming hot rice at very little cost, why would you reheat it? Its abundant, its inexpensive, its simple to make, are ya just lazy?

All that being said, I do immediately freeze soke ziplocs of rice to use with seal a meals (go cups) for my Baby sis to carry off to work. That way she doesn't need to leave the office if busy and still get a good meal, and she can apprecaite some outstanding food I have prepared. LOL  In a ziploc, open the zipper just a wee bit and nuc in the microwave. I don't freeze wet or gooie rice!

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello my friend.  Yeah Kevin; that is sort of what I am talking about.  Rice for the next days lunch at work or something like a Tex-Mex rice that is left over.  Not necessarily just a plain boiled rice.  But even a plain boiled rice.  Taken the next day for lunch at work with a reheated gumbo.  Nuke it and enjoy.  OK! so it ain't WONDERFUL reheated but it some pretty good eats.  Folks say don't reheat rice.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[tropics]

I use left over Rice all the time,it makes a great breakfast dish

Richie

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/235656/garlic-rice

 

[jp61]

As long as they're not moving, you should be fine. 

 

[mr t 59874]

Oh my, have I ever been wrong in using day old rice when preparing fried rice. I will have to blackout that portion in my Asian recipe books. 

Thanks a lot Danny,

T

 

[chef jimmyj]

Rice represents no special concern IF handled like any other potentially hazardous leftover foods. Keep it Hot, Cool quickly and store Cold. My family are huge fans of Fried Rice and one daughter eats it as her primary starch side or even a reheated snack several times a week. We always make much more than needed for a meal. We eat the hot rice with dinner than leftovers are bagged and flattened to no more than 1.5 inches thick and promptly refrigerated at 36°F. One or more of us eat Rice 3-4 times a week and my kids are not about to cook off 1/4C of rice for a snack. We have been following this procedure over 25 years and never once had an issue and my Wife is Immunocompromized from having no Spleen and would be frequently seriously ill if proper cooking, cooling, cold storage and reheating Rice was the slightest issue. The only possible problem is reheating Take-out Rice as you have no way to know how it was handled prior to you getting it. To date, I have yet to have an issue with even Take-out Rice as I would not eat Rice that was not very Hot and leftover portions here are refrigerated within 30 minutes of receiving the Order...JJ

 

[mr t 59874]

Whew, thanks JJ, you saved me a lot of ink.  

T

 

[tbrtt1]

Wow, surprised to hear Foamy is a no go on reheated rice. I am also from Louisiana and rice is by far the main staple starch. I grew up eating rice at least 5 days a week. I have reheated rice so many times its not funny. BTW, the doctors say my extra toes are not from reheated rice (just kidding)

And as Mr. T mentioned, I have never seen a recipe for fried rice that does not involve cold rice. Even in Chinese restaurants. Heck sushi is cooled rice and some sushi rolls are then battered and fried (OK, so we fry a lot of food in Louisiana, even Sushi!)

 

[HalfSmoked]

Man I thought I was going to see my last

I have always heated left over rice dishes.

 

[smokin monkey]

JJ has answered the same way I would, cool it quickly once cooked, the store cool.

When I was a Bachelor (those were the days!) I would cook batches of rice to freeze into meal sized portions then simply reheat in the microwave.

 

[bbqbrett]

As long as they're not moving, you should be fine. 

Oh man that made me laugh! Thumbs Up

 

[gearjammer]

I've done this all my life and never even thought about it.

I learn many things here all the time.

But if most folks seem to be getting off with it, I guess I'm okay.

Glad to see this kind of discussion though.

                      Ed

 

[venture]

I'm not sure how safe it is?

Judging from the population of the orient, it might cause babies?

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey Danny.  I've been eating reheated rice all my life.  Miss Linda and I always make twice as much Jasmin Rice as we need for a meal.  The left over rice is put in the fridge and nuked for supper the next day.  So far, so good.

Gary

 

[wade]

Yes you can reheat rice but the important thing is how it has been stored between the cooking and re-heating...

The problem with rice is that it can contain spores of Bacillus Cereus which are not killed at 100 C (212 F). Under its ideal growing conditions (28 -30 C, 82 - 86 F) the spores will rapidly produce heat resistant toxins and to avoid this they must be either kept chilled below 4 C (40 F) or is kept hot above 48 C (120 F). 

The period when the rice is at its greatest risk is that time after you have finished eating your take-away and have had a few beers and you have left the rice on the table at room temperature for several hours (or even overnight) before then either eating it or putting it in the fridge. The dishes that provide the highest risk of B. Cereus poisoning are those rice based salads that you find at buffet parties that can often sit on the table at room temperature for hours before then being put in the fridge for finishing off the following day..

Not all strains of B. Cereus lead to food related illness in humans however of the ones that do there are two distinct types. After eating they can produce vomiting between 30 minutes to 6 hours and/or diarrhea and abdominal cramps between 6-15 hours. The illness is not usually severe though and only lasts for about 24 hours.

Unfortunately once the toxins have been produced, simply re-heating of the rice (e.g. in a stir fry the next day) will not usually destroy them.

The UK NHS provides the following advice on serving rice safely..

• Ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked
• If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour)
• Keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating
• When you reheat any rice, always check that the dish is steaming hot all the way through
• Do not reheat rice more than once

The USA Foodsafety.gov gives the following advice on avoiding illness from B. Cereus in food...

• If food is to be stored longer than two hours, keep hot foods hot (over 140°F) and cold foods cold (40°F or under).
• Store cooked food in a wide, shallow container and refrigerate as soon as possible.

 

[jeffinn]

Like many here, I've been reheating rice for years and have never had a problem. I guess I'm just lucky.

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello folks.  I have always reheated rice.  Wade has a handle on what I'm talkin about; as does JJ.  The reason I ask was that I was planning a rice dish for a large gathering but it had to be done a day or 2 before.  The last thing I want is to get anyone sick.

I see "chefs" saying used left over rice to make fried rice on the food channel.

So are we in agreement that so long as it is cooled quickly and kept refrigerated and then heated properly the dish should be ok?  Keep Smokin!

Danny