Reheating rice

[articul8]

I read somewhere that cooked rice can harbour a lot of bacteria and stuff

- so can you safely reheat rice? What's the best way without it going dry or hard?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

If you're seriously planning on doing this, can I have your stereo?

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

i have regularly eaten reheated rice and been ok but yes reheated rice is notorious for food poisoning

especially takeaway rice which may well have been hanging around for a while before you got it

 

[dwenfish]

the most oft repeated thread on here? anyway it will proceed as follows: 17 people will tell you it's fine and then pogofish will come along and detail his horrific near death rice poisoning experience in gruesome detail, then lots more people will say it's fine. the end.

 

[ymu]

Pogofish's "reheating rice: will I die" thread-detector has gone off and he will be along shortly to repeat himself on yet another thread on the topic.

/public service announcement

 

[bi0boy]

If you put even warm rice back into the microwave for as little as 20 seconds, the extra heat can cause Necrobatci Asperillus spores to germinate.

These can then sprout in your intestines, releasing Plasmotoxia residues that can cause liver failure.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

This really is a popular thread subject isnt it. I think reheating rice should have its own forum.

PS. I leave rice overnight all the time and have it the next day (often without reheating) and Ive never been ill.

 

[High Voltage]

so how does the stuff you get from the supermarkets differ then??
The part cooked egg fried rice that you finish off in the microwave.

 

[Geri]

I think it can be safely reheated if it has been cooled quickly and put in the fridge straight away.

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamcooking/#A220063

The above link says it should be cooled and in the fridge within one hour, and reheated no longer than 24 hours later.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I always forget to put mine in the fridge.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

 

[madzone]

so how does the stuff you get from the supermarkets differ then??
The part cooked egg fried rice that you finish off in the microwave.

Yeah, I was thinking just that last night. I had one of those supermarket curry deal things and was wondering how the pilau rice was 'safe'.

In fact I'm going to have the leftovers for breakfast, which probably isn't safe

 

[ymu]

Supermarket ready-meals would probably be safer than any other reheated rice, if you chuck the leftovers in the fridge reasonably quickly. Food factories are under a lot more scrutiny than yer average takeaway, because the numbers of people they can poison is much larger. Plus they have no reason to leave warm rice sitting around - they refrigerate their stuff as soon as is physically possible.

 

[dessiato]

fry it, it works and kills the bugs.

 

[High Voltage]

Thinking through, they'll part cook and then run it through a blast chiller to cool it very quickly indeed. Then into a controlled chilled supply chain which only goes wrong after it's been bought and taken home.

 

[ymu]

fry it, it works and kills the bugs.

Link? The toxins are not destroyed by heat - hence the particular problem with rice. If frying does something else that does destroy them, that's great - but a proper reference would be in order.

 

[blues]

I always cook more rice than I need, freeze the additional amounts and nuke or stir fry from frozen when I want them.

I've frozen takeaway egg/special fried rice too.

I'm still here

 

[quimcunx]

This really is a popular thread subject isnt it. I think reheating rice should have its own forum.

PS. I leave rice overnight all the time and have it the next day (often without reheating) and Ive never been ill.

Yet....



I think the thing here is you will probably be fine but if it does go wrong, it will go very wrong indeed and you may live to regret it.

 

[dessiato]

fry it, it works and kills the bugs.

Link? The toxins are not destroyed by heat - hence the particular problem with rice. If frying does something else that does destroy them, that's great - but a proper reference would be in order.

I don't have a link. I am assuming that the rice has been properly cooled and kept in a fridge. I am also relying on my wife's twenty years of food microbiology research as a source of advice.

 

[_pH_]

oh noes! this thread again!

 

[softybabe]

(((rice)))

 

[pigtails]

if it does go wrong, it will go very wrong indeed and you may live to regret it.

or die a slow and painful death

 

[Sunray]

Rice is great for growing stuff on, magic mushrooms and the like. Its one of those food stuffs that bacteria love. The botulism strain is one of them and the poison it makes is resistant to cooking. Still is pretty rare.

I keep if for no more than 2 days and cover it the second its out if I am going to store it in the fridge. Its got positive pressure from the heat so nothing is likely to land on it. Only really use it for stir fry rice. Its not like rice takes long to make.

 

[pogofish]

Pogofish's "reheating rice: will I die" thread-detector has gone off and he will be along shortly to repeat himself on yet another thread on the topic.

/public service announcement

No, I'll suggest the OP uses a couple of braincells and tries a search.

Either way, idiot!

They should also bear in mind that eating too much rice increases your risk of significant exposure to toxic heavy metals as well - Arsenic in particular - We are working on that one just now.

 

[Callie]

I don't have a link. I am assuming that the rice has been properly cooled and kept in a fridge. I am also relying on my wife's twenty years of food microbiology research as a source of advice.

So she thinks Bacillus cereus isn't an issue? and that cooking destroys the heat labile toxins it produces?


quite frankly if that is the case!! Are you sure she's not just saying the risk is quite small rather than frying it resolves the problem?

 

[pogofish]

fry it, it works and kills the bugs.

And leaves the bacterial byproduct untouched - Which can actually be worse than the bugs themselves.

The two prime contaminants for rice leave amongst the worst secondary toxins as well.

 

[pogofish]

so how does the stuff you get from the supermarkets differ then??
The part cooked egg fried rice that you finish off in the microwave.

Fast cooking, chilling and packaging in an inert gas that inhibits growth mainly.

 

[Callie]

Fast cooking, chilling and packaging in an inert gas that inhibits growth mainly.

I would imagine there is some kind of deadly spore lazer involved too.

or irradiation or something, cos processed food is exactly processed to buggery to greatly reduce the risk of anything like food poisoning occuring.

 

[pogofish]

Nah - Irradiation is unnacceptable for cooked rice. It causes significant shrinkage and a change in the texture that most consumers find unpleasant.

They have to pre-treat it with an expensive and time consuming sugar/glycene process to avoid this, so it only happens in a few brands IIRC.

 

[laptop]

So she thinks Bacillus cereus isn't an issue? and that cooking destroys the heat labile toxins it produces?

She certainly should be aware that the heat-labile toxins are the ones that cooking (thoroughly) will destroy.