Does anyone know if you can freeze cooked rice?

I’ve heard horror stories about some kind of bacteria that grows on rice so you should always eat it within 24 hours of cooking.

You see I love eating rice and make up different concoctions from the contents of my cupboards, usually resulting in vindaloo style rice! I love chilli too!

But back to my point. I’m a very lazy cook and usually can’t be arsed to cook anything but I thought how about freezing rice after it’s cooked. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone doing this and just thought I would ask the question.

So can I freeze it, its always savoury and never has any meet in it?

The answer to your question is ''yes''...... I always cook a large batch of rice up and freeze whatever I am not using cause it bores me to cook rice.

The rice must be cold , run it under a cold tap until cool, bag it in portion sizes and freeze.

The beauty is you do not need to thaw out the rice when you need it ..... put put it straight from freezer to microwave for approx 4 mins depending on the portion size.

Hope this helps, just call me Delia of the forum Ha Ha

Thanks Delia of the forum.

It least I know I’m not going to poison myself :gag:

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Slighty off thread but can you freeze fresh raw mushrooms

yep i do the same as delia- i cook large batches for my dog & re-cook them indiviually whne neede.

I used to steam cook a large batch of rice, place the pan in a sink of cold water to cool, bag into single portions and freeze it. Just microwave to reheat :thumbsup:

I would have thought that you could freeze fresh mushroom as I think they are about 80% water (?), but i have never tried it myself. Give it a go and report back

I would assume that they would be a little mushy but would be ok if you were to add them to something like a curry or stew?

Originally posted by serapis
Thanks bertie749 :clap: :clap: :clap:
Don't you mean "Thanks Delia of the forum".

:D

Well you know someone else may have that title.... I'm no professional just an experimentalist ( is there such as word and if so is it spelt correctly)

Ta for posting this one Serapis! Never thought to freeze rice- always cook too much of it and have half a pan left over after dinner..

post amended .... :D

I worked in a kitchen a while back and I was told that on no account should you ever reheat rice (i guess this is what you would do after defrosting it). They do have a lot more responsibility in a commercial kitchen but the reason is there is some kind of bacteria that can sometimes not be completed killed by reheating. Thats all I know.

It shouldn't be rehated after being left to cool to room temperature - as I understood it

Delia says it will keep for a week if it's refridgerated.

I think it's like bread, and deteriorates rapidly at a specific temperature.

Bread goes off quicker in the fridge BTW ;)

Nor recommending this in case someone gets food poisoning and tries to sue me but,

If we have a takeaway and there is rice left I very often leave it in the microwave overnight, then put it in the fridge and re heat it a couple of days later.

Hubby is still fit and well

:shocked: I don't think I'll try that Valentine ;)

If we have leftovers, I get it cooled as soon as poss, then fridge it

The problem with rice is not the bacteria, it's the toxins the bacteria create, when you re-heat the rice you kill most of the bacteria but the heat does not destroy the toxins, so they accumulate.

Yup. It looks like it's allowing it to be warm (not hot) for too long that's the problem:
http://www.waitrose.com/frontend/popups/rec_gloss.asp?uidstr=283
http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/food-safety-topics/foodborne-illnesses/safe-cooling-of-cooked-rice/

You should never EVER reheat rice EVER.

Even if you cook it normally it doesn't kill all the toxins, it has to be cooked at something like 200+degreesC for 12 hours or something silly for all the toxins to be killed.

Rice is more deadly than salmonella in chicken. A commercial kitchen has to be very very careful with rice, and it's one of the biggest parts of the food hygiene course (of which I'm current in for the next year)

If you have left over rice, it's best to just chuck it. Even if you've done many many times without negative result, you shouldn't take the risk. It's too dangerous.

As those toxins are present before cooking, by your logic Hook, we should NEVER eat rice EVER :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Strix
As those toxins are present before cooking, by your logic Hook, we should NEVER eat rice EVER :rolleyes:

Cooking and having the rice warm increases the level of the toxins to dangerous levels, the toxin is produced at a certain temperature, the more often you warm it up to that temperature the more dangerous it gets, cooking it once then eating it is fine.

But the bottom line is NOT to freeze or reheat rice once it has been cooked?

Originally posted by samc
But the bottom line is NOT to freeze or reheat rice once it has been cooked?

Freezing is ok, it's the reheating thats bad.

So you could freeze it, then defrost it, leave it cold and have it in a rice salad or something.

Originally posted by nick2
the toxin is produced at a certain temperature,
Yes - as described in the link I posted that nobody seems to have read:mad:, judging by the ongoing speculation :roll:

Originally posted by nick2
Freezing is ok, it's the reheating thats bad.
No. It's the sitting around at room temperature that's the problem. It's not chicken :suspect:

How confused am I :suspect:

:confused: :confused: :confused:

This confused? (http://www.dazed-and-confused.net/) :D

Originally posted by Strix
It shouldn't be rehated after being left to cool to room temperature - as I understood it

Delia says it will keep for a week if it's refridgerated.

I think it's like bread, and deteriorates rapidly at a specific temperature.

Bread goes off quicker in the fridge BTW ;)


Do you know why bread goes off quicker in the fridge?

Bananas are the same but I don't know why....

:confused:

It's the optimal temperature for that particular type of fur to grow at ;)

Why does brown bread last so much longer than white bread ?

I don't know but.... (http://www.seps.org/oracle/oracle.archive/Life_Science.Mycology/2002.05/001022484271.15837.html)

cause you cannot see the mould and so igor it .... Ha Ha

Originally posted by Owls
cause you cannot see the mould and so igor it .... Ha Ha

thats not far from the truth if there is only a bit of mould I scrape it off and toast the bread (believing this kills the remaining mold) then eat it.

My mum always used to say it was penacillin but I'm starting to realise that she did fib a lot when I was a kid.

Bread mould (http://uk.encarta.msn.com/media_461516551_761551534_-1_1/Black_Bread_Mould.html) :gag:

Ahhh it now become clear why the pair of you get i'll are you still trying to feed Mr. T green things

Oh for god's sake just eat it! And while you're at it have a cigarette, you'll be so worried about the tar that you'll forget all about those microbes that you body deals with perfectly fine with on a daily basis.

:P :P :P :P :P :P

Wilf