Freezing rice?

Gingerbiscuit_2

I freeze rice it does really well. I bag it up in sandwich bags - the thick kind not cheapo and then take out portion put in mircowave for 2-3m with bag open and its perfect!

angeltreats

You really can't freeze fried rice. You'll already have reheated it once when you fried it, and rice is really not something you want to take risks with. Have a look at what Matthew Fort has to say on the Guardian website.

You could just make some steamed/boiled rice, cool it down quickly and freeze that in portions, defrost it in the fridge overnight and use that to make fried rice.

Soubrette

There is a really nasty bug you can get from cooked rice so the official advice is to cool it down quickly then freeze it straight away.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/riceind.pdf

I don't do this but I bet I will if I get food poisoning

valk_scot

angeltreats wrote: »

You really can't freeze fried rice. You'll already have reheated it once when you fried it,

I make and freeze fried rice a lot. I boil the rice then fry it straight away while still hot. So that's only heating it once. Then I tip it into individual containers (I reuse these microwavable takeaway containers), put them on a wire rack to cool quickly (the wire rack conducts the heat away faster and air can get underneath) and they're in the freezer within 30 minutes or so. To heat it I usually microwave it straight from the freezer. Works for me and we've never been ill from eating it, not that I can remember.

squeaky

It's not the possible bacteria that are the problem in and of themselves, it's that they produce a waste which is toxic - and this toxin is not destroyed by reheating, whereas, if reheating is done correctly it will kill off the bacteria. But you are still left with the toxin.

Quick cooling followed by immediate freezing is fine.

kitschkitty

Yup as Val said, if you boil the rice then fry it with the other ingredients before it starts to cool, that is just one cooking process. You can then safely cool it and freeze it.

The only thing to mention on that front is that Chinese chefs say fried rice shouldn't be made with freshly cooked rice for the best results, but I wouldn't worry about that too much unless you're a gourmet!

Molly41

I boil the rice in small batches, put it in a sieve and run under cold water until cool (again in small batches) and refrigerate/ freeze immediately. Dont leave it lying around to cool.

zippychick

there was a lot of discussion about what nasties rice can harbour in the rice thread -Ive merged you in so you can read back and see how others do it

Zip

krlyr

The comments in the frozen jacket potatoes thread has me wondered. Microwave rice is one convenience food we still buy, though we've traded from the extortionate Uncle Ben's (which was only bought on the 5 for £5 offers but still expensive for the amount you get) to own-brand frozen pouches. It's just really convenient to have a dinner ready in 5 minutes, microwave some HM chilli and some frozen rice, it's a quick meal for the few evenings I'm too short of time to cook properly before evening classes.
I know it's important to cool down the rice quickly so there's not time for bacteria to multiply, what's the best way to do this? I've heard that running cold water over cooked rice in a sieve is one way, just read elsewhere that spreading the rice onto a shallow tray so it cools quickly is another way.
Can home-frozen rice be microwaved straight from the freezer, as long as it's heated to piping hot? I have lots of microwavable food containers I can freeze it straight into.
Also just wanted a variety of freezable rice recipes, we quite like the various flavours of Uncle Ben's rice, like the spicy mexican one, mediterranean vegetables, etc. and find the frozen rices a bit plain in comparison.

Pink.

Hi krlyr,

I cool rice using the rinsing with cold water in a sieve method. The rice is cooled in two minutes, leave it for another few minutes to drain completely then portion up and freeze.

It can be microwaved from frozen but I think it's better defrosted and then cooked until piping hot.

These threads may help:

Freezing rice?

Anyone got any rice recipes?

Recipes for using left over rice, please

I'll add your thread to one of those later.

Pink