Freezing rice?

Noctu

I'm loving batch cooking at the moment. Since I started a more demanding job I'm finding that I'm spending more money buying those microwaveable rice pouches to add to a meal, even though I have a rice cooker :mad:

I'd like to batch cook some egg fried rice which can be microwaved straight from the freezer, ideally. Do any of you OS-ers do this and how do you do it?

DreamerV

Rice is the one thing I won't batch cook and keep for use over time as reheated rice can be dangerous

becs

Not sure about freezing egg fried rice but I froze plain a while ago and then used this recipe to make egg fried rice. Was delicious!
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/05/the-simple-secret-to-perfect-fluffy-rice/

McKneff

DreamerV wrote: »

Rice is the one thing I won't batch cook and keep for use over time as reheated rice can be dangerous

Agree with this. Reheated rice has toxins in it.

Fresh rice can be cooked in a matter of minutes, really no need to batch cook. And it tastes so much nicer

simmed

Noctu wrote: »

I'd like to batch cook some egg fried rice which can be microwaved straight from the freezer, ideally. Do any of you OS-ers do this and how do you do it?

Yes, here is how you do it.

1. cook it
2. put it in the freezer in a tub

:rotfl:

Also I wouldn't pay much attention to the health and safety brigade.. personally I always keep boiled rice in the FRIDGE for about a week and reheat it.

babyshoes

The toxins in rice are released when the bacteria multiply while the rice is cooling - they don't multiply and produce the toxin when the rice is hot or cold, only when it is warm. Re-heating will kill off the bacteria but won't affect the toxins. Commercial 're-heatable' rice is cooled very quickly in blast chillers to prevent the bacteria from multiplying.

If you want to take a chance on re-heating rice that you have cooked, don't let it hang around the kitchen to cool. Plain rice can be rinsed with cold water to cool it straight after cooking.

Other rice is trickier, you can put it on a cold windowsill in winter or straight into the fridge - though this would increase the temperature in the fridge and potentially cause other food safety problems. Maybe you could improvise a cooler with a big bowl of ice water, into which you put the container of hot cooked rice. Stir it regularly too to allow the heat to escape.

That said, I don't always follow these rules and have lived to tell the tale - as we are both healthy adults it is a risk I am willing to take. I believe that only a fairly small percentage of rice worldwide harbours the bacteria which produce the toxin, so most of the time you will probably be ok!

krlyr

babyshoes wrote: »

Other rice is trickier, you can put it on a cold windowsill in winter or straight into the fridge - though this would increase the temperature in the fridge and potentially cause other food safety problems. Maybe you could improvise a cooler with a big bowl of ice water, into which you put the container of hot cooked rice. Stir it regularly too to allow the heat to escape.

One technique I've read is to spread the cooked rice out on a large baking tray - by increasing the surface area of rice exposed to the air, it will cool a lot quicker than in a bowl or still in the pan.

sandraroffey

my son in law is head chef at a private hospital, and he has been on all the food safety courses, for his job. he says to NEVER reheat rice, becaue it give off spores of some sort which as someon else has said, is rather dangerous.

have to say that i have reheated rice for years, and with no ill effects, but since he told me that, i dont do it any more.

VfM4meplse

krlyr wrote: »

One technique I've read is to spread the cooked rice out on a large baking tray - by increasing the surface area of rice exposed to the air, it will cool a lot quicker than in a bowl or still in the pan.

:think: Increasing the amount of washing up too. It's quicker just to microwave a bit of rice as and when you need it - no pans, no fuss.

LameWolf

Personally I wouldn't chance reheating rice, because I have an autoimmune condition, and am susceptible to toxins/bacteria/other nasties - I cook rice for us as and when we need it; by the time I've assembled the rest of the meal and laid the table, the rice is cooked!