Reheating food - pot on the go

babyshoes

The problem with rice, I believe, is that the toxins produced by the bacteria which multiply in warm rice as it cools cannot be killed by heating (even heating to a very high temperature won't get rid of it)- once they are in the rice, that's it. The rice in ready meals / micro rice etc is cooked and quickly cooled in such a way that the bacteria cannot multiply, therefore can safely be re-heated. Rice left to cool slowly produces the perfect conditions for the bacteria to multiply and release the toxin into the rice, which is why it should be cooled quickly, such as in a fridge without a lid (the lid will keep in steam and heat slowing down cooling.) Not all rice contains the bacteria spores, but quite a lot of it does, and there is no way of knowing in advance if it does or not - so if you regularly eat leftover rice which was left on the counter to cool, you are lucky to have not gotten ill yet!
That said, I was one of those people, though now I try to cool rice quickly once I realise it isn't going to be eaten in one sitting.

rachbc

Juicy_Tube wrote: »

I have worked in catering for years. We do re-heat rice, but the thing is never to store it covered, always open?? Not sure why?

Ithink you are supposed to leave uncovered to cool (as it cools quicker) but then cover once cool to prevent any airbourne nasties getting in.

In terms of cooling stuff in the fridge I thought you shouldn't put warm things in the fridge as it can warm the other stuff in there up too much. So for rice you should cool quickly by either rinsing in cool water or spreading out ona tray etc, as soon as its cool, cover and put in fridge.

Obv being lazy I don't do this - generally I leave in the pan til I remember it the next day then eat it - either cold or heating stir fry or mw. Have done this at least once a week for 15 years or so I must be lucky!

In fact not lucky - from the NHS....

"Botulism is relatively rare in the UK. There have only been 33 recorded cases of food-borne botulism in England and Wales since 1989. Twenty-seven of these were linked to a single outbreak that was caused by contaminated hazelnut yoghurt"

Not in any way suggestion folk aren't sensible but that risks be kept in context and saying thinks like

so if you regularly eat leftover rice which was left on the counter to cool, you are lucky to have not gotten ill yet!

Isn't especially helpful when the stats simply don't bare this out!

valk_scot

I cook rice ahead of time, cool it immediately in a sieve under running cold water, keep it in the fridge (covered) for no longer than 24 hours then reheat it in the microwave. Or I cool it and freeze it in convenient portions, then defrost/reheat it in the microwave. It actually comes out better this way imho as the cold rinse takes off all the loose surface starch that can make it gluey.

As for the soup in a pot thing...in Ye Olde Days most kitchens weren't heated and certainly in the winter they were probably as cold as a household fridge anyway. My unheated utility room has been around 3'C over the last few weeks! So reeping a pot of soup sitting out wasn't as risky as it is nowadays in our warm modern kitchens. If you do this, best to store the soup in the fridge then reheat to a 15 minute rolling boil every day. I personally think the taste and texture goues a bit weird after several reboiling and it certainly reduces the vitamin content, so I prefer to make soup every two or at the most three days. I make stock in large amounts though, and freeze it till needed for a fresh batch of soup.

You shouldn't cool stuff in the fridge btw. Putting hot or warm food in the fridge can raise the temperature quite considerably for quite a long time and this allows bacteria to grow faster in other foodstuffs. The quickest safe way to cool food like soup or stew is to put the pot in a sink half full of cold water and come back every twenty minutes or so to stir the stew and change the water. Veg, rice, pasta or potatoes can be cooled in minutes under running water. Solid items in baking dishes? If you place it on a metal cooling rack the metal will help conduct heat away from the dish quickly and air can circulate underneath too, which all helps it cool faster.

Fruball

Well until I joined this site, I had no idea that rice (or anything for that matter) should be cooled quickly and that rice in particular was a bit dicey.

I used to put my takeaways in the fridge, after they sat around all evening, and warm them up the next day to eating temp, not boiling as I didn't have the patience to wait for it to cool down!!!

I must be honest, since I have learned from you guys I am probably a bit better but not all the time. I always reheat rice (altho i do cool it down by running it under the cold tap the first time I cook it) and I still keep my takeaway rices which have probably already been reheated. I'm still alive and kicking and have a pretty good sturdy gut by now I reckon

meritaten

I do stews, curries, casseroles etc and if I can make them the day before I will! they ALL taste better the next day!
here in wales Cawl (a lamb or mutton stew) could last a week! but, it was left overnight (and the kitchen may not be cold as a fire would be 'banked up' so there was a bit of fire to add coal to the next morning). The Cawl would be brought up to boiling point and then turned down to simmer for an hour or so - if any new veggies or a bone or two would be added it could be on all day! dumplings would be added about twenty minutes before serving. er - I still do that for a day or two! if I still have any left over I will freeze it and then defrost and bring to the boil and simmer for an hour. havent killed anyone yet! and the kids do hunt through my freezer and take home bags of cawl, Curry or Casserole to heat up for themselves.

babyshoes

rachbc wrote: »

In fact not lucky - from the NHS....

"Botulism is relatively rare in the UK. There have only been 33 recorded cases of food-borne botulism in England and Wales since 1989. Twenty-seven of these were linked to a single outbreak that was caused by contaminated hazelnut yoghurt"

Not in any way suggestion folk aren't sensible but that risks be kept in context and saying thinks like

so if you regularly eat leftover rice which was left on the counter to cool, you are lucky to have not gotten ill yet!

Isn't especially helpful when the stats simply don't bare this out!

Wow, I had no idea the stats were so tiny (comparatively). There was a lot of scaremongering some years ago about rice, and I guess it really was just that - scaremongering. Goes to show you shouldn't believe everything in the media! Thanks for digging out the facts for us, and putting it into context.