Handling Leftover Rice

One of the things I ALWAYS get asked is whether it is safe to reheat rice! If you’re anything like me, I can never seem to gauge just how much rice to actually cook so I always seem to have left-overs. But, what’s all the fuss about with leftover rice?

It’s important to know that if cooked rice is not handled correctly, it can make you (or your little one) violently ill.

Rice contains bacteria called Bacillus cereus. Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacteria; meaning that it forms protective layers (spores) which survive the heat of cooking. If cooked rice is left at room temperature for too long, then the bacteria can multiply and produce toxins; which can cause food poisoning. It’s important to point out here that once these toxins are present, they will NOT be killed by further reheating; regardless of reheating until piping hot!

So, how can you handle leftover rice safely?

How quickly you cool rice after cooking is critical in ensuring that your leftover rice will be safe to use.

You should always make sure your rice is always cooled down as quickly as possible, but always within an hour and a half! This doesn’t mean just putting cooked rice straight in the fridge though……..

Simply putting hot rice in the fridge may not be enough to help cool it down quickly, especially as this will also raise the temperature of the fridge itself. Instead, I’d recommend stirring rice regularly and helping to speed up the cooling process either by:

Running it under cold water (this works great if you’ve not added anything to the rice!)
Dividing it into smaller portions
Stirring regularly
Using a homemade ‘ice bath’ – Like this….

Once your rice has cooled down, cover it, put it in the fridge and use within 24 hours! You can eat leftover rice cold from the fridge the next day but if you reheat, make sure you reheat fully until piping hot throughout.

Did you know?…. You can also freeze leftover rice?! Just make sure you still cool it down as quickly as possible after cooking and when you’re planning to use it, defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat until piping hot within 24 hours!