Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I was thumbing through Feeding Your Vegan Infant with Confidence by Sandra Hood (Vegan Society), and she mentions that you shouldn't eat reheated rice. I've never heard this before. Any idea why? Is this only for pregnant women? Or for everyone?

I eat reheated rice all the time and never had any side effects from it, so I'm interested in hearing what others say!

same!

I make extra rice specifically with the purpose of reheating later for different dishes.

Lies! Maybe it has something to do with the rice drying out and being bad for digestion? I always add a couple tsps of liquid to my rice when I reheat it and it usually keeps it pretty moist.

Apparently rice can harbour bad bacteria and if it hasn't been quickly cooled, stored cool enough and then heated to piping hot all the way through the bacteria can multiply. I remember my mum telling me a long time ago to make sure rice is very thoroughly cooked if heating up, and should only be re-heated once.

That's the only thing I can think of that makes any sense. I guess I won't worry about it too much unless someone else chimes in. Thanks, guys!

Thanks, dropscone! That was very helpful!

According to that PDF, I should probably be dead.

Oh wow. I feel like I've been cheating death in my rice-storing habits.

Me too. I feel invincible. My family eats rice almost every day and we always leave it out on the stove top after dinner until bed time. We also frequently reheat rice multiple times and I never heat it to steaming.

My ex told me off big time for eating rice that had been standing around in a pot for half a day. He claimed really bad bacteria can grow and you shouldn't reheat rice or even eat it after it's been standing around in a hot caravan... I didn't believe him until I spent the next few hours on the campsite toilet lol

Wouldn't reheating the rice kill the bacteria?

I've read about not reheating rice before in a book about macrobiotics but I'm pretty sure her reasoning was because it doesn't taste good and doesn't have the full set of nutrients, can't remember for sure though.

It's not bacteria that are harmful, it's the toxins produced, so reheating won't help. It's like botulism.

Heat won't kill the toxins, apparently they develop while the rice sits at room temp. You can rinse plain rice under a cold tap and refrigerate it (use within 24 hours) or freeze it. It can give you some serious food poisoning if you're not careful with it.

I think the biggest concern is leftover rice from restaurants, where you don't really know how it has been cooked and held. It might be sitting in a rice cooker on "keep warm" for an hour, then sitting on your table at room temp for an hour while you eat. Bacillus cereus is a pathogen associated with rice, although others could certainly grow in rice. Generally reheating doesn't get food hot enough to kill bacteria reliably.

For rice cooked at home, I only keep it for a day or two in the fridge -- no week old leftover rice. I cook the rice in my rice cooker, and refrigerate any leftovers as soon as possible - definitely within 1 hour. You can freeze rice if you want to keep it for longer.

If you know it has been cooked and stored properly, you're probably ok. If there's any question, I would toss it. For feeding to babies, pregnant women, or anyone else who might be more susceptible to getting sick, I would feel safer serving freshly cooked rice.

Thanks for all the info, everybody. I had no idea! As always, the PPK comes through!

We've done week old leftover rice. I've also have left rice on the stove overnight. I guess we should be dead.

I think it's one of those things some people worry about and some people don't care about.

I've been eating reheated rice my entire life with no ill effects. Does the same go for risotto? Sushi? When you buy sushi pre-made who knows how long it's been sitting there!

Wonder if the vinegar has an effect on the sushi rice, maybe that is the reason rice vinegar is added to it.

Same here.

My lunch today includes rice and legumes left uncovered on the stove overnight then unevenly microwaved. But it's okay. I had a good run of life and I'm at peace with my own mortality.

Botulinum toxin is heat labile at >60°C, actually. But yes, Bacillus cereus produces a heat stable toxin.

I've eaten rice (not cooked or stored by me) that had actually gone sour by accident before with no ill effects, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to bother to try and handle my food safely. It's just habit, not worry.