Freezing cooked rice

I do know a local Chinese restaurant were prosecuted for serving re-heated rice .
Maybe that helps , I would be loathe to do it myself .

Unless it's been specially treated [as used in chilled meals]it must be binned. I used to cook rice meals and re heat them until I read otherwise.

Don't do it. Rice can be really dodgy. And it's pretty cheap so if you have over cooked it just throw it away and remember to do less next time.

I have a feeling I froze and re-used rice before anyone told me I shouldn't and am still here and none the worse. But I wouldn't do it now - just in case. Next door's chickens seem to survive on my leftovers.

The dog gets mine! She loves rice . It's amazing what we've ate and survived [thinks back to student days and the cheap mince I used to buy that was one day labelled 'for pet use only'; probably used to eat that with reheated rice as well].

I meant to say 'cooked too much' not over cooked!

shouldnt freeze or reheat rice .learnt that on school meals xx

I've been freezing cooked rice for over 30 years, with no ill-effects!

Like all frozen foods it needs to be re-heated to a high temperature.

Probably safest to freeze it as soon as it cools after cooking and reheat thoroughly. I never keep risotto in the fridge for more than a day and usually fry it up or make arancini (balls of risotto, egg & breadcrumbed then deep fried) The problem with rice is that it can pick up spores from the ground which are not destroyed in the first cooking and can grow afterwards. (Dim memory of Food Hygiene Certificate)

Like Riverwalk I have frozen rice, reheated it and survived for many years.
What dreadful disease do you get from eating frozen , reheated rice?

I freeze it and have had no ill-effects, either.

I freeze and re-heat without any problems. I think the potential problems arise before the freezing takes place. Un-used cooked rice has so many 'surfaces' that as it goes from hot to warm to cool to cold, bacteria multiply rapidly. By running the un-used rice through cold water immediately and leaving it to drain as cold rice in the fridge before freezing, the chance of bacteria is dramatically reduced.

I have frozen rice and eaten with no ill effects....until I was told it was dangerous ..now I don't,just in case.

Why hasn't absent replied on this thread? I felt sure she would know the definitive answer.

Bacillus cereus is a bacteria which can multiply on cooked rice. It can cause severe food poisoning.

It's normally OK to freeze cooked rice if it's cooled quickly then frozen immediately. Freezing leftover rice is where the problems start.

It works well but you really must watch the food hygiene carefully. Cool it straight away and freeze it quickly, never leave it sitting in the warm and reheat very thoughly.
I have never had a problems doing this.
Merlotgran has posted about the bacteria risk.

My rice story is that a few days ago grandson put a load into boiling water and then realised after a few minutes that he would not be wanting it after all so I drained it barely cooked and left it out to cool, then went away overnight forgetting to put it in fridge. Cooked it today and it was all lovely and fluffy but just lost my nerve and threw it out.

That probably qualifies for inclusion in a most boring post competition but I've gone obsessive about the waste.

In future will freeze rice using safe method mentioned on this thread.

Any tips for best method of thawing/heating? Plunging into boiling water?

Plunging in a saucepan of boiling water is probably the safest, petallus. Take it out of its bag first though. Boil for five minutes then drain in a colander and pour boiling water from the kettle over it to rinse off any excess starch.

Microwaving is not safe because of the hot/cold spots.

It's a good idea to invest in a food probe. They are quite cheap now and very useful at Christmas when our ovens are often choc-a-block. The current recommended temperature, where bacteria no longer multiply, is 75C.

So far no ill effects after years of freezing and reheating. But we do freeze as soon as possible and heat very thoroughly.

I don't bother freezing rice these days as there's just the two of us and I measure exactly what we'll need. I always used to cook too much when all the DCs were at home and froze the surplus. I'd then forget all about it and repeat the process. When the freezer had it's annual de-frost I'd find bags of the stuff at the bottom which I fed to the hens along bags of breadcrumbs, stuffing, crumble mix, herbs and God knows what else.

Think you were right to throw your rice out petallus left out all night is definitely not advisable. Properly frozen cooked rice must be all right - look at all the ready meals with rice.

In rice-dependent countries, leftover rice is always fried in a very hot wok. The high temperatures deal with the germs. I ate masses of fried rice when I worked in Thailand and most of the places that I ate at (no cooking facilities in my lodgings) had no refridgeration. Never had a problem.

GS has just walked in and asked me for some rice recipes as he would like to cook a load of savoury-type rice and freeze portions of it for later rather than spend on the packets you get in supermarkets.

So, I told him about the advice on this thread and we agreed if we were careful about chilling/freezing etc. it would be okay.

Bags your experience in Thailand is reassuring.