Would you eat this risotto?

[Cindy87]

I made a tomato and spinach risotto last night with enough to have for lunch today and tomorrow. I put it in tupperware and left on the side to cool before I put it in the fridge - but I forgot to put it in the fridge. So it has been left out all night and is now in the fridge. I would eat it if it was pasta but worried as it is rice... Would you risk it?

Absolutely not!
Meat, fish, dairy, seafood, eggs and rice - if it contains any of those 100% don’t chance it. Had it been out a few hours I’d eat it but all night? NOOOO - and I’m not overly precious. There’s a lot I would still eat left out overnight.

I tend to use Orzo pasta when makinh risotto and paella batch cooks for my kids specifically because rice is a pain in the bum to handle properly. Tbh you’re not even supposed to let it cool to room temp first it’s a ‘straight in the fridge’ job (once potted up not straight off the hob)

Maybe try substituting orzo in future as it’s much safer and pretty cheap from Asda xx

so, let's get this straight.

Cooked rice contains bacteria, which produce a toxin.
The bacteria can be killed by heating, but the toxin not.

So, I cook the rice the first time, you know boil it, and kill all the bacteria.

Where are the new bacteria coming from to breed all over the rice and make their terrible toxins?

If my rice is properly cooked in the first place, then it doesn't have bacteria in it to breed. Obviously, bacteria then land on it from the air, etc, but.... unless I'm missing something, I fail to see where they all came from.

Bloody hell what would you do if you did think you were overly precious? Install a blast freezer and irradiator plant in your kitchen?

There really is no need at all to be that cautious.

Such dangerous advice on here. Never ever reheat rice that hasn't been cooled quickly. It should be spread onto a cool surface and refrigerated immediately. I cool mine in a lasagne dish.

I have only ever had food poisoning once and it was from reheated rice. I've never been so ill in my life, it was years ago and I still remember it well so no, I definitely wouldn't.

Is the issue not with perpetually ambient rice, rather than the cooling and reheating?

In places like buffets and all inclusive hotels where the rice would be kept, potentially for hours, in a bain marie? Neither hot nor cold?

No not with rice, I’d bin it.

@Northernsoullover

Such dangerous advice on here. Never ever reheat rice that hasn't been cooled quickly. It should be spread onto a cool surface and refrigerated immediately. I cool mine in a lasagne dish.

Have literally never ever done this in my entire life

I might just be smug though as I cooked a new batch of rice last night, added a small amount I’d cooked the night before and served most of it with curry before turning the remainder into egg fried rice.

I always find myself thinking I must be seriously negligent when I read these threads!

I vaguely recall that the reproduction of bacteria is only slowed down by cooking so when the rice is left to cool on the side somewhere warm they begin to multiply again , which is nice

No I wouldn't.

rice is a pain in the bum to handle properly. Tbh you’re not even supposed to let it cool to room temp first it’s a ‘straight in the fridge’ job (once potted up not straight off the hob)

Again, how is the whole of Asia still alive then?

100% no. Rice shouldn’t be eaten once it has been at room temp for over two hours

Then how is sushi a thing that exists?

I'd like someone to reconcile the NHS advice on rice with the fact of the eating habits of 60% of the planet?

Then how is sushi a thing that exists

The people who make it commercially have to refrigerate it to within an inch of its life and ruin the taste and texture in the process. But that's fine as long as we're avoiding a 1 in a million risk of food poisoning.

@BarbaraofSeville

Then how is sushi a thing that exists

The people who make it commercially have to refrigerate it to within an inch of its life and ruin the taste and texture in the process. But that's fine as long as we're avoiding a 1 in a million risk of food poisoning.

I don't know where you're eating sushi but what I eat is not refrigerated like that at all.

Ew, no. Risotto has dairy and is very saucy. It's just not the same as eating some dry rice that's been out.

Well there are no proper sushi restaurants where I am, but if you get it from the supermarket it comes out of the fridge and for it to be edible, you have to let it warm up for an hour or two.

If you have it in a restaurant, it's made to order so the rice will have been made very recently, so acceptable even to the rice police.

Reports suggest 63,000 Americans suffered from Bacillus Cereus in 2019, if my maths is correct that's 0.01% of the population so I'm really not sure 'so many' people are getting ill from rice.

*0.02% sorry fat fingers!

Ew, no. Risotto has dairy and is very saucy. It's just not the same as eating some dry rice that's been out

What dairy are you putting in risotto?

@swimlittlefishy parmesan. A lot of recipes have you finish it will butter as well.

Perhaps OP has made a sad and boring risotto that lacks cheese, in which case I would not advise eating it anyway

Huh. I wouldn’t honestly have counted Parmesan and butter as ‘dairy’ - I know it is, but for e.g. if I’d put a dob of cream in also I’d treat it differently. If you get me.

@swimlittlefishy parmesan. A lot of recipes have you finish it will butter as well

You might add parmesan to a risotto on the plate but its bizarre to suggest risotto is a dish that always contains dairy. God knows what they think is risotto. I've seen people add cream {vomit}

@swimlittlefishy

If left at ambient temperature for more than 75 minutes the bacteria in rice produce spores. These are NOT killed by reheating and why so many are ill from rice. A cooked batch in fridge and reheated over a few days is fine IF put in fridge within 75 minutes

DOES produce or CAN produce? Because as pp have said, if eating reheated non refidgerated rice was a common serious problem, half of asia would be empty. And it isn't.

Also Africa! Some of you are very precious IMO, you'll be fine

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@swimlittlefishy parmesan. A lot of recipes have you finish it will butter as well.

Perhaps OP has made a sad and boring risotto that lacks cheese, in which case I would not advise eating it anyway[/quote]
I make 2 very delicious risottos.

Neither have cheese or butter in them.

I am bemused by the idea that it should have.

One of mine is fish based, (paella I suppose) and one has chicken and chorizo in and is delish

Jackiethefart I'm an Environmental Health Officer. I know a little bit about food safety.

Ok? Didn’t say you didn’t. Just saying that I’ve never done that in my entire life and have once had food poisoning - from fish and chips in a posh restaurant.