WIBU to eat this rice or should I just throw it away? Boring, I know, but a genuine question! Thanks.

[TroublesomeEx]

I have some left over boiled rice in the fridge from dinner the night before last.

I had some with the leftover curry yesterday at lunchtime and reheated it thoroughly. All was fine.

Would I Be Unreasonable to do the same again today or am I likely to become horribly ill? Have no qualms about the lentil curry, just the rice.

I've only ever had food poisoning once and it was after being fed re-heated white boiled rice at someone else's house. So I'm always uber wary of it but need to know if it's ok really.

Thanks and sorry it's so boring! I get really excited when I see a new AIBU thread and am then really disappointed when it's this dull

I'd eat it, but stir-fried rather than rererereheated.

I think you could get away with it today....but then chuck any left over.

I'd stir fry it too

As long as it's kept in the fridge, it should be fine.

I think the only thing I'd throw away after two days is rice.

I do not have any qualms about any other kind of leftover or past-the-use-by-date-foods and just use the sniff/sight test on them, but rice? I get funny about using that the following day.

Thanks. It's not rerereheated (is that the right number of res?!) Just a bowl I'm going to take some from.

Thanks.

I'm going to eat it then! (2 anonymous voices on the world wide web is good enough for me!!)

Oh Flisspaps - now I've got to reconsider!

I would eat it, if it has been kept covered in the fridge and is going to be reheated fully.

It is only when it has been left a while at room temperature that you are risking food poisoning.

Think about all the readymeals in the chiller cabinets in supermarkets that sell dishes with cooked rice in them.

Sorry, not clear, did I miss it or is it rice you've already reheated. The golden rule us only reheat rice once. This was drummed in to me during a food hygiene course for which I scored top marks! (Stealth boast)

Make sure it is PIPING hot!

You'll be fine. I've just done exactly that. It was yummy. :)

I'm kinda with Flisspaps I am bordering on blazé about most foods. I happily cooked and ate the lamb neck fillet my cat had nibbled on whereas DH would've chucked it. I did cut off the nibbled edge, but would rather risk illness than chuck away such a naice (and expensive) cut of meat!

But rice? I'm weird in that I won't even consider reheating it in any way.

Maybe IABU, I usually am. With my logical, cool head on, I'd say you probably won't get ill and it will probably be lovely.

reheated once within 2 days will be fine.

I think it's to do with how quickly it went into the fridge - within an hour of cooking and it's fine, I believe.

project is right - needs to be in the fridge very quickly!

i think the reason people are frightened by rice is that there was a thing a few years back about takeaway places keeping a continuous pot of rice on the go and some of it being quite old and causing problems. In your own kitchen you know how old it is.

There is another thread here with some useful info and links.

and here

The key thing is how quickly you got it into the fridge. As far as I know its not so much the bacteria on rice that makes you sick, as the toxins they make. So if the toxins are there you will be sick regardless of how well reheated it is.
However if you quickly cooled it and got it in the fridge it should be fine.

I ate rice yesterday that was cooked on NYE. Was cooked and cooled quickly and I thoroughly reheated it

this article explains why it doesn't matter if you heat it through or not. it's a myth that heating something thoroughly prevents all food poisoning. You can get sick from bacteria (they disappear through heating) and toxins (can't cook those away.

Explanation here:

When it comes to food poisoning most of us know the dangers of undercooked chicken or seafood left out of the fridge for too long, but rice can also leave you with more than a full belly.

You can get food poisoning from rice if you don't store it in the fridge after cooking.

What makes you sick is Bacillus cereus, says CSIRO food microbiologist Cathy Moir. These bacteria produce toxins that will give you a mild vomiting illness shortly after you eat the contaminated food (sometimes it only takes 30 minutes to get sick).

Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the soil and sometimes in plant foods that are grown close to the ground ? such legumes, cereals, spices etc...

If foods are cooked and handled correctly Bacillus cereus isn't a problem, but in dry conditions ? such as those found in a rice packet or spice container ? Bacillus cereus remains present as spores. The spores remain dormant until you add water, then presto they germinate and grow.

Unfortunately the cooking process doesn't kill the heat-resistant spores or the toxin produced so once the rice is cooked the bacteria grow and thrive in moist, warm environments.

So if you're not going to eat rice straight after you've cooked it, then you need to store it in the fridge ? as soon as possible, but definitely within four hours. Refrigeration won't kill the bacteria but it will slow down its growth ? any uneaten rice should be thrown out after three days in the fridge.

Moir says this type of food poisoning is less frequent now than it was in the 1970s, when fried rice was a common culprit.

"Restaurants would cook steamed rice one day, then leave the rice out overnight to cook as fried rice the next day ? so it had been sitting around for a day and the Bacillus spores had germinated, grown and produced the toxins.

"When the fried rice was cooked the toxin wasn't destroyed, then the customer consumed the rice and was sick. So there were plenty of outbreaks," Moir says.

"With the health authorities identifying the cause and educating the restaurateurs, the incidence of this type of food poisoning quickly decreased."

The best way to avoid food poisoning from Bacillus cereus and other ? often nastier ? bacteria is to always cook and store food safely

personally, I would not eat rice after 24 hrs, but then, I have had lots of food poisoning (sensitive tum) and my H is a microbiologist!

This what the NHS says:

Can reheating rice cause food poisoning?
Yes. You can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. However, it's not the reheating that causes the problem but the way the rice has been stored before it was reheated.
How does reheated rice cause food poisoning?

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive.
If the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores can grow into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea.
The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins could make the rice unsafe to eat.
Tips on serving rice safely

Ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked.
If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour).
Keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating.
When you reheat any rice, always check that the dish is steaming hot all the way through.
Do not reheat rice more than once.

I reheat rice by putting it in a sieve and pouring a just boiled kettle through whilst stirring. You're sterilising and rinsing. I have never had food poisoning and I do this for upto 3-4 days (animal).

Throw it away and cook some fresh- you could get really nasty food poisoning and it's just not worth it!

I was going to suggest the toddlerama approach too - pour a boiling kettle over it....and THEN stir fry :)

Well thanks all for your advice.

FWIW I cooked it, the leftover rice cooled while we ate dinner then as soon as it was cool I put it in the fridge.

I took some out and reheated it yesterday so this would be a first reheat for the remaining rice.

On reflection, I might just start from scratch! It's only about 100g of cooked rice that's there so not a huge amount. Just thought it might save a bit of time.

Thanks again all!

Wow, I never knew any of this about rice! I thought rice is the sort of food that would be fine.

I use leftover rice to make rice salad that I happily keep and eat for a couple of days and I've never been sick.

You learn something new every day.