Can you freeze cooked rice?

[daisydee43]

Hi

Just made a curry and have a load of left over cooked rice which was cooked from dry rice (the bog standard stuff). Seems a shame to throw it and I normally freeze leftovers but heard horror stories with rice,

Any ideas?
Thank you

yes you can, I do it all the time

Yes. I do it all the time too. Freeze in portion. Microwave to eat.

You can only freeze or reheat rice if you quick-cool it to room temperature immediately after cooking. When I do curry, I have a big mixing bowl of cold water standing by when I serve up, and any left-over rice once everyone's plate is full goes straight in there and cools instantly.

The thing that can make rice a hotbed of tummybug germs is the time it spends cooling down slowly to room temp in a pan - while is it just warm all sorts of bugs from the air find it a lovely nutritious growing medium - not every time, it is possible to have reheated rice and not get ill, but its a roulette risk every time.

If you left it cooling slowly - I would chuck it out and not risk it, but remember the tip above for next time.

I always freeze leftover rice, adding more to the bag until I have enough for another meal. I usually steam it through but it's also great to have for fried rice in a hurry.