I’ve just reheated risotto - bad idea?

[newtothis75]

I made a mushroom risotto on Wednesday evening, then let the leftovers cool for an hour before storing it in the fridge in an airtight container. I’ve just reheated it on the hob by adding some boiling water, cooking until it was piping hot and eating it.

After finishing though, it suddenly struck me that risotto is in fact a type of rice and reheating rice is dangerous Am I going to spend the weekend throwing up?

I think it should be fine. You cooled it quickly, heated it thoroughly and ate within 48 hours

Thanks - I really hope so!

As long as it was cooled quickly and put in the fridge then it's fine. It's leaving it at room temp that's the issue.

We often reheat risotto after it's been in the fridge or freezer. I use the microwave

You'll be fine, I've reheated risotto many a time!

Restaurants do it this way and arancini are leftover risotto so, chances are you’ll be just fine.

Normally I aim to eat re-heated cooked rice within 24 hours, but I'm ultra cautious. I'm sure it will be fine.

You’ll be fine! Before I was on Mumsnet I didn’t even know reheating rice could be dodgy - I’ve eaten left over, sat out, luke warm and reheated days old rice all my life and never had a problem!

I reheat risotto and rice all the time.

I often reheat risotto and I'm still here! You will be fine.

I cook rice pudding on a Sunday and we reheat the left overs through the week.

No, will be fine, I do it all the time (several times...)

I always forget about risotto being a type of rice and I've done this hundreds of times

I batch cook meals with rice on a Sunday and reheat and eat mon-thurs, you'll be fine

You will be fine. You cooled it properly and reheated it till it was piping hot. From what I understand the issue is when the rice is left sit at room temperature for a long time before being put in a fridge and not being reheated till being hot through out.

Thanks for the responses - no side effects to report... yet!

We always make arancini with leftover risotto and we are all still here.

It's not reheating rice that's the problem. It's reheated rice. There's a difference. The important thing is that you cooled and refrigerated it quickly. That's where the danger lies.

This is half right, the cooling part:
You will be fine. You cooled it properly and reheated it till it was piping hot. From what I understand the issue is when the rice is left sit at room temperature for a long time before being put in a fridge and not being reheated till being hot through out.

The heating until hot part is wrong though. Once the microbes have produced their poison you cannot cook it out, however hot and long you cook it. You cannot kill poison because it is not alive.

Update - I didn’t have any food poisoning as a result of this method

The specific issue-

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. The spores can survive when rice is cooked. If 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

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/

Not all rice has this bacteria , but some varieties do. You need to cool rice within an hour fir the fridge, and 15 minutes is better.

I cool mine in the garden in a sealed container on winter days to cool it quickly.

I always chuckle when I read the angst people get into regarding rice.
You should spend some time in Asia, cooked rice left out for ages, no refrigeration, plenty of flies and no panic over food poisoning.