Old rice- can I use it

White rice I ditch after 2 years. Brown rice I chuck out after 6 months. Cooked rice goes in the bin - I think reheating it is risky. It is pretty cheap after all.

crazyH

I was about to throw away a packet of rice that was infested with weevils. My visiting friend suggested washing it … the weevils would rise to the top. Then throw away the water with the weevils and you’re good to go.

Why on earth would anyone do that unless utterly indigent or facing starvation .
Even reading it made me feel a bit uneasy.

agnurse
Read the date of the OP.

If you haven't chucked it, and are concerned about eating it, here is an option you can consider. (Yes, I did this myself once, in primary school, but I used dried beans. Some students did use rice, though.)

Take an old necktie and sew the narrow end closed. Pour the rice into the necktie until it's full. Sew the wide end closed. On the wide end, put a couple of googly plastic eyes and a small piece of felt for a tongue. You now have a lovely snake that can be placed against the bottom of a door to keep out drafts

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I have made a couple of risottos lately - the first was made with rice from a packet that had been open for a long time - past the 'use by' date anyway. The second was from a new packet. Although the first one was perfectly ok the rice took a long time to absorb the butter which is what you do in the first stage and then a long time to cook. The second took hardly any time in the first stage and cooked a bit quicker after that. So I would probably say old rice is safe but loses it's quality.

I'd chuck it. Why risk cooking with other good ingredients only for the finished result to taste stale.

Luckygirl3

Dry rice out of date is fine: cooked rice is dodgy and should be eaten up asap.

All over SE Asia, and probably elsewhere, rice is cooked in advance for fried rice dishes later.
A hotel waitress in Indonesia told us that early every morning she advance-cooked 1.5 kg of rice for her (presumably extended) family’s meals for the rest of the day.

😆 another zombie thread.

Tanjamaltija

Brown rice will go rancid because of the oils in it. White rice will taste a tad weird because the lipids will oxidize, and the texture will be mushy. Seriously, though, rice is not that expensive. So why risk it?

Just what I think too.
And never ever re-heat cooked rice.

crazyH

I was about to throw away a packet of rice that was infested with weevils. My visiting friend suggested washing it … the weevils would rise to the top. Then throw away the water with the weevils and you’re good to go.

When I lived in a very hot climate, weevils used to get in so many things - Weetabix were known as Weevilbrix,
I used to keep any bag of flour in the freezer, and sieve the dead little buggers out before using.

Reported

The rice is another year older now...

Great post! Old rice can still be incredibly useful in many recipes, especially for fried rice or patties where slightly drier grains work best. At Shafi Gluco Chem, we’re all about smart kitchen swaps — if you're cooking with rice and need a natural sweetener, consider using a substitute for rice syrup like our organic brown rice syrup. It’s a clean, gluten-free option that works well in a variety of dishes!https://glucochem.com/korean-certified-rice-syrup-substitutes-exploring-traditional-and-modern-sweeteners-in-asian-cuisine/

Jane I ve been reheating cooked rice as long as I ve been cooking I ve lived in W Indian Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cultures and never ever known anyone who doesn’t
I know it’s advised against here but I can only speak as it is for me

Ex caterer here, I’d definitely not use it, rice is a contrary beast and the cause of many a food poisoning, use it in a craft session to make bean bags or hacky sacks or to weight a doorstop

Will be fine, but NEVER reheat cooked rice. It’s quite easy to poison yourself. Take it from one who knows.

I’d chuck it. ‘Use by’ dates are sometimes to do with quality, not safety.

I appreciate it feels wasteful, but nobody need know! (Apart from Gransnet! )

Just reporting in- I made a beautiful risotto, though I say it myself. No problem with the rice whatsoever. It was the best one I’d made andI was glad because it was a birthday meal for daughter number 2.

It is almost certainly all right, but put it in a sieve and rinse it before use - if you are fussy scald it as well.

That doesn’t sound too bad to me.
I’ve just sorted out my food cupboards ready for moving. I decided not to keep the little jar of Chipotle paste. Dated use before 2015.

It is the cooked rice that you need to be careful of... only a couple of days even if in fridge.

Use it. If it is very old (over10 years), then perhaps not…

Use it-I have done that and it didn’t taste weird at all.
My usual question to self with dry or tinned food is, ^if we were at war and this was rationed, would you use it?

Brown rice will go rancid because of the oils in it. White rice will taste a tad weird because the lipids will oxidize, and the texture will be mushy. Seriously, though, rice is not that expensive. So why risk it?

Some risotto rice is sold as "aged" so I'm guessing it will be fine. I just found one online which is aged for seven years! I once bought a large quantity of Tilda basmati rice and found that a mouse had chewed its way through the plastic sack, ugh....