Re heated rice

Welshwife (and others!) I have been married to a Thai for over twenty years and lived in Thailand with her family for long periods. They tend to eat at differing times rather than set meal tımes and the rice pot gets reheated often more than once.

We eat microwaveable meals which contain rice which is obviously being reheated after cooking? But if in any doubt about any food stuff I chuck it.

it should be OK provided it's less than 24 hours old

Apparently, it's the cooling that kills the bacteria -
www.thehygienedoctor.co.uk/can-reheat-rice/

I have often wondered about this and more so recently as one of my step sons has married a Thai girl - she uses an electric rice cooker and leaves uneaten rice in the cooker and out in the kitchen all the time. She always cooks lots as she eats about six times a day.

I always cook more risotto than I need and reheat the rest next day. Sometimes I microwave it and sometimes I fry it up - haven't died yet

Like you I've been very unwell too * Petra*, not something I'd want to repeat! I was in Africa with a group of friends, ate in many very basic environments and, thanks to scrupulous hand hygiene we were all fine, until we ate in a fancier place after which most of us were spectacularly unwell. I blamed the rice and from then on was very careful at home. One daughter who has done endless food hygiene courses for work agrees with me but the others are much more laid back, eeek.....I choose what I eat when visiting!!!

At one school I taught at the children brought in sandwiches for lunch and one little Chinese girl used to bring in a tub of rice, obviously left over from the previous night's cooking in the take away. It used to sit sweating in her school bag until lunchtime but I don't recall her ever having been ill from it!

I've been hospitalised twice with that bacterium. Once in Tunisia and once in China. Maybe I'm susceptible to it. Or I was just unlucky.

Michael Mosely From Trust Me I'm a Doctor says

The secret to reheating is to do it thoroughly. Most of us tend to use a microwave oven to reheat food, but there is a problem. A microwave oven will heat your food unevenly, leaving cool pockets where bacteria can thrive. That is why it is important that you take the food out, part of the way through cooking, give it a good stir, and then zap it again. Your aim is to get every part piping hot.

One food that people are particularly cautious about reheating is rice. As I mentioned above, most cases of food poisoning are caused by bacteria, but in the case of rice it is a bit more complicated than that.

Rice can be contaminated by a bacterium called Bacillus cereus. The bacteria themselves are killed by heat, but they sometimes produce spores that are not only toxic but surprisingly heat resistant.

This can lead to "fried rice syndrome", so-called because it was once not uncommon for people to get ill after eating fried rice at a Chinese buffet (where fried rice dishes had been left sitting around at room temperature for many hours). These days hygiene standards in Chinese restaurants are much better than they were.

Despite widespread fears, it is safe to reheat rice, and I frequently use rice left-over from the night before as part of a stir fry, but not if you have left that rice out overnight in a warm kitchen. As with meat, once the rice has been cooked you should aim to cool it and keep it cool as quickly as possible.

Trust Me I'm a Doctor investigated this and found that cooked rice, cooled and refrigerated was safe to serve the next day.

I've always done it , and I reheat to piping hot so I'm not worried about it.

DH always buys more than required when having a takeaway, he thinks he will eat the remainder the next day. For years I have told him it is dangerous to keep and reheat rice, "never had an upset tummy from rice" is his reply. I refuse to eat the rice and bin it when I find it in the fridge. I think people find it difficult to understand that something as bland as rice can harbour dangerous bacteria.

I have done this for many years but not with leftover rice. I slightly undercook, drain and then run cold water through it drain again and into the fridge all in a few minutes. When we are ready to eat it goes into the microwave for 5 minutes which finishes the cooking a and it comes out separate, fluffy and piping hot.

I occasionally stir fry small amounts of leftover rice and also risotto, and have never suffered any ill effects, but I am the only one who eats it. I think the key to it is cooling it rapidly in the fridge. Having said that, it doesn't negate the risk entirely, which is why I wouldn't feed it to anyone else and never never to a child.

There is a great cookery book called Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-W. He stresses that leftover rice must be cooled and refrigerated quickly. My favourite suggestion is using it for egg fried rice. I've had it twice so far, once with leftover chicken. With soy sauce it is delicious and seriously frugal. I now cook extra rice so I have plenty of leftovers.

My DH does this al the time with leftover Indian takeaway, which he leaves out overnight before freezing. His response when I tell him how dangerous it is? 'Well it hasn't harmed me yet' I simply can't get through to him.

Don't just nention it in passing, it can pose a big risk. Perhaps ask your GD's mother or father if they saw that programme about the toxins in rice that survive cooking?

I would not reheat rice at any time