Does rice go bad?

[BDV]

I buy rice by the large bag. When I get home I empty the bag into a tupperware container and put it in the cupboard. This rice is only a couple of weeks old. I opened the lid and there was a bug. Does this mean I should throw out all the rice. Or will it not matter once it goes in the hot electric rice cooker? What would you do?

[spoonbread]

It is ok.....just throw away the bug. If you are squeamish about bugs, then throw it away and buy more rice, it;s pretty cheap.

[Suzanne]

I would probably keep using the rice until more bugs showed up. Then I'd toss the whole thing.

And I would find another place to buy my rice, and I'd buy a different brand the next time. If one bug was in your bag of rice, there are probably going to be more; they got in before you got it home, either in storage at the store or before it even got to the store.

Putting it away in a closed container will keep the bugs from spreading to other foods in your cupboard (good work!) but it won't remove the bugs and bug eggs already in the rice.

[siduri]

I usually look for the little holes and crumbs that an infestation of bugs would cause. If it's one bug, maybe just make sure to rinse the rice, or better yet, put it in a pot of water, stir it up, and see if any other bugs float to the surface.

[shroomgirl]

extra protein! oh wait this is a rice thread not a wild shroom thread......

[pablopabla]

One traditional method to keep away the bug from the rice is to put a couple of bulbs of garlic in the rice. That should keep the bug away for some time.

Otherwise, do not empty the whole bag of rice into your container. You might want to consider keeping some in the fridge until your container of rice is empty.

[Austin_]

I think it depends on the bug. Giant cockroach, just throw it out and get new rice. If it's just a few very tiny bugs you might want to wash it with cold water for while and then dry it off with a clean paper towel. There's also a few crazy cleaning products that you can use on food, but I wouldn't get carried away. In order to prevent more bugs (or vampires) from eating your rice, add a few cloves of garlic. This will also add a lot of good flavor to whatever dish you are going to make and will shy off the bugs.

[pablopabla]

Originally Posted by Austin_

I think it depends on the bug. Giant cockroach, just throw it out and get new rice. If it's just a few very tiny bugs you might want to wash it with cold water for while and then dry it off with a clean paper towel. There's also a few crazy cleaning products that you can use on food, but I wouldn't get carried away. In order to prevent more bugs (or vampires) from eating your rice, add a few cloves of garlic. This will also add a lot of good flavor to whatever dish you are going to make and will shy off the bugs.

Mm....I wouldn't recommend washing the rice and drying it again. That may spoil the rice..

[mudbug]

I agree with the most recent post.

I would not bother "washing" the rice only to store it again.

It is almost impossible to keep insects out of the human food supply, since what we eat is also what they eat.

"The FDA permits a typical jar of peanut butter to contain over 100 bug parts."
Food For Thought, CNN Money

If you're worried about anything "else" in the rice, put it in the freezer for a couple of days, this should kill off stragglers.

Then put it in a different container that is more air tight or put the rice in a quality zip lock bag first, then back into the existing container, and just rinse the rice you're going to use as usual before cooking.

[pablopabla]

Best way will be to buy as little as possible

[siduri]

I get rice in vacuum packed packages. It's a good system. Do they sell it that way in the states? I still get bugs, because here we have these little moths that lay eggs everywhere.

[AprilB]

Grains are notorious. Leave a peach or something too long and you have a cloud of little fruit flys.

My grandma taught me to always sift flour to get all the little vermin out of it, not because the recipe called for it. So basically all recipes used sifted flour whether it liked it or not.

Just figure that any bug in grain is pretty clean anyway. The water trick making the little bugs float is a good one.

Course I also lived in NYC for a number of years about 30 years ago...so the idea of roaches doesn't really phase me either.

So I agree with the other posts. Don't worry about it. Scoop it out and make your rice stuff.

April

[Culprit]

Dry rice shouldn't go "bad", as long as your keep it dry. Rice can, of course, go "bad" after it's exposed to liquid - but they call it Sake
OK, enough cute stuff. I've heard of, but never tried, exposing rice to microwave treatment before storing as a method for destroying any creatures that might be lurking within the grains. Personally, I keep only a small amount of rice in the cupboard (about a quart jar) and store the remainder in the freezer. Never have any bug problems.
Oh, about the garlic. I suppose you might enjoy the flavor of garlic in your rice for some dishes, but it's not very appealing for rice pudding. Therefore, I'd shy away from the garlic trick.

[matata]

to keep rice bug free, throw some bay leaves with the uncooked rice into your storage container. apperantly the bugs hate bay leaves. We store rice this way and have never had a bug problem

[mudbug]

Originally Posted by matata

to keep rice bug free, throw some bay leaves with the uncooked rice into your storage container. apperantly the bugs hate bay leaves. We store rice this way and have never had a bug problem

matata,
This is simply a deterrent. Infestation depends on the variety of rice, the region you live in and the insects that inhabit that region. It may work in some areas and in others it may not.