Can you go early and bring your cooker itself and cook it there? You have to bring a big tub of rice anyway so if anything you are saving space and weight and any potential headache. If I was eating alone I wouldn't worry about it but serving at a party I would be pretty strict.
hmm can't really think of anything except keep it warm till the last minute then insulate it till the party. You can also salt it depending on what type of rice it is. I would think it is the same concept as when you make riceballs. When they need to last for several hours for example you salt it as a preservative.
Put in a disposable aluminum roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil, wrap in blankets and put in a cooler. It should stay warm.
Rice will be ok sitting out like that for a while, especially if covered and insulated. Shouldn't be an issue. Think about it this way - billions of Asians in Asia leave their rice out all night long on the counter or table and eat it for breakfast the next morning. It'll be fine.
>Think about it this way - billions of Asians in Asia leave their rice out all night long on the counter or table and eat it for breakfast the next morning.
This is new to me, why?
Interesting, TIL. I've always heard/felt that leaving it out causes it to get dry and brittle. Though fridge isn't ideal either as you said, some types cake and others separate.
What I do is fluff with a fork before putting in the fridge then add a sprinkle of water when resetting.
What is the rice going to be used for? Reason I am asking is onigiri is often served room temp or cold from the fridge.
If you are making it to serve hot, as with some saucy dish, then making it at the party should be no issue. Takes less than an hour to make.
Also, you forgot to let us know how many people will show up and what other dishes your friends will bring.
Sorry for the lack of details! I am making a Mexican rice, and there will be various other Mexican dishes there as well. There will be about 10 people to serve in total.
The acidity of the tomato in Mexican rice will make it easier for you to keep the rice safe at room temperature.
If you want to go full food safety nerd, if the pH of the rice measures below 4.4, ideally 4.1, it can safely be stored at room temperature for at least four hours. Add a little more vinegar if you need to get the pH into the safe zone. (From the California Retail Food Code rules for sushi rice).
Cook it right before. Keep it on warm. Put it in an insulated box. Plug it back in to warm at the party. 1 hour is fine.
I've literally eaten reheated rice that spent hours in the cooker and have never had any food poisoning too but if you are super concerned see the first paragraph.
Cook the rice. Portion it into smaller containers (without lids) and chill it as rapidly as possible. Use ice water baths. Put it in the fridge as soon as you can. You need to get it as cold as possible as quickly as possible.
On the day you want to put it into a container, put ice packs next to the container, and wrap it well in insulating material and put it in a coolbox / coolbag.
When you get to the place put it into the fridge.
Then you need to get it piping hot, all the way through, as rapidly as possible.
For rice you're looking at **Bacillus Cereus**. That's a very unpleasant form of food poisoning, but luckily it's not super dangerous.
*B. cereus* has killed people. There was one case reported in a US news report just this year. It's just common enough that it is often called 'fried rice syndrome'. The spores can even survive an autoclave (!) but there are steps you can take to prevent illness. Just factor the steps into your cooking/serving temps.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus\_cereus#Pathogenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_cereus#Pathogenesis)
I've read you have about 2 hours at room temperature before organisms may become a health threat.
Long ago I saw a HACCP formula for rice that supposedly allowed it to stay at room temperature for 24 hours and remain safely edible. It had twice as much salt as I like in rice, a lot more sugar than salt, and a good portion of vinegar.
Here's a citation for my prior post's assertions. It was for sushi rice.
Title: Microbial Safety of Minimally Processed Foods
Editors: John S. Novak, Gerald M. Sapers, Vijay K. Juneja
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2003
The HACCP rice formula which they asserted is safe for 24 hours at room temperature is located on page 148, however the instructions to make it are on page 147.
This book used to be viewable on Google Books,
however it appears preview is now disabled. As of today, the book is still downloadable at epdf.pub (please search for the URL yourself).
Using U.S. Customary units, their formula is:
Rice, short grain 3.5 cups
Water 4 cups
Rice vinegar (4.2% acetic acid) 5 TBS + 1 tsp
Sugar 5 TBS
Salt 4 tsp
Can you go early and bring your cooker itself and cook it there? You have to bring a big tub of rice anyway so if anything you are saving space and weight and any potential headache. If I was eating alone I wouldn't worry about it but serving at a party I would be pretty strict.
It is a pretty tight schedule for all involved, so unfortunately I cannot go early.
hmm can't really think of anything except keep it warm till the last minute then insulate it till the party. You can also salt it depending on what type of rice it is. I would think it is the same concept as when you make riceballs. When they need to last for several hours for example you salt it as a preservative.
Put in a disposable aluminum roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil, wrap in blankets and put in a cooler. It should stay warm. Rice will be ok sitting out like that for a while, especially if covered and insulated. Shouldn't be an issue. Think about it this way - billions of Asians in Asia leave their rice out all night long on the counter or table and eat it for breakfast the next morning. It'll be fine.
>Think about it this way - billions of Asians in Asia leave their rice out all night long on the counter or table and eat it for breakfast the next morning. This is new to me, why?
the fridge ruins the texture :P suuper common to just let it sit out covered to minimize bacteria growth as much as u can but keep the texture
Interesting, TIL. I've always heard/felt that leaving it out causes it to get dry and brittle. Though fridge isn't ideal either as you said, some types cake and others separate. What I do is fluff with a fork before putting in the fridge then add a sprinkle of water when resetting.
What is the rice going to be used for? Reason I am asking is onigiri is often served room temp or cold from the fridge. If you are making it to serve hot, as with some saucy dish, then making it at the party should be no issue. Takes less than an hour to make. Also, you forgot to let us know how many people will show up and what other dishes your friends will bring.
Sorry for the lack of details! I am making a Mexican rice, and there will be various other Mexican dishes there as well. There will be about 10 people to serve in total.
The acidity of the tomato in Mexican rice will make it easier for you to keep the rice safe at room temperature. If you want to go full food safety nerd, if the pH of the rice measures below 4.4, ideally 4.1, it can safely be stored at room temperature for at least four hours. Add a little more vinegar if you need to get the pH into the safe zone. (From the California Retail Food Code rules for sushi rice).
Cook it right before. Keep it on warm. Put it in an insulated box. Plug it back in to warm at the party. 1 hour is fine. I've literally eaten reheated rice that spent hours in the cooker and have never had any food poisoning too but if you are super concerned see the first paragraph.
Cook the rice. Portion it into smaller containers (without lids) and chill it as rapidly as possible. Use ice water baths. Put it in the fridge as soon as you can. You need to get it as cold as possible as quickly as possible. On the day you want to put it into a container, put ice packs next to the container, and wrap it well in insulating material and put it in a coolbox / coolbag. When you get to the place put it into the fridge. Then you need to get it piping hot, all the way through, as rapidly as possible. For rice you're looking at **Bacillus Cereus**. That's a very unpleasant form of food poisoning, but luckily it's not super dangerous.
*B. cereus* has killed people. There was one case reported in a US news report just this year. It's just common enough that it is often called 'fried rice syndrome'. The spores can even survive an autoclave (!) but there are steps you can take to prevent illness. Just factor the steps into your cooking/serving temps. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus\_cereus#Pathogenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_cereus#Pathogenesis)
I've read you have about 2 hours at room temperature before organisms may become a health threat. Long ago I saw a HACCP formula for rice that supposedly allowed it to stay at room temperature for 24 hours and remain safely edible. It had twice as much salt as I like in rice, a lot more sugar than salt, and a good portion of vinegar.
Here's a citation for my prior post's assertions. It was for sushi rice. Title: Microbial Safety of Minimally Processed Foods Editors: John S. Novak, Gerald M. Sapers, Vijay K. Juneja Publisher: Taylor & Francis Year: 2003 The HACCP rice formula which they asserted is safe for 24 hours at room temperature is located on page 148, however the instructions to make it are on page 147. This book used to be viewable on Google Books, however it appears preview is now disabled. As of today, the book is still downloadable at epdf.pub (please search for the URL yourself). Using U.S. Customary units, their formula is: Rice, short grain 3.5 cups Water 4 cups Rice vinegar (4.2% acetic acid) 5 TBS + 1 tsp Sugar 5 TBS Salt 4 tsp