— Char Nolan

So, um, you know, I think, uh, rice can go either in the fridge or the freezer, depending on how soon you intend to use it. Uh, if it goes into the fridge, generally, you know, I, I recommend trying to get to it within, let's say, five days. Um, a a a more general rule of thumb for leftover is leftovers, is to use it within seven. But, um, rice and, and, and other, some other grains, uh, can, can, uh, be very encouraging of spoilage bacteria, uh, on their sort of nutrient rich surface. And, uh, hence, I like to pull back that, um, uh, that, uh, window to, let's say, five days or so, as, uh, as usually being pretty safe. Now, there are always variables, right? Uh, it depends on, you know, how you've been handling the product and how clean your hands or your utensils have been in terms of the introduction of, um, spoilage bacteria, uh, to the rice or other grain. Um, it can also depend upon, you know, the shelf life is, can depend upon, um, how warm your, uh, refrigerator is. And that's, that can be just based upon the temperature setting. It can be based upon how frequently the door is opened, you know, thus introducing the warmer air from the, uh, outside environment. And so all of those things will affect the shelf life of foods. And, um, you know, very much so, uh, something like rice. Um, I think glass containers work fine. You know, I use glass containers. We also have a few plastic containers, um, you know, plastic, uh, you know, zip seal bags work well, um, to store rice, um, for longer term storage. All of this can go into the freezer and, uh, rice, um, as well as other grains, uh, we'll store very nicely in the freezer. Um, like any other leftover item, uh, it should be used within a reasonable amount of time. And, you know, I would, you know, uh, just as a, as a general guideline, say, you know, use it up within, you know, two or three months, um, you know, this, uh, this idea of freezer burn, right? Or, um, excessive drying will start to set in, uh, which, uh, permanently alters the, the texture and, and the flavor of the product. Um, so if you can use it, um, you know, before that, which means, first of all, you need an airtight container of some sort, uh, then you can maximize the quality, okay? During that period of time. And then, uh, you know, you bring it from the freezer to the fridge, let that defrost over the next day, sometimes, couple of days, uh, and then you're good to, to cook with it again. Um, you know, keep in mind that the overall shelf life, like in the refrigerator, um, it will, it will be paused when it goes into the freezer. And then when you pull that out from the freezer into the fridge again for thawing and eventual, use that clock resumes again from where it left off. So, if it was in there for five days already, uh, you put it in the freezer, bring it out, you're starting at a five day clock, and, uh, you know, maybe you've got, uh, I don't know, you know, a a a day or two, um, you know, of, of shelf life, maybe more. Again, it just depends on the variables that we've talked about.