You can store your rice and grains in different ways depending on when you plan to eat your rice.
Storing Rice in a Rice Cooker
After cooking your rice in the rice cooker and enjoying it, stack the remaining rice into the center of the rice cooker. This prevents the rice from smelling or becoming discolored. For the freshest rice eat it before 5 hours or at the latest 12. The rice is still safe to eat after just won’t taste as good, the texture and color will change, and the rice will smell.
Storing Rice in the Freezer
The best container to use for storage is a glass container with a lid with a steam valve. If you do not have a container with a steam valve, then when microwaving turn the lid to the side slightly to allow steaming.
After cooking your rice place the rice into the container when hot and add the lid to trap the steam inside. If you let the rice cool before putting it into the container the surface of the rice will become dry. Only fill the container ¾ of the way full because once it freezes the rice will expand and if it is too full then the lid can pop off or the glass container can break. After placing the lid on the hot rice let it cool before placing it in the freezer. Rice in the freezer can be stored for 3 months.
When you are ready to eat the rice from the freezer, add some water before putting it in the microwave for approx. 2:30 – 3 minutes. Let the rice steam with the lid half off or use a lid with a steam valve on the top.
Do not store your cooked rice in the fridge. This will cause the rice to dry out because the water will evaporate. It is better to avoid storing rice that you plan to serve at the table in the fridge because the water in the rice will disappear and the rice will have a bad texture.
