Should I eat it?
August 3, 2017 6:45 AM   Subscribe

Or does coconut-milk rice go bad when left out overnight?

I used this to make basmati last night. Once it had mostly cooled, I covered the leftover portion with foil (still in the rice cooker pan/bowl) and set it on the counter to finish cooling—and forgot about it until this morning, so it was not refrigerated; it is now. It contains coconut milk, which is the unknown for me here, as far as I'm aware. But is the rice an issue too? A little noodling around on the internet got me a variety of answers, but really, no one seemed to actually know for sure. Do you happen to know? It was out and cool as of about 8pm, then I noticed it at 5:30am, so roughly ten hours out of the fridge.
posted by heyho to Food & Drink (7 answers total)
 
Best answer: Rice is actually more dangerous than other leftover foods, left at room temperature. Here is an actual study and here is an article on it.

There's a certain type of bacteria (Bacillus cereus) that can survive cooking and then flourish in mid-range-temperatures (i.e. on your counter).
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]


I'm definitely an "eat it" but just don't mess around with rice.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:37 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


I forgot rice on the stove once years ago... it was maybe 24 hours, long enough for it to have developed a very strange smell indeed. Rice does get... wierd if left out by itself. So no. Toss it...
posted by Crystal Fox at 8:14 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


The coconut milk would be fine. The rice may not. Toss it.
posted by bile and syntax at 8:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'd listen to the people saying not to eat it, but just to chime in as a moderating voice, I did used to eat this all the time. (Just learned from this thread that apparently it wasn't a great idea!) It was more or less on purpose, like the rice just lived in the rice cooker on the counter until it was all done (a couple days) and then I'd make more. Usually just made with water but occasionally coconut milk. Never had an issue with it that I know of.
posted by cogitron at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: I assumed the rice was the safe bet, and I really only googled for the coconut milk. Man, I'm glad I asked. Thanks, AskMe! Tossed out; I'll just make another batch.

And I consider myself pretty lucky, as I can't count the number of times I've eaten risky rice. I'm happy to quit while I'm ahead.
posted by heyho at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017


I'm Asian, raised in a household that held true to our roots (read: we ate rice at least once a day, everyday), in a hot, humid, sub-tropical environment. Thus, there have been times that rice has been left out on the counter because someone forgot to put it in the refrigerator, many times cooked with coconut milk. As a college student and adult, I've left rice out overnight.

There's probably one time in ten that the rice left out overnight go tossed. It usually gets eaten. You're safe.
posted by Everydayville at 4:44 PM on August 3, 2017


« Older Little Guy Induction Top Fault   |   why aren't we all wearing star trek unitards yet? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.