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I'm on a Japanese food kick after starting Midnight Diner on Netflix, and recently purchased a rice cooker. I'm experimenting with the delayed rice setting, and have programmed the device to have my rice ready approximately three hours from now.

Instead of water, I'm using chicken stock from a brand new, unopened box. I'm pretty sure that there is nothing unsafe about this, but the box does say that unused stock should be refrigerated after opening.

Is there any reason to worry about leaving two cups of chicken stock in a rice cooker for approximately two hours before the machine begins cooking?

Aaron Delwiche
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  • A 'box' of stock? Could you explain further. – Tetsujin Oct 01 '20 at 14:08
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    @Tetsujin : many stocks now come in aseptic packaging in the US. (sometimes called by the brand name "tetrapak" in other countries). – Joe Oct 01 '20 at 14:15
  • I haven't seen the movies or the 4th season yet, but I don't remember him cooking rice in stock. Ochazuke, sure. But that's poured on after the rice is cooked. If your rice is bland, you might want to get better rice. (I find it difficult to switch back to other rice after going to jasmine rice when I'm cooking long-grained rice) – Joe Oct 01 '20 at 14:18

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The packaged stock will be pasteurised, leaving it in a pan for a couple of hours is unlikely to allow a huge amount of bacteria growth from ambient air. Then cooking the rice will boil the stock and kill anything that has grown anyway, so it is perfectly safe. The only drawback sometimes is that the celery stick in a stock introduces a sour taste as it ages but that is with fresh celery (shop bought is likely to be powder-based) and then it only happens after about 5 days in the fridge...

Moscoffier
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