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I'm prepping for a dinner party. And I put uncooked long grain brown rice + oil + water in a pot, as usual. But I'm not cooking it right this minute. The rice is sitting in the pot with the water. Can I leave it as is for an hour or two before cooking? Or will that sog the grains and affect the result?

samthebrand
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4 Answers4

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That's fine. A lot of people actually do that on purpose, it's referred to as "soaking". It will shave a bit off the cooking time and won't negatively affect the rice at all. Give it a stir before you start cooking. You can drain and rinse it too if you want, that will give you very separate, distinct grains. Use about 1/4 less water for cooking if you do it that way, because the rice will have soaked up some water.

Jolenealaska
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  • @samthebrand, my pleasure :) – Jolenealaska Jan 18 '15 at 01:20
  • I did it by accident for ~8 hours once. I cooked it normally and it seemed the same as usual. – Loren Pechtel Jan 18 '15 at 05:17
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    @LorenPechtel I'm sure that would be fine in the vast, vast majority of cases, but I'm not sure it would be without risk. See Aaronut's comment here: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/41142/safe-to-wash-rice-the-night-before-and-leave-overnight-before-cooking. The issue is [Bacillus Cerus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_cereus) The OP asked about 1-2 hours, which is totally fine. Beyond that,I believe there might be a unlikely, but serious, risk. – Jolenealaska Jan 18 '15 at 15:24
  • @Jolenealaska No danger--it was in the fridge. There was other perishable stuff in there, I stupidly added the water also. – Loren Pechtel Jan 18 '15 at 18:33
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    @LorenPechtel Ah good. Yes, no problem in the fridge. :) – Jolenealaska Jan 18 '15 at 19:38
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    If you soak *brown* rice at room temperature it changes the nutritional profile in a good way. http://www.theironyou.com/2013/09/how-to-make-super-nutritious-germinated_26.html?m=1 – Jasper Blues Jan 19 '15 at 02:01
  • @JasperBlues Hmmm...That looks good on paper, but I'm not convinced that overnight soaking at room temp is safe. – Jolenealaska Jan 19 '15 at 03:08
  • @Jolenealaska Yeah, overnight could be a bit long. Try at own risk! On the other hand we eat *fermented* rice here in the Philippines (it is both stinky *and* tasty), and bake sour-dough bread with Manila tap water :) – Jasper Blues Jan 19 '15 at 06:40
  • @JasperBlues Far be it from me to suggest that we shouldn't take risks. When it comes to food, I take risks all the time, but I'm careful not to serve them. And I want to make choices in a very educated manner. On that note, this is a question that should be looked at further, because I really don't know. – Jolenealaska Jan 19 '15 at 06:51
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    @Jolenealaska But you still cook the rice after soaking. Shouldn't cooking the rice after soaking kill anything? As far as I can see, the more dangerous [emetic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_cereus) form of the bacteria-produced enterotoxin is produced *after* the rice has been cooked. – Moriarty Jan 19 '15 at 10:27
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    @Moriarty Again, I and say "probably??" There is a question here that I ducked and offered a different solution: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/41142/safe-to-wash-rice-the-night-before-and-leave-overnight-before-cooking?lq=1 Someone who really knows their stuff could do a very good thing by answering the 'food safety' aspect of that question. I know it is done, and it is done a lot. So is saving cooked rice at room temperature from meal to meal; and we know that isn't safe. – Jolenealaska Jan 20 '15 at 23:50
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    Technically, the question has to be answered with a "yes, the result is affected" though, even if it is positively affected. – rackandboneman May 06 '16 at 09:23
  • Going to add more information to this answer as I was looking for more than 1h! It seems that if you want to even wait more, for example leave them overnight if you want to cook them in the morning, [white rice might develop some undesirable qualities, but brown rice might actually improve!](https://www.quora.com/Will-it-be-safe-to-wash-rice-at-night-leave-it-and-cook-in-the-morning#:~:text=One%2C%20the%20rice%20will%20be,as%20well%20as%20the%20flavor.) – M.K Feb 20 '22 at 15:26
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Absolutely. The brown rice, & the old rice "aged" as it is also called, cook better after they have been soaked for some time ranging between 30-60 minutes. The parboiled rice is a little different, as it MUST BE soaked for AT LEAST 1 HOUR before it can be cooked. And it can take a soaking of up to several hours without ruining the results. Parboiled rice is the rice of choice for several rice dishes, especially ones in which the rice needs to be light, fluffy, each grain remaining whole and separate. And it is ideally suited to those of us who are cooking challenged (you understand what I am saying). But they will not have the same fragrance that a Basmati, a Jasmine, or even regular raw rice will have.

Robert
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Poonam Abbi
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As Jolenealaska said, lots of cooks do it on purpose. I learned the Chinese method of cooking foolproof rice by soaking it for an hour or longer in an inch of water. Then pour off the soaking water and cover the rice again with 1 inch of water. Uncovered, bring the rice to a boil and cook until only large bubbles appear. At that point, turn the fire down to the lowest setting, cover and cook until the rice is done. There is no reason to stir. You can use this method to cook any amount of rice in any size pot. You don't even have to measure it.

ethalfrida
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Leaving uncooked Rice while sitting on water,Yes they are really True! that's fine! Because I have been experiencing this moment it was in rice cooker were I'm using. Its accidentally i forgot to on it.The rice was soaked with in Five hours, but its super okay, you need to do is add at least half cup of water then stir it then cooked.Honestly there's something different taste when you compare between unsoaked rice and soaked rice.

jisnelyn
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