Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 December 19

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December 19

Why do I need to wash the rice before cooking it?

I hear something about needing to wash the rice. What'll it remove, and what'll happen if I eat rice that's not washed?

(This is the rice coming from those heavy 20-lb. bags, mind you.)

Also, how long can rice stay in a rice cooker (and kept warm in said cooker) before going bad? I think I've had it in there for a day and a half now? I'm new to making my own rice in a cylindrical rice cooker, so I'll need some initial assistance here. Thanks. --70.179.178.5 (talk) 11:05, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

You wash the rice to get rid of accumulated rice flour that rubbed of the grains and would otherwise make the rice sticky. Older recipe books prescribe washing until the water stays clear. With modern packaging, this has become somewhat less important, and is often included more as a ritualistic piece of advise (akin to "sifting the flour", an activity that also has lost most of its meaning for modern commercial-quality products). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 11:25, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Sifting the flour is done not to remove lumps but to get it to a (fairly) known degree of compaction so that you can measure it by volume and get the same amount as the recipe author. It can make an enormous difference in quantities, which for pastry can be very important. --Sean 15:30, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

FWIW, I always wash my rice in boiling water after I've cooked it. Cooked rice does not keep well. From the rice article: "Cooked rice can contain Bacillus cereus spores, which produce an emetic toxin when left at 4–60 °C (39–140 °F). When storing cooked rice for use the next day, rapid cooling is advised to reduce the risk of toxin production."--Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:58, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Excuse me, but would you mind telling me what happens if I eat rice that contains emetic toxins? (I'll have to freeze my rice now. Thanks!) --70.179.178.5 (talk) 12:27, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Well, an emetic is something that induces vomiting.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:38, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Read the relevant details here: Bacillus_cereus#Pathogenesis. As the article says, freezing or cooking it will not remove or detroy the toxin once its in there. Freezing it is unlikely to kill the bacteria either. 92.15.2.0 (talk) 13:32, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

PS: As I proceeded to transfer the pot of rice from the rice cooker to the freezer, it seemed to reek a little. Is that smell caused by the same emetic toxin? Anyway, I guess I will have to keep it in the freezer for a while so that it "un-rots" (that is, by having the cold temperature kill the germs.) (I really hate throwing out food unless it's rotten beyond all hope, and I don't wish to throw out several pounds of rice. I think I have cooked enough in there to last myself until a week after New Year's.) --70.179.178.5 (talk) 12:32, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

It only takes ten minutes to cook basmati rice, for example, so I cook it fresh every day.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:38, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Stephan, you are wrong. It's rice bran, not rice flour, that you get rid of by washing. OP, what kind of rice are you cooking? There is aromatic rice and it is said that long grain rice is more smelly than short grain rice. Oda Mari (talk) 14:41, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Freezing won't necessarily kill germs, it just stops them multiplying. You have to freeze it before the germs get to a dangerous level. If they've already reached that level, it's too late. Heating can kill reliably kill germs (although not necessarily destroy the toxins the germs create), but freezing can't. I don't use a rice cooker (a saucepan works fine), but I would never cook rice in advance of when I needed it. Keeping food warm for a long time is very dangerous - germs multiply much faster in warm, moist conditions. --Tango (talk) 14:54, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

If you buy sacks of rice from India or Pakistan (such as can be found in ethnic grocers, and which can be much cheaper than rice from a supermarket), that rice has lots of loose starch that needs to be rinsed off before cooking or you will end up with a gooey porridge instead of the loose grains of rice that you want. Marco polo (talk) 17:12, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Whether you want it or not depends on, well, what you want. Personally I love sticky rice. There was a Thai place in Denton, TX that did a couple very nice versions of it; one with mango and one that was sort of purple (I think the color was from the rice itself). It's more of a dessert than a main-course starch though. --Trovatore (talk) 04:18, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

My mom says that such rice may include some preservatives like borax which must be washed properly before cooking. manya (talk) 03:59, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Don't leave rice in a rice cooker on the warm setting for 24 hours. This is an optimal growth temperature for mould and bacteria. I have had fungus appearing on rice in this exact circumstance after 24 hours. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 11:22, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Kind of Font

What kind of font do you think this is? I am trying to make a style for the VREX in {{infobox station}} but I need to know what the font type is first. Thanks, →♠Gƒoley↔Four♣← 19:48, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Looks close to Baskerville to me, but I make no claim to be a typographer. Collect (talk) 20:05, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. →♠Gƒoley↔Four♣← 20:11, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Looks like plain old Times New Roman Bold to me. [1] Definitely not Baskerville. Look at the capital C and lower-case k closely, the way the boldness is distributed. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:35, 19 December 2010 (UTC)