Preserving Your Grains Fresh: Rice Storing and Shelf Life

Rice, being a staple food for most Indians, also needs special storage and care if you intend to preserve it for a long time without hampering its safety. Just like most of the other loose ingredients around your kitchen, rice also needs to be stored properly as there’s a risk for it to be contaminated by the bugs.

In every household around various regions of India, people tend to store rice in different ways. Some use an air-tight jar, while some just consider tying the mouth of the rice sack. Everyone is aware of how important it is to store rice, the only worrisome fact is, they don’t know the right way to do it! 

But, it is important to be able to judge whether your storage technique is right or wrong. Therefore, this article intends to help you learn more about the right way to preserve rice grains and increase their shelf life.

What are the Safe Ways for Storing Rice in Your Kitchen?

Remember, the rice shelf life, when stored at room temperature, can range from 6 months to 2 years. The dry, uncooked white rice can last for up to 2 years, whereas the brown rice will last for only 6 months. Different rice varieties have varying shelf lives, but storing them in an appropriate manner is the key to achieving their end limits until they are consumable.

Therefore, here are some of the best practices that you can implement in order to seek rice storage, with proper hygiene and care measures concerned:

• Store Rice in a Cool or Dry Place

Indians often have a tendency to buy rice in bulk, for which you will need a large-sized rice grain storage container. But the point is that this bulk amount of rice can feed you for months or years only if you tend to store it properly.

The rice storage container you buy shouldn’t necessarily be airtight, but the place you store it matters a lot. Remember to place the rice jar or container in a cool or dry place that is away from direct sunlight or moisture.

• Freeze the Rice Grains

It is an uncommon technique, but it is still something that’s quite feasible to preserve rice for a long time. You can consider pouring your uncooked rice into a specific freezer bag and then storing it.

The only thing you must take note of is squeezing the air out of that bag to the maximum possible extent. When the rice is frozen, it indefinitely stays fresh for a very long time.

• Keep the Rice Grains Away from Bugs

Keeping your rice grains away from the bugs is one of the most crucial things for you to count on. The bugs or moulds can contaminate your whole bag of rice in no time, which would make the entire quantity unfit for you to consume.

To prevent this problem from occurring, you can pick certain kitchen ingredients, such as neem leaves or bay leaves, and store your bulk rice with them. This will keep out the bugs from infesting your rice.

• Keep Rice Bags Away from Certain Ingredients

When you are storing rice, it is recommended that you don’t keep any aromatic spices around it by any chance. This is because, if you do, then there is a high chance that your rice will absorb the aroma of those spices.

This is possible because you would definitely be accessing the rice container to take out the necessary amount every day for your cooking purposes. During that period of time, the aromatic spices would leave their fragrance in the container, letting the rice grains absorb it.

• Cooked Rice can be Stored in the Refrigerator

Cooked rice is more prone to being contaminated sooner than that of uncooked rice. Therefore, if there’s some cooked rice left behind after the meal, you must store it very carefully. Remember to cool down the rice before it can be stored, and then dump them all in an airtight rice storage box to avoid any contamination.

When placed at the right temperature, the cooked rice can be kept fresh and consumable for the next 3 to 4 days. It is suggested to store the cooked rice at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius. Alongside that, when you are taking out the bowl of rice for consumption, remember to reheat it in a proper manner.

Conclusion

So, this was a clear depiction of the few tips or ways you can adopt in order to store your rice properly and keep it fresh for a long time. This would not just help you preserve rice to utilise the money spent on it for the long term but also to eat healthy at all times. Your rice is nutritious only till the time it is fresh and isn’t contaminated.

India Gate Foods brings you the best quality basmati rice that has a magnificent aroma and lasts longer than other traditional rice varieties. But even with India Gate rice packs, you must obey the right storage tips on priority, as there’s no alternative to it!