How Long Does Cooked Rice Last? (Need Answer Fast)

Cafe Society
21

I have found the smell test to be quite reliable, and will eat anything that
does not smell bad.

Normally rice lasts ~48 hr from when cooked at room temperature for me.
I never refrigerate it because that makes it way too chewy.

However, I have found that most raw vegetables last last a week to 10 days
if each item is individually wrapped and stored in the lowest section of the
refrigerator. I do not know if that applies to cooked vegetables, which I never
keep for more than about two days.

22

Do you normally cook your rice that dry?

23

Nope. There’s a difference between water activity and “dry”. Something can have low water activity and still contain a lot of moisture.

Once you refrigerate rice, the starch molecules set up. So while it still contains a good amount of water, it’s not readily available to support microbial (or fungal) growth.