How the hell does frozen rice smell so bad?

[Giant_Spongess]

Okay, so I’m a college student and have a small fridge in my 10x10 kennel. I have to admit that a dish of rice has been lurking in there for…uh…quite some time. I noticed that the fridge was starting to get a little funky before I left for the weekend, and by the time I came back…pheew. It was very nearly staggering. Yesterday I finally pinpointed the smell: the offending rice. Just plain rice, nothing added or anything. It smelled like spoiled milk. I took a closer look, and noticed something encrusted on the lid. For a horrified moment I thought it was mold, but no, it was just ice crystals.

I put it back in the fridge.

Today I steeled myself to do something about it, because it would only get worse. So I excavated it again, and held it as far away from my body as possible on the way to the trash bins in the hall. After prying it out of the dish I hurried to the sink and washed it good. No more smell! Hopefully it hasn’t seeped into the other items in my fridge.

So I’m left scratching my head…how the hell does frozen rice smell so bad? Shouldn’t it just have dried up and petrified? Doesn’t fermentation need heat? I’m confused and slightly nauseated.

[August_West]

Starch and moisture can make some incredibly funky smells. I , too, would have thought that the freezing temps would have inhibited the growth of whatever you had breeding in there. How long was that rice in there?

I do commend you for cleaning out the dish, I would have just thrown the whole thing away.

Spoiled milk aroma sounds like Lactobacillus, lacto loves starch too.

Oddly, I kind of like the lacto smell, especially on grain. Sharp and tangy. I am weird.

[ouryL]

@Giant_Spongess

Okay, so I’m a college student and have a small fridge in my 10x10 kennel. I have to admit that a dish of rice has been lurking in there for…uh…quite some time. I noticed that the fridge was starting to get a little funky before I left for the weekend, and by the time I came back…pheew. It was very nearly staggering. Yesterday I finally pinpointed the smell: the offending rice. Just plain rice, nothing added or anything. It smelled like spoiled milk. I took a closer look, and noticed something encrusted on the lid. For a horrified moment I thought it was mold, but no, it was just ice crystals.

I put it back in the fridge.

Today I steeled myself to do something about it, because it would only get worse. So I excavated it again, and held it as far away from my body as possible on the way to the trash bins in the hall. After prying it out of the dish I hurried to the sink and washed it good. No more smell! Hopefully it hasn’t seeped into the other items in my fridge.

So I’m left scratching my head…how the hell does frozen rice smell so bad? Shouldn’t it just have dried up and petrified? Doesn’t fermentation need heat? I’m confused and slightly nauseated.

Now you know what Natto is like. :eek:

[Chefguy]

Rice does not keep well. I generally throw out any leftover. Rice also absorbs whatever flavors and moisture are around it, sort of like baking soda.

[Savannah]

How long would you keep cold, cooked rice in the fridge? I always make 2-3 times what we need hot so that I have cold, leftover rice for stirfry. I have occasionally been surprised to discover it doesn’t smell very good after a week or so. Heh. Then I throw it away.

[ouryL]

Cooked rice can keep for over a week in the frig if it is kept covered and fairly dry. We do this here all the time. How long it was since it was cooked matters. Rice cooked in the summer don’t last as long as rice cooked in the winter. A good sushi type rice can keep even longer.