How to Keep Rice Warm after Cooking, All the Time

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By Ashley Woodward • Last Updated: February 16, 2023

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How to Keep Rice Warm after Cooking

Hello Everyone! Isn’t it nice to come home and eat some warm and fluffy rice, but do you also wonder how to keep rice warm after cooking? Today, I’ll teach you the different ways on how to have the perfect, warm rice all the time.

Rice is one of the best and easiest meals to prepare that can pair up with a large variety of meals. As with any other meal, rice is best served while hot.

Typically, rice takes a very short time to cook depending on the rice variety. Brown rice typically cooks longer than the other varieties as well as it needs more rice to water ratio.

Most people find it hard to keep the rice warm after cooking. If you are one of the people who have a hard time figuring out how to keep rice warm until serving time, this article is for you.

I will teach you the different methods on how to keep rice warm without compromising quality.

Reheating Cooked Rice: Is This an Option?

No, this should definitely not be an option. Let me tell you why:

First, you can prepare rice by either boiling, steaming or even frying in several ways.  When rice is properly cooked, the appearance is milky white, dry and the grains are separated from each other in neat rows.

Further, the surface is decked out by steam holes and a flaky appearance that makes it look good. If your rice is wet, sticky or lumpy, it has not cooked through and the taste will definitely be horrible.

Regardless of your preference in the hardness or softness of your rice, the final outcome should be completely dry unless you are using and cooking sticky rice recipes. Under the right conditions, your rice will stay in this form until it is served.

If you have to re-heat your rice, this means that you will be re-introducing the moisture and therefore compromise the quality of your meal. If you intend on going down the reheating route, chances are that you will serve your family or guests lumps of soggy rice that don’t taste good.

Eliminates Bacteria Growth

uncooked rice

Secondly, did you know that rice is ranked as one of the highest (PHFPotentially Hazardous Foods? PHFs pose increased risk for a myriad of food-borne illnesses.

Uncooked rice has spores of bacteria known as Bacillus Cereus. This Bacterium is notorious for causing extreme levels of food poisoning.

These spores can survive in the rice when it is cooked due to its moist environment. When you cook rice and store at room temperature before mealtime, the spores grow into bacteria that will produce toxins. The toxins can cause severe cases of diarrhea and vomiting.

As mentioned earlier, reheating rice means that you are taking it from perfect dryness to a moisture-filled environment thus making it a breeding ground for bacteria.

How Do I Keep My Rice Warm?

When it gets down to keeping rice warm and maintaining its freshly cooked state, the line between success and lumpy rice is the how you cook it. The fact that rice is a versatile cooking ingredient means that it needs to undergo a particular cooking process so that the quality is maintained throughout the meal.

It is also important for you to keep it between 41 degrees and 140 degrees to eliminate the generation of the bacteria.

The best way to cook rice is by using stable and slow heat. It may be difficult to be able to regulate this heat manually; however, there are various kitchen implements that can make the process easier.

Some of the tools that help to keep your rice warm after cooking include:

bamboo steamer

1. Bamboo Steamer

Chinese people used bamboo steamers for decades on preparing rice. It cooks rice through steam by being able to hold moisture and heat. Once you place the bamboo steamer on top of the wok or pot, the steam cooks the rice through. Bamboo steamers are great at retaining heat which is also used in cooking other dishes.

2. Slow Cookers

Crock pot slow cooker

Slow cooker is used to cook a variety of meals by distributing the heat evenly and cooking the food for a certain period of time. Crock-pots cook the dish at low temperatures which is ideal for cooking rice perfectly.

When it comes to keeping rice warm, it retains the heat for a period of time. You can comfortably cook ahead of time and store it in the crock-pot for later use.

3. Rice Cookers

Zojirushi NSRN10FZ keep warm feature

Rice cookers are definitely the perfect option when it comes to keeping rice warm after cooking. As we all know, all rice cookers today have the ‘keep warm’ function which automatically works right after cooking the rice.

There are more advanced rice cookers today that uses multi-function cooking settings that not only keeps the rice warm after cooking but lets you cook other rice dishes such as paellalentils, barley, and even soups and stews for a complete meal.

The Best Method to Keep Rice Warm After Cooking

The rice cooker is undoubtedly the easiest way to cook rice perfectly. The best thing about rice cookers is that you don’t have to use drastic measures to keep it warm.

In addition, once you finish cooking, you don’t have to keep checking whether it is still warm or pressure yourself to eat it after a few hours. Rice cookers have automatic keep warm functions right after cooking.

All you need it to get the perfect rice cooker for you and your family’s needs. You can check out our previous posts on which rice cooker is the best.

Final Thoughts

After reading this article, you can now confidently include rice in your menu while planning parties and other events. Rice is a versatile ingredient that is commonly use as the base for a range of exciting meals. Keep a rice cooker handy where you want to make great rice dishes and keep it warm when needed.

Further, it’s a great investment because you can use it to cook other meals as well. If there are any uncanny methods you use to keep your rice warm before the rice cooker, tell us about it in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you!

🔥 Editor's Choice
Zojirushi NS-ZCC10

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10

Relatively small kitchen-counter footprint, an attractive exterior, and a number of different cooking presets,