Rice Bugs...ick! Lesson learned!!

Posted on Friday 23 February 2007 at 5:55 PM in In The Kitchen - Post Comment

One of the first "homesteading" things I want to do is to begin to buy things in bulk. Unfortunately I don't know enough about this to properly store all my bulk purchases. I'm still learning how to properly store the things I don't buy in bulk! For example...I bought several bags of brown rice on sales at the grocery store.  I reached for the last bag of brown rice from the cupboard and as I opened it I knew something was wrong. It was infested with bugs.  I ended up tossing that bag out and going through everything in my cupboard as I cleaned it. I learned a very important lesson...don't buy brown rice in bulk unless you are prepared to store it properly. Thankfully it wasn't a very expensive lesson to learn...just a 1 lb. bag of rice. I would have hated to learn that lesson with a huge bulk of rice.

So I searched the internet and researched brown rice. Here is what I learned:

1. The world grows more than 40,000 types of rice and about 1.3 trillion pounds of rice annually. Rice is a staple food for more than half the world's population.

2. Rice is gluten-free, nonallergenic and suitable for those who suffer from celiac disease, as it's easily digested, which is very good for young and elderly people.

3. The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. By law in the United States, fully milled and polished white rice must be "enriched" with vitamins B1, B3, and iron.

4. Brown rice contains natural oils are in the bran layer near the surface of the grain, which can turn rancid when stored at room temperature. Check the dates on the rice you buy from the store and buy from stores that have a high turnover rate so you get the freshest possible.

5. Before storing your brown rice, put it in the freezer for 48 hours to kill any bugs/eggs.

6. Stored in an airtight container, brown rice will keep fresh for about six months. If stored in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator or freezer, it will stay fresh for up to a year.

7. If organic brown rice is available, consider purchasing it over conventionally grown rice. Conventionally grown brown rice has been found to contain small traces of arsenic. While the levels of arsenic are low and will not cause immediate illness, the build up of arsenic in the body, might be linked to some cancers.

There is a lot more...this website if chock full of info on the health benefits of brown rice http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128.

I'm now ready to buy more brown rice but I'm not going to go hog wild and buy it in bulk. I'll only buy as much as I have room to store in my fridge.

Untitled Comment

Posted by SofteningClay on Friday 23 February 2007 at 6:37 PM - Link

I did not know that about freezing the rice first. I have several bags that I am going to go throw in the freezer. Thank you!