I made some awesome arroz con gris (beans and rice) that I froze after cooking it. The only animal product it contains would be lard. Otherwise, it’s just rice, beans, garlic, onions, green bell peppers, olives, and herbs. I don’t remember how long ago I made it, but it could be anywhere from 6-12 months ago. It stayed frozen the whole time. If I thaw it in a pool of room temp water and warm it up on the stove, is it safe to eat?
It’s been a hard day and my brain ran out of thinking fuel. I can’t even google this rn. I appreciate any helpful responses.
After that long, taste and texture might start deteriorating, but as long as you’re sure it has remained completely frozen (the recommended tempretures are 0F and -18C) it should be safe effectively forever.
assuming the food was cooled properly it should be safe to eat for years but taste/texture might deteriorate, especially if not in airless containers some fats react with oxygen that affects the taste.
Also often the preferable way to defrost would be to just throw it in oven/pan/microwave.
When my grandmother moved, she sent over two dozen tupperwares of beans and rice she’d made ten years ago and forgotten in the bottom of her chest freezer. The rice didn’t reheat well, it ended up getting soggy, so we turned it into fried rice, and it was just fine, nobody ever got food poisoning.
It’s safe. I’d heat it up on a pan though, with some lard; it might help with the freezer burn.
This is the best idea but not bothering with the slow defrost. Just low heat with lard in a pan, stirring until it defrosts then heat until it is at the desired temperature.
If I thaw it in a pool of room temp water and warm it up on the stove, is it safe to eat?
Don’t thaw with warm water. Gives bacteria a nice environment to grow. Use cold water. It’s just as effective and safer.
I’ve eaten year old frozen meat.
Rice however doesn’t seem to freeze well. Not sure why.
Rice doesn’t freeze/re-cook well because when you cook it it fills with water. When you freeze it you trap that moisture in it and there’s really no way to reheat it without all that moisture escaping. It’s the same reason rice gets hard if you leave it out too long - the water evaporates.
Well I ate it cold and it still wasn’t good. Only frozen one night.
So you froze rice and then ate it cold? Like frozen cold? If you ate it frozen, it wasn’t good because it was still frozen. If you ate it “room temperature” cold it wasn’t good because it dried out as it thawed! It also probably dried out a little before you froze it.
Out of curiosity why can’t you just make fresh rice for the reheated dish? Is it all too mixed together?
Sigh no I obviously did not eat it frozen. It was frozen in and thawed in a glass sealed Tupperware container so no it didn’t dry out before, during, or after. Thawed to room temperature not reheated. There is just something weird about rice that it doesn’t freeze well in my experience.
The water still escapes the rice in an air tight container it just stays in the container as condensation. It won’t soak back into the rice without heat, and even then the texture of the rice will not be the same. It won’t be fluffy and soft like fresh rice is. If you aren’t worried about adding extra calories, you could try pan frying the rice before freezing or after thawing. The texture will change but it should be very flavorful thanks to the oil and added moisture.
Thanks!
