You walk into your kitchen to prepare dinner, dip your scoop into the rice bin, and discover, along with the rice, some creepy crawlies. Yuck! Fortunately, there are ways to keep pests from invading your rice.

Here are some suggestions for keeping pests out of your raw rice:

1. Dry the rice thoroughly.

When you first bring your rice home from the market, spread it out on a clean surface under the sun for several hours. Alternatively, you can put your raw rice in a thin layer in pans and place them in a warm oven overnight. (Use the lowest setting on your oven.) Both methods use heat to dry the rice. This is effective because moisture is one of the main causes of pests in rice. Once the rice has been thoroughly dried, store in clean, sealed glass or plastic containers.

2. Freeze the rice.

As soon as you bring your rice home, place it into the freezer for at least four days. Freezing prevents any insect eggs that are already in the rice from hatching. (It's not pleasant to think about insect eggs in your rice, but it is a common reality. It's better to have eggs that have been frozen, than live insects.) If you have room in your freezer, you may store rice in the freezer, which will guarantee that no pests get into it, but that generally isn't necessary.

3. Put leaves into the rice.

Depending on which part of the world you live in, different types of leaves can be used to keep pests out of your rice. For instance, in India, neem leaves are used. In the western world, bay leaves are commonly used. Be sure to use dry, not fresh leaves.

4. Keep air out of the rice.

Pests cannot survive without air, so one way to keep pests from multiplying in your rice is to remove as much air as possible from your rice. If you buy rice in bulk, you may want to divide the rice into smaller amounts and use a vacuum sealer to remove air from the smaller bags of rice. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can use a drinking straw to remove air from the bag. To do so, put the rice into the zippered bag, put a clean straw into the bag and then zip the bag shut except for where the straw sticks out. Next, suck on the straw to remove as much air as possible and then quickly remove the straw and seal the bag.

5. Put dried chilies into your rice.

Be sure to put them into a small bag made out of cheese cloth to keep the chilies from breaking up into the rice, causing it to become spicy.

6. Purchase only small quantities of rice.

I tend to buy rice in bulk to save money, but if you find that you regularly find pests in your rice, you're probably better off buying small quantities of rice that you can use up before it gets buggy.

7. Store your rice properly.

It's best to use sealed plastic or glass containers for your rice. This not only helps to keep the air out, it will also help prevent pests from getting into your rice. If you use plastic containers, be sure to use containers that are made out of food grade plastic. Containers not intended to store food (e.g. plastic trash cans) are made out of plastic that can be toxic, so it is best not to use them for food storage.

8. Return the rice to the store.

If you find insects in your rice shortly after purchasing it, bring it back to the store to exchange it for a fresh bag of rice. Policies differ from store to store, but some stores will provide a refund or exchange even without a receipt.

Learn more about this author, Rebecca Livermore.
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