Yes, you can definitely freeze uncooked rice. I've kept it for over a year in the freezer. I don't know what the frozen food gurus will say, but my thnking is that it is dry, so I vacumm seal it so no moisture can get in. Therefore there is nothing to get 'freezer burn' or whatever else can harm it.
I am in Texas, too, further south than you, and one store in particular here is really good about including all kinds of little creepy crawlies, free of charge. ;>)

Rusty

You can freeze rice until the freezer wears out!...unfrozen rice is good for years, if stored in airtight bags....and if it doesn't have bugs sealed inside when it's packaged, so it figures that you can freeze it forever.
Linda C

I always keep any rice in the freezer.....that way I don't have to worry about critters or it going rancid.

Oh, thank you all. I'll return the moving rice to the store tomorrow, and pick up some more at another store over the weekend. Then I'll find a space in my freezer to cram in the rice.
Rusty, are we talking about Mr. Butt's grocery chain?

Yes, marlingardner, we sure are! Do you have the same problem there? I've wondered if it is the same all over, or just here.

Rusty

I keep rice and also flour in the freezer to keep it safe from "critters".

I would suppose you could do the same with dried pasta, too if it is not something you use regularly.

(Ahem) "Mr. Butt's"??? The name alone conjures up images...LOL

Linda

Yes Rusty, here in Central Texas "Here Everything is Buggy" to paraphrase.
For those of you not familiar with Texas grocery chains, one of the largest has as its motto "Here Everyhing is Better." I don't consider extra protein in my rice as better.

I live in FL and our conditions are not substantially different than TX. I think. Anyway, I have found bugs but don't have enough freezer space to freeze everything. King Arthur's flour and Barilla pasta have been bug free, but the pasta flour from a couple of months ago had moths in it. I froze that and then sifted it. YUK!

Wow this is great to know! Now I'll buy that huge bag of Basmati Rice!

"here in Central Texas "Here Everything is Buggy" to paraphrase"

"(Ahem) "Mr. Butt's"??? The name alone conjures up images...LOL "

Yup, only in Texas. :>)

Rusty

I live in Houston and have never had a problem with anything I've bought at Mr. Butts.

I do keep a bay leaf in my rice - I'm sure I read that tip here - to keep bugs out.

I use the bay leaf in my flour container. Works like a charm. Thanks for the tip about the rice; I'll add one there too. Don't have to much trouble with "critters" here in upstate NY, but as they say, "an ounce of prevention..."

We wound up with a nice moth infestation, thanks to Mr. Butt. :) I couldn't figure out where all these critters were coming from until I wanted to cook some brown rice. That was when we first moved to TX, since then I carefully check all dry goods in the store and they go straight into the freezer. No critters since, except the occasional 3 inch wood roach wandering into the house, blech and yuck.

OK, I'm saving this post and pulling it out next winter when it is ten below here and you all are sitting out on the patio!
:)

I don't know why, except maybe because it is so dry here for half the year, but I never get bugs in anything. And I have stored rice in a plastic bag for years on the pantry shelf. Same goes for pasta, flour, cereals, cookies and crackers. Knock on wood, I probably just jinxed myself. LOL
Clare

I've never heard of the bay leaf thing but I'm going to add a leaf to everything as an ounce of prevention. I've had worm problems in dried noodles from the Asian market & I've had bug carcasses in Valencia rice from Sur la Table; both were seperate incidences so I know exactly where they came from.

Doesn't the bay leaf impart its flavor to the flour?

I'm with you, lpink! I have just been convinced that North Dakota is a great place to live, cold and floods and snow and ice and all. Yuck.

I ALWAYS keep my brown rice in the freezer. The bran coating has a fair amount of oil in it that will go rancid fairly quickly.

1 more tip... sort of along with what LindaC mentioned too but first, a short story...

A year or 2 ago, when there was a shortage of rice in Australia, the Australians were buying rice from the Phillipines. The Phillipines in turn, were buying rice from the Thai's. Most of us Asians, eat Jasmine rice imported from Thai. So, the rumors were going around that there would be a shortage of Thai's Jasmine rice. My mom made me buy a couple of large bags (25 pounds) of the rice. Of course, I listened to her so I wouldn't have to hear it over and over again.

Can you imagine how long it would take just lil' ole me to eat 2 large bags of rice? So, I divided in smaller bags and vacuum packed them and just store it in the pantry. 'Til today, there's no bugs developed in the rice. When I open the vacuum packed bag, the rice is as fresh as the day I purchased it. No need for freezer room if you don't have it!