Freeze mine, cause I use it so little. Works fine for me!

I buy both brown and basmati rice at Costco, and store in sealed plastic containers rather than the plastic lined burlap bags I've found rice packaged in there :) I've never had mice, but why tempt fate...

This is a climate without extremes (no warm and humid) though. All the years my aunt lived on Guam, she froze rice. And cereal, flour, sugar, spices, just about everything - it was the only way to keep bugs out.

If I had to refrigerate or freeze rice, I wouldn't buy it at Costco and use up my cold spaces.

my father was a rice farmer, all my rice is put in sealed bags and ziplock bags in the freezer. It can develop bugs and in some areas molds if left at room temperature.

I put mine in a mason jar and seal with my Food Saver Jar attachment.
If you dont have a Food Saver, you can accomplish the same by using an oxygen absorber. The rice will last for years.
I do the same with crackers, coffee, instant potatoes, brownie and cake mixes, noodles, sugar, flour...etc

Thanks for that info Raven. I think I'll go ahead & put it in the freezer...don't want insects or mold in my rice.

Heat in the oven warm enough to dispatch any current varmints or wanna-bes ...

... then store in a coffee can ... yogurt/margarine tub, preserving jar with sealed lid, etc.?

We don't have super hot weather here, and cold won't cause trouble in this circumstance.

With several of the Great Lakes near, it does get humid, but I haven't heard of people having trouble with uncooked rice moulding when stored on a pantry shelf.

o j

brown rice is so different from polished white...i'd think that alone would make it more fragile?

yes brown rice still has the outer layers which contains fatty acids which will become rancid, you can smell it a musty or sourness.

I don't worry about mice, but in the summertime, we see plenty of mealy bugs or those tiny moths if we don't keep it refrigerated. I have an extra fridge that I keep the flour and rice and other grains in.

In the winter, I tend to put my bags of rice out on the balcony when I first bring them home to freeze any hitch-hikers.

But I do have a container of brown rice in the freezer. My basmati and regular rice, I just have in a bin in the spare bedroom. No room in the freezer for bulky stuff like that.

I keep it in the freezer too. We eat a lot of rice but I still keep it in the freezer.

I have always stored my rice in the freezer and other grains as well. Brown rice to keep it from going rancid and the other rice and grains to kill any moth larvae. My brother in the grocery business taught me that lesson because he said rice is the worse culprit for moths and I also learned from experience not to bring big bags of bird seed inside m house. took me forever to get rid of the moths that hatched in the bag LOL

Anne

OMG the dreaded moths from bird seed! I had them so bad in my previous house it was driving me insane. You buy a brand new bag of seed and darn if there are not larva and moths in the unopened sacks. This one place I used to get it from was a big warehouse type place and there were moths all over the place so I had to quit buying it there. I started putting it all in the freezer too. But that does not kill them it just stops them while it is frozen, when you take it out and it thaws they come right back. They are just in suspended sleep mode lol.
My bird has gone on to bird heaven so no more bird seed in the house ever!
Peanuts will also do the same thing as birdseed though so be careful with big bags of peanuts.