# White rice issue and prepping



## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Most lists seem to insist white rice is a staple in the prepper's pantry. However, everything I read states white rice has little nutritional value. Would someone please help me figure this out? I have tried for years to eat and enjoy brown rice to no avail. I strongly dislike it.

I watched a video about vacuum sealing rice in jars and it sounds like a great idea for my family. But not if there is something else I should be storing instead.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

White rice has little nutritional value - you are correct. It's used like many types of noodles as a filler to add bulk and carbs. 

If you don't like it - don't store it - it won't be eaten (by you) just move onto something else you will eat and do like. How many times has someone here said that?

Not a big issue. These lists are not written in gold - they are just guides.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Wolf man,

I do like white rice. Maybe I am over thinking things. I just want to spend my money and time on things that will provide the best for my family. I am overwhelmed with all the information and my need to keep pressing forward. 

Terri


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

While white rice may not offer a lot of nutritional value, it does help other things go further.
Some rice, beans, a little chicken, a little onion and chopped bell pepper, some chili powder and a dash of salt make a very filling meal, for example.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

I store white rice as it stores longer than brown rice. The two types of white rice I store are Thai Jasmine and Basmati. I do keep a small bag of brown rice in the house - but not in any quantity as my family prefers the white rice (if given a choice, lol).
So if you like white rice, why not store it?


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## Sumatra (Dec 5, 2013)

If you just want nutrition, then you might as well just live off multivitamin pills. Rice is a staple in many lists because it provides carbs which, when digested, fuel your body's systems and provide fiber for digestion at the same time. 
Beans on the other hand provide protein and larger amounts of nutrition, complementing the rice, which is why the two are often paired in many lists as very good long-term staples.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

What about barley? I think it has better flavor than rice, although I store rice too.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Converted rice has some of the "nutrition" put back in, but rice in general is a "white" - meaning in the class of white bread, potatoes, and other white products that supply simpler carbs and often sugars. Your local smelly hippy will look down his nose at all of those, but in moderation the can be fine. I agree that brown rice goes rancid and becomes useless if stored too long.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

White rice is mostly carbohydrates. Brown rice has the husks still attached. The husks contain thiamine (vitamin B1). People who consume brown rice seldom get beriberi while it is more prevalent in folks consuming white rice.

A prepper has to consider the longevity of the storage of a food and it's nutritional value. If you don't want to store brown rice, you can get thiamine from these foods;

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/thiamin-b1-foods.php


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## used2bcool13 (Sep 24, 2007)

Have to agree with Harry parboiled or converted rice is a vitamin enriched rice that is my favorite, really holds it shape after cooking and reheating. Not mushy. It is your best white rice vitamin wise.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I agree with Sumatra - we store white rice (both regular and parboiled, with some basmati and jasmine for variety) mainly for carbs and as a filler to stretch the meat and veggies farther. I've also got lots of pasta because it also stores well for many years. We do eat those items in moderation, but if the EOTW happens and we're doing heavy outdoor labor and can't get to a store, we'll be happy to have food of any type. 

We only eat white potatoes 3-4 times per year, but we grow some every year and I can them or dehydrate them to keep as meal fillers, too. And while we do eat legumes/beans pretty often, I store lots of them because they're easy to store, are filling, and are reasonably nutritious.


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## montysky (Aug 21, 2006)

Kentucky Dreamer I am with you, try as I might I just don't like brown rice, so We store white rice that everyone in the family likes. We picked up some last month for .29 cents a pound.


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 26, 2008)

Rice has amino acids that are critical. Rice and beans (together) provide the same amino acids that are in meat. If you have a suitable protein in your diet (broccoli, etc) the rice and beans will keep you healthy. 

SC


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Thank you! I knew I was overthinking. I had spent the day pickling beets, got over tired and my mind went numb. I was thinking, why am I taking perfectly good beets and adding sugar to them? My mind went wild from there. Crazy.

I am going to get the par boiled, white, basmati and jasmine for variety and start storing and making two rice meals per week ( try new ideas ). I am a bit excited to buy the food sealer with canning sealer attachment. 

Terri


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

If you are storing foods for emergencies, you need to think about what kind of emergencies ie: will you have to ration water? or there's no income coming in until my next job, but I have water & fuel (electricity/gas) to cook with.

If you have to ration water and maybe fuel to cook with, you'll be looking at different types of food. If you have no income for a while (but can pay bills), you will have water & fuel therefore you can stock foods that need to cook longer and need water.

I think your question goes along with learning about NUTRIENT DENSE foods. 

Wolf mOm


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Rice is not a complete food, and brown rice has a few more nutrients in it than white rice. BUT! this has only been a problem for people who eat little BUT rice, and not for people who eat a variety of food! 

In other words, beans plus white rice will give you a more balanced protein than any kind of rice alone, including brown rice. So if white rice is what you want, enjoy! Just store other foods as well.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We seal white rice in 2 gallon mylar bags with o2 absorbers, then into 5 gallon pails. Sealed this way they should keep a long, long time.

Although rice isn't a high content food, it sure makes other more nutritious foods go further.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

KentuckyDreamer said:


> Thank you! I knew I was overthinking. I had spent the day pickling beets, got over tired and my mind went numb. I was thinking, why am I taking perfectly good beets and adding sugar to them? My mind went wild from there. Crazy.
> 
> I am going to get the par boiled, white, basmati and jasmine for variety and start storing and making two rice meals per week ( try new ideas ). I am a bit excited to buy the food sealer with canning sealer attachment.
> 
> Terri


KentuckyDreamer - with the basmati, my advice is to not buy it in the burlap bags as the rice can take on the taste of the bag. I buy basmati in the plastic type bags (some good brands are Khazana and another is Tilda among others). Larger bags/amounts can be found at Indian stores often for a better price than online. 


IF you want to try something different in the rice department, you could always get some Thai sticky purple rice (it cooks to a purple color). I've seen it for sale and have told myself I need to get some for those special occasions.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

I have white rice in mason jars...we are eating 3yo rice right now...kept in cool crawl space.

Love to serve this kind of soup over rice:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-F...sy-Broccoli-Soup-Mix-13-oz-Pack-of-6/22985174


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## sand flea (Sep 1, 2013)

Also, brown rice will only store for 2-3 years, before it goes rancid from the oils in it. White rice, properly stored can last for 20-30 years.

The vacumn sealer canning attachment will work for dried foods, but it's not a substitute for canning. 

Because I wasn't familiar with anything but root cellaring and canning/freezing... when I started out thinking about LTS - long term storage - I googled up several lists of how long food could be stored and still be good. There are some variations, btw - in those lists. 

Since what I store are mostly single ingredients for scratch cooking, I've started simply categorizing my inventory with a USE BY date, typically the year. The foods are the same, in each year group. Keeps me from over buying, a bit... if I know I have more than enough peanut butter for a year, I simply wait to buy more for the next year (and look for longer term storage subs - like pnut butter powder).


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Store what you eat and eat what you store! That has been my motto for years now. If you really don't like brown rice (neither do I) then by all means select what you like. There is nothing more disheartening and demoralizing then having to tap into store that you don't like to begin with!

Yes, there is a little greater nutritional benefit to eating brown rice, but as Terri mentions, this is only important if your diet is subsisting solely on rice and little else.

Focus on eating a variety of dark green and bright orange vegetables, and you get far and above all the vitamins you'll need. Even in winter, there are wild edibles that will supplement the output of your furloughed garden. In my area it's Miner's Lettuce, which is pickable in January here. Have a plan for providing a variety of foods and you'll be far ahead of everyone else, and you won't have to spend money on vitamin pills.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

I LOVE the bags of white rice we had stored since 2008- use it to make dog food on the wood stove, adding veg- cod liver oil, kelp- with some raw meat (or in a pinch, leftover meat) (though now, as it is hot, they get purchased dog food)
If things went bad, sure need a way to feed the ranch security.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I store basmati and white rice because my whole family loves it- and it will fill up bellies- since we all love it and it is filling- it is a win/win for my family


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Never listen to the snobs.... I guarantee you, if you haven't eaten in a week, and start eating rice, you'll live a lot longer, than if you eat 'nothing'....

who eats rice, all by it's lonesome? This is what spices and a jillion other things are for.... 

Rice is cheap, no reason not to have lots on hand...


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

InHisName said:


> I LOVE the bags of white rice we had stored since 2008- use it to make dog food on the wood stove, adding veg- cod liver oil, kelp- with some raw meat (or in a pinch, leftover meat) (though now, as it is hot, they get purchased dog food)
> If things went bad, sure need a way to feed the ranch security.


Forgot about it's multipurpose use....

In all of Denali Park's patrol cabins, there's a barrel full of white rice.... humans can eat it, and so can dogs.

Recently went thru some 15 year old buckets of rice, and they were still good.... made some dog food out of it, boiling it, adding vegetables and meat trimmings.... dogs lived on it quite nicely.


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## JamieCatheryn (Feb 9, 2013)

Cooked and cooled rice offers prebiotic fiber which is important for microbial gut health. It's carbs without a lot of antinutrients like some grains have. I wouldn't base my diet on mostly rice (except temporarily in a pinch), but nothing wrong with having some either. Can some good chicken stock too, cook rice in that, then you've really got something.


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

for some of my middle aged kids who don't have anything set back in case of TEOTWAWKI...Hate the stuff:yuck: use it as a desiccant in my gun safe and to polish brass with in the vibrator.. :thumb:


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## hsmom2four (Oct 13, 2008)

Rice is my go to grain. I can't have gluten so I store every little wheat products long term. I don't want to have to deal with cross contamination in a SHTF situation.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

AS others mentioned, I store white rice in vacuum sealed mason jars. Keeps the mice from getting in it, and keeps any water/humidity from messing it up.

I do the same w/ brown rice. Store in my basement, & it does pretty good overall.

I also keep many juice bottles filled with well water, and they can be used w/ the rice & dried pinto beans to keep eating for a long time.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Thank you all for the suggestions. I bought 25 lbs of basmati, 25 of jasmine, and 50 of white. I am vacuum sealing a years worth, then putting the rest in mylar bags sealed inside a bucket. 

I had not thought of the dog food use...thank you so much for that reminder.

I am also gathering recipes and trying one a week to insure my son and I find ways we like and we do not get bored. 

I am doing the same with quinoa.

I PLAN to make a few versions of bean soup and can in case the power goes out...as well as store dried.

I am on a roll....


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

When I was growing up we mainly used rice as a breakfast cereal. A bowl of hot white rice with sugar, butter and milk on it. Really good stuff on a cold winter morning.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Rice + Beans= Complete Protein......... works for me.


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## totalmindandbod (Aug 11, 2014)

how about brown rice?


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

texican said:


> who eats rice, all by it's lonesome? This is what spices and a jillion other things are for....


My wife and kids.  The kids were born here and prefer McDonalds or the same crap that other American kids eat, but they often eat just plain white rice and enjoy it. My wife was born in Vietnam and came here when she was around 18. She often eats just plain white rice. I agree about the nutritional value and the carbs, but there were many times when she was growing up that a bowl of rice was all she had to eat. Meat or other additives were simply too expensive. Even though her Dad owned a farm and they had other stuff, they usually sold that off simply to survive because meat and fresh vegetables are so expensive there and drew a premium which allowed them to survive. 

While I agree with everyone that white rice alone is not great as your sole dietary supplement, there are billions of Asians who eat only rice and live to a ripe old age, while surprisingly, many of them smoking like chimneys. LOL I totally agree you need other stuff, but we will be storing a good quantity of white rice because my wife (hopefully jokingly) says that she'd rather die than not have rice to eat.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

KentuckyDreamer said:


> Thank you all for the suggestions. I bought 25 lbs of basmati, 25 of jasmine, and 50 of white. I am vacuum sealing a years worth, then putting the rest in mylar bags sealed inside a bucket.
> 
> I had not thought of the dog food use...thank you so much for that reminder.
> 
> ...


KentuckyDreamer - are there any recipes in particular that you're looking for?


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