[Clean On] Nasty ricercooker situation

Desert_Eagle25

So me and my flatmates left for winterbreak forgetting about the ricecooker still having rice in it, which quickly transformed into a delightful cesspool after the few weeks we were gone. I've cleaned both the bowl and the inside with isopropyl alcohol (70%) and used a bit of bleach on it, but after my 1st and 2nd test batches, the rice still smells...off. almost sour and bitter. Definitely some kind of rot.

Besides getting rid of it (which isn't an option, it'd be rice cooker #3) how can I clean it? It seems apparently safe to dunk the entire thing in a larger bucket, as apparently the internals of the device are pretty much water proof.

Enc

Even if you boil it in alcohol, it's likely going to stay tasting off. I can say this from a similar experience with a rice cooker and a coffee pot abandoned during an emergency.

I tried all sorts of cleanings, but in the end it still tasted weird and bad to me. My guess is that its more psychological than actually bad for yo at that point, but I'd just go ahead and buy a new rice cooker if you have the money. They usually run about $30 bucks.

Pandion

OK I talked to my wife who is, shall we say, japanese. She said to clean the top part that comes down on the bowl really well and also clean the rubber gasket on the top because that attracts odors.

Figgy

A rice cooker is 25-40 dollars. Wouldn't you say you've spent that much of your time trying to salvage this thing already?

Chances are you're nearing that mark in cleaning solutions alone, no?

Mold is a tricky thing to rid of, and it is probably living in some nooks and crannies there as well. I'd pitch it and buy a new one.

Aridhol

Figgy wrote: »

A rice cooker is 25-40 dollars. Wouldn't you say you've spent that much of your time trying to salvage this thing already?

Chances are you're nearing that mark in cleaning solutions alone, no?

Mold is a tricky thing to rid of, and it is probably living in some nooks and crannies there as well. I'd pitch it and buy a new one.

Rice cookers are at most $30 for a 6-8 cup (fuckton of rice). This is not worth the effort.

Improvolone

I got my single serve rice cooker for $7.
Buy a new one, or at least just a new insert.

SideAffects

I recommend a new one.

As a microbiologist, I'm pretty comfortable telling you that bleach and 70% IPA will sanitize anything. If you have a moldy odor, it's probably saturated under the gaskets or other pieces of the equipment. Make sure you are rinsing the bleach out completely, and then drying it completely. Also, you can consider also using vinegar as a sanitizer, but then you'd be adding another smell to the mix

IANA Mycologist though

Gopherboy128

If I couldn't afford to replace it, I would still throw it out and use a regular pan to make rice the old-fashioned way with boiling water... fuck that eating gross rice just to be frugal...

JackOfAllTrades

Throwing things is a no no for us. You can save a lot of money by just buying a new rice cooker because of spoiled cooker. What we do in our country is that we set the rice cooker on and let it burn for about 10 mins.you'll see on your pot that there are some burnt substance, those things cause your rice to spoil faster.Once you get rid of those substance by scrubbing metal pads it will make the lifespan of rice much longer. And another option is putting a cup water solution and 1/4 cup of vinegar and let it boil for 20 mins. in this way it will kill the bacteria that is causing your rice to spoil. Just let it dry first before using it again.