Being more versatile and satisfying, rice is one of the common comfort foods. People fell in love with the delicious, filling, and a steaming bowl of rice. Moreover, rice is the essential ingredient of a number of traditional cuisines. But sometimes, people find rice in the comprehensive list of fire-catching foods. So, is rice flammable?
However, some people find rice a life-saving ingredient in a home kitchen. Therefore, this topic seems to be worth explaining, and thus we are here to guide you in this case.
So, if you are a new one experiencing cooking, you must have proper knowledge about all the hazardous or fire-catching foods. Therefore, let’s see whether your findings are true or just folks.
Is Rice Flammable?
You may be surprised to know that rice is a combustible food and can catch fire instantly. However, it also depends if rice is cooked or uncooked and if the flame is too high or low.
No matter what are the circumstances, rice can catch fire or spread the fire even more unexpectedly. So, you must know your food in that way.
Since rice is the most beloved and filling food dish for everyone, so it’s always present in our kitchens placed either in the food cabinets or pantries.
But unfortunately, it won’t save you from kitchen fire but can even spread the fire more and more.
However, rice can extinguish the fire in case if you put it on the fire enough to cover or suffocate fire otherwise, avoid using rice to eliminate kitchen fire.
Why Is Rice Flammable?
The primary reason for rice flammability is its chemistry. Since rice is a carbohydrate so it frequently burns like other carb foods such as flour, table sugar, and cotton.
All carbohydrates are macromolecules made up of many saccharide units. When carbohydrates get heat or high temperature, they break down and form highly flammable and ignite molecules known as hydroxymethylfurfural.
Being highly combustible, this chemical compound gets burned quickly and sets the remaining carbohydrate on fire instantly.
The same goes for all other kinds of foods or substances containing carbohydrates.
However, rice can stop the fire when cooked or boiled. And the reason behind it is that cooking or boiling incorporates water into rice, making it wet and less combustible. So, it is true for cooked rice, not for dry rice or sawdust.
High Temperature Causes Rice Burn
Usually, cooking needs medium or low flame, resulting more palatable and delicious food recipe. This way, food doesn’t catch fire because the temperature is too low to burn it.
But if you are cooking carb food like rice on a very high flame, a high temperature can set it to fire. So, always follow precautions and cook rice on medium flame.
Rice becomes hazardous whenever you make cooking on a high flame without keeping an eye on the pot. The high temperature will evaporate all the moisture making rice highly combustible and flammable.
Can Rice Extinguish A Kitchen Fire?
The answer may be yes or not. Rice can extinguish or stop a fire if used in a very large quantity that goes enough to cover or suffocate the fire.
But rice is still a carbohydrate and flammable, so can cause fire to spread even more. Moreover, if you are thinking of extinguishing grease fire, stop here because grease makes rice more and more combustible than usual.
However, there are a couple of options you have. Firstly, you can extinguish the fire using rice in a very large quantity. Secondly, you can try cooked rice.
As you know, cooked rice contains high content of moisture and thus might be helpful to stop a kitchen fire. But if the fire is strong enough to burn rice, the results will be dangerous.
So, we don’t recommend doing this because it can prove dangerous and even deadly. Therefore, try to use a suitable fire extinguisher instead of using rice.
What About The Rice Burnt At Bottom Of The Pot?
A similar question regarding this conversation is burnt rice at the bottom of the pot. We think that everyone burns rice in starting days of cooking or learning to cook rice perfectly and deliciously.
But can burned rice catch fire just like dry rice? It depends again on the stove flame and temperature. There is a high risk of fire catching when the flame is too high and finishing rice completely dry.
Burnt rice can catch fire if the flame is too high. But it’s quite safe to cook it at low or medium flame. So, never leave your flammable food like rice alone or unattended until it’s done. This way, you can minimize the risk of fire caught by rice.
Read Also: Why Does Brown Rice Cost More Than White Rice?
Some Other Flammable Foods
Every day, we deal with many combustible or flammable foods in our kitchen but don’t even notice them. Some are available in the form of powder, or some are prepared or fried in oils.
For instance, alcohol-containing sauces, bacon, and garlic are combustible foods. So, handle these ingredients safely and follow precautions.
Alcohol-containing sauces catch fire when placed near the stove flame. Similarly, fried bacon produces bacon grease that makes bacon combustible. Moreover, garlic contains oils that are more likely to catch fire.
So, there is a wide variety of food ingredients that are flammable other than rice. And you must know about them to avoid the risk of an unusual kitchen fire.
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