NEW! Do you have a mold story to share? Perhaps you are in the middle of a major mold crisis and you could use some help or advice. Or, perhaps you've fought mold and won (or you're still fighting!) and have a story to share. We want to hear from you! Share your story today.
Do you have a serious mold problem in your home or office building? Would you like some professional help? If so, request a remediation consultation.
When Mold Attacks Your Rice Cooker
It’d been one of those busy weeks in the Wold family. Between work and school, Joslyn and I hadn’t had much time to clean up our kitchen. The small gang of fruit flies looking a little too much at home in our kitchen was a sure sign that it was time to clean.
We went through a bunch of dishes and made excellent progress. Down near the end of the line, I reached for another dish and stopped immediately as my nose caught a strong wift of unpleasantness. I looked through the dishes, trying to figure out what it was. Then I saw it.
The Rice Cooker.
Some good friends of ours had given us a beautiful rice cooker as a wedding gift and it had served us well. 15-20 minutes and fresh, perfectly cooked rice is served.
The past weekend, Joslyn had cooked rice to take on a Church outing and we’d forgotten to empty the leftovers when we returned home.
Our beautiful rice cooker was in trouble. As I opened the container my gag reflex kicked in and I braced myself to help dinner stay down.
It stank bad.
Here are some photos of the mold for your viewing pleasure. To ensure safety (and because of technical limitations), the smell has not been added.
Naturally, we weren’t about to lose such a nice rice cooker. We took the following action:
- Initial Cleaning – After washing the rice down the drain (thank you, insink disposal), soap and water took up a thorough attack, cleaning the rice cooker well, inside and out.
- Secondary Cleaning – For good measure, I went at it with soap and water again, noticing that the smell was still lingering around.
- Smell Elimination – I took a bottle of “Veggie Wash” (an organic mix, made up of citrus and coconut extracts) and sprayed the container generously. The citrus kicks in almost immediately and, in addition to helping with the smell, sends the citrusy goodness to fight any last lingering bacteria.
Tip: You can pick up a fruit & veggie wash at your local grocery store in the produce section. A fresh lemon, cut, squeezed, and rubbed over the affected areas would do the job as well.
And voila! Our rice cooker is back.
Another fight against mold (albeit a small one) successfully won.
Jonathan Wold
MoldBlogger.com
Tags: food mold, mold on rice, Mold Stories
Like this post? Pass it along!
I can’t believe I found this story! The ‘inter-blogs’ are just amazing!
I purchased a cooker for my teenage son, who loves rice. Recently, when we ran out of rice, he left a bit in the cooker, and we had the same result. The smell was just horrible, and would not go away.
I was able to eliminate most of the smell by putting a few cups of baking soda in the bowl for a week or so.
However, when I read your post I have followed up with the cleaner to kill any bacteria as well.
Thanks for your info!
Deb on July 25th, 2009that’s nothing… i recently had a rice cooker problem… the inside of it was almost completely covered in green and white fuzz.
anyhoo, putting it in a garbage disposal is pretty awful advice IMO, because then the spores go flying all over the place. you have to contain mold. throw it in the trash and take it out immediately. if the problem is really bad, then bleach pot. bleach the steam valve thing on top of the rice cooker (i suppose you could boil these too). rinse very well and it should be fine.
adriana on October 28th, 2009Oh no, mine was NOT fine after a hot bleach bath, a vinegar bath, and a baking soda bath, NOTHING got the smell out completely. How can non-stick and aluminum be so porous to absorb these odors? The plastic I can understand, but the non-stick aluminum lid and bowl? I’m about ready to give up, i’ve cooked a pot of rice, and the smell is absolutely still there. The next thing to do is try to infuse the thing with the smell of coffee, something burnt is a strong odor, let’s cross fingers….
misti on January 29th, 2011uh, yeah, so, this is pretty much the worst advice ever. any plumber will tell you that putting rice down the drain is second only to pouring concrete down there. this is doubly so for garbage disposals, because it turns it into a paste that is literally impossible to get out––the pipes have to be replaced if it gets bad enough. second, you don’t want to be sending mold spores through the air, as was mentioned above. third, there are nooks and crannies that the mold get into that need to be cleaned, and possibly parts that need to be replaced. simply washing the bowl is not enough. you need bleach, q-tips for electronic parts, and a soak for submersible parts.
kw on February 22nd, 2011I had green mold…hubby put the cooker away with rice still in it. SO horrible. It still smells.
I also put it down the disposal…didn’t even occur to me that the spores would get spread out. 
Dang.
I’m thinking we just need to replace our whole machine. SO bummed.
megscole64 on September 15th, 2011