Summary The extraction, processing, characteristics, and stability properties of nine batches of hexane‐extracted rice bran oil were investigated. The oils were refined, bleached, and deodorized and their color and stability determined. Samples of the bleached oils were hydrogenated to approximately shortening consistency, deodorized, and the stability of the hydrogenated products determined. Pilot plant extractions of five batches of rice bran yielded crude oils equivalent to 91% of the hexane‐soluble portions of the bran. The nine crude oils whose content of free fatty acids ranged from 2.0 to 6.3% were refined by the cup method with losses ranging from 12.0 to 23.5% although the neutral oil content of six crude rice bran oils ranged from 89.9 to 92.6%. The Lovibond color of the nine refined oils ranged from 35 yellow and 4.5 red to 70 yellow and 9.5 red, and the color of the bleached oils ranged from 15 yellow and 1.5 red to 35 yellow and 3.2 red. Steam‐refining, employed in conjunction with alkali‐refining, proved effective as a means of reducing the losses in refining rice bran oil. The nine batches of refined, bleached, and deodorized rice bran oils had iodine values ranging from 101.3 to 105.7 and stabilities averaging 24 hours. Nine bleached oils hydrogenated to approximate shortening consistency had iodine values averaging approximately 66 and stabilities averaging 370 hours. Refined, bleached, and deodorized rice bran oil is bland but has some tendency toward flavor reversion. The most outstanding characteristics of rice bran oil is its exceptional stability after hydrogenation.