Highlights •Multiple hydrolyses of rice straw by domesticated paddy soil microbes were studied.•Maximum VFA and TOC were obtained after 3 hydrolyses with a 45% inoculation ratio.•Degrade rate of rice straw and CH4 yield were 82.2% and 462.1 mL/g VS, respectively.•The cumulative CH4 production curve fitted well with the modified Gompertz model.