Posted on 07/03/2021 4:34:48 PM PDT by SamAdams76
You can delay raw chicken from spoiling by cooking it, but cooked chicken also has a limited shelf life. Before you bite into that plate of leftovers, check over the chicken carefully to make sure it is still good. Chicken can be bad but have no signs. Throw it out if you notice any of the common signs of bad cooked chicken to avoid food poisoning.
Time Is Not On Your Side
Cooked chicken must be refrigerated within an hour after cooking so bacteria doesn't begin to multiply. The meat is only good for two to three days after refrigeration, so be sure to label the chicken before sticking it in the refrigerator. Beyond three days, throw the chicken out. Plain chicken pieces, whether roasted or fried, are good for four months in the freezer, while chicken covered in broth or served as part of a casserole or similar dish is good for six months past the storage date when frozen at zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Chill Out
Bacteria multiply rapidly within the danger zone of temperatures between 40 and 140 F. Your refrigerator temperature should always be below 40 F so the cooked chicken stays good for the full two to three days. The temperature dial or readout on your refrigerator may not be accurate, so buy a small thermometer that hangs from a rack in your refrigerator to double-check. If you find your refrigerator doesn't cool meat to below 40 F, throw the chicken out.
Something Smells Funny
The smell of spoiled, raw chicken is unmistakable and is likely to blast you in the face as soon as you open the refrigerator. Cooked chicken doesn't smell quite as bad when it starts to spoil, but it does take on an offensive odor. If you think the chicken might be bad, its odor is one of the easiest indications of spoiled meat. Plenty of other foods in a refrigerator can produce offensive odors, so it's best to remove the chicken from the refrigerator, unwrap it and smell it away from other foods.
Color Me Bad
Freshly cooked chicken is brown or white. As chicken goes bad, it begins to take on a gray tint that intensifies as time goes on. In some cases, the chicken might turn green, gray-green or blue-gray. If the outside of the chicken shows no color change, make a small cut and check the inside of the meat. In addition to color changes, you might also see mold growing on the chicken or feel a slimy film developing on the outside. Chicken that has been boiled, a common practice before grilling or shredding chicken, can sometimes take on a gray color even while cooking so take this into consideration and look for other signs. Remember that chicken can be bad but smell and look perfectly fine. If you think it might be bad, throw it out and do not taste it.
Gonna try that. Thank you!
Inchon, Korea, 1950. I was the best cook Uncle Sam ever saw, slinging hash for the Fighting 103rd. As we marched north, our supply lines were getting thin. One day a couple of GIs found a crate, inside were six hundred pounds of prime Texas steer. At least it once was prime. The Use date was three weeks past, but I was arrogant, I was brash, I thought if I used just the right spices, cooked it long enough...
I went too far. I over seasoned it. Men were keeling over all around me. I can still hear the retching, the screaming. I sent sixteen of my own men to the latrines that night. They were just boys.
Bobby Colby. All that kid wanted to do was go home. Well
he went home alright, with a crater in his colon the size of a cutlet. Had to sit him on a cork the eighteen-hour flight home!
Yep. And everyone I know, myself included, has managed to keep Thanksgiving turkey dinner leftovers out on the counter for HOURS and not getting sick from eating them.
“Cooked chicken must be refrigerated within an hour after cooking so bacteria doesn’t begin to multiply. The meat is only good for two to three days after refrigeration...”
I wonder if anyone follows these guidelines. I must like bacteria I guess. They used to hang fowl for days and days before they cooked it.
FReegards
“They used to hang fowl for days and days before they cooked it.”
If you keep it dry it’ll last for days.
Especially if the temp is below 50 and the air is dry.
You can hang beef or game for several weeks at 40 deg as long as you keep it dry.
If your raw chicken smells like rotten eggs, that is salmonella. I found that out recently. Fortunately I was smart enough to check Google before I cooked it.
I know at one period they were into letting meat get high, or what we now would consider high, because it supposedly softened up tough and stringy meat and intensified flavor. I never tried it so who knows. I’m brave enough to keep and eat cooked chicken for more than three days though.
Freegards
I fried up some chicken, made some homemade rolls and french fries for dinner tonight. Ugh, too carby for me but it’s what he was wanting from Chicken Express. Saved him from covid, unwashed employee hands and $34 plus an hour’s worth of gas (both kinds).
The cats shared my piece of chicken. Might have a roll for breakfast.
Foster Farm or Perdue produce better quality chickens
> Thoroughly cooked fried chicken is virtually indestructible.
I like mine medium rare. Is that wrong?
Who peels the sweet potatoes?
Aging a beef or deer sides & quarters?
I age deer quarters 3 days. In our college apartment, we took out the fridge racks and had deer quarters aging.
Some beef sides are aged several weeks before cutting up.
I don’t peel them. The skin has a lot of nutrients.
Good answer.
What about vegetarian chicken?
If it’s still clucking, don’t eat it.
I agree; everyone should question this nonsense. How did the FDA determine that chicken spoils in 2 to 3 days? Based on theory? “In 48 hours bacteria can multiply to significant numbers at 38 degrees?” They obviously didn’t actually put chicken in a cold fridge and eat it every day. I cook chicken for my dogs in a large slow cooker all the time. I eat some of it as well. I usually cook enough for the whole week (10 to 14 pounds at a time). After 5 days it does start to lose a little flavor, indicative of some bacteria proliferation, but I often go to 6 or even 7 days, and have done this for decades now, and never had “bad” meat or illness.
Something Smells Funny
The smell of spoiled, raw chicken is unmistakable and is likely to blast you in the face as soon as you open the refrigerator. Cooked chicken doesn’t smell quite as bad when it starts to spoil, but it does take on an offensive odor. If you think the chicken might be bad, its odor is one of the easiest indications of spoiled meat. Plenty of other foods in a refrigerator can produce offensive odors, so it’s best to remove the chicken from the refrigerator, unwrap it and smell it away from other foods.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.