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.
We have our fridge set for *suspended animation*.
Leftovers keep more than 4-5 days.
Making sure that you don’t cross contaminate, handling the chicken only with clean hands, and covering it while it cools can make the chicken easily last a week after cooking, but after a couple of days, it is always good to check. Again, if it not longer smells like chicken (including the odor becoming faint), it is likely bad.
I got a bad chicken buscuit once.
When you have to sit on the can and puke into the sink
at the same time you can figure it out.
Please, just let me die!
I don’t eat food that’s been in my very cold gridge. When I was a kid, I ended up dangerously ill from food that had been kept in the fridge too long. It happened to me 3 times.
I always allow my food to cool fully before placing it in the fridge because it will sour faster if not fully cooled. Every half decent restaurant cook knows that. And then I wrap it to keep other odors from flavoring it.
If you kill a chicken yourself, it’s ok to let that bird rest for a couple of days in a very cold, but not so cold as to freeze fridge.
Otherwise the bird will be tough. The problem is, very few people gave a fridge that hovers around 33/34 degrees. I’ve had milk keep for several days beyond the fresh date on the bottle because I keep the fridge very cold. It simply makes a huge differènce...but even still, if it’s not eaten up by the third day, out it goes.
I guess I live dangerously. I try to eat any unfrozen cooked meat within a week or so. If it’s around a week I won’t eat it cold/room temp but re-heat it somehow. If it’s much beyond a week, I kick myself in the rear and toss it.
From everything I have read, at one time they were more accepting of meat being what we would now consider spoiled, as in actually smelling slightly decomposed or rotten before they cook it. Some of that would just be lack of refrigeration, but supposedly some meats they preferred to actually get really high before they prepared and ate it.
Freegards
Written by the same fear-mongering people who advocate double masking? The statement is faulty on 3 counts: 1. Not all refrigeration is the same, as it can much vary in temps, as does shelf life relative to it. How long (total) a item is left out, and at what temp, also determines shelf life. Consider milk:
One Degree affects Product Quality, Room Temperature
Took product out of Refrigerator
One minute out –41 degrees, Milk will lose one day shelf life
Two Minutes out –43 degrees, Milk will lose 3 days shelf life
Three Minutes out –44 degrees, Milk will lose 4 days shelf life
Four minutes out –45 degrees, Milk will lose 5 days shelf life
Five minutes out –48 degrees, Milk will lose 7 days shelf life
Six minutes out –50 degrees, Milk will lose 8 days shelf life
Seven minutes out –53 degrees, Milk will lose 8 ½ days shelf life
* If product is maintained at this constant temperature - https://drinkunited.com/handling-dairy/
2. Whether the product has been opened or closed can affect shelf life.
Third, depending on the above, if you heat older chicken up thoroughly (single portions 2 to 3 minutes in the micro) you can kill bacteria (if not toxins) and render it safe.
LoL is that for real 😦 😂
LOL
[living dangerously]
Heh, I had some General Tso’s - from the store - deep-fried with the sauce.
It was 3 weeks past best buy. I ate it over the next week. 3 different meals.
No problem at all. I keep the fridge a little extra cold.
First time I ate 2-3 pieces. No problems at all.
So I took it about a month past best buy date.
Now, you kids don’t try this at home. LOL
:)
yep
What I had was deep-fried, of course. So it was thoroughly-cooked. As you said.
(see my comment above)
If it ain’t cooked all the way through, don’t take a chance.
Saved your recipe!
Looks delicious!
Just needs Parmesan and oregano!
Oh, and some Sun-baked butter.
The only question left is: “Why did he do it?”
At least he used the crosswalk.
Homemade rolls are the best!
Frank Costanza never got over the guilt for that terrible mistake.
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