What's the Shelf Life of Chicken in the Fridge?
Don't allow food safety to become a non-issue. Here are some tips for extending the shelf life of a cooked and raw chicken in the refrigerator.
Does this remain good? Every time you open the fridge and take something out that you had planned to make for dinner a few nights ago, the same question pops up. (Side note: How come GrubHub is so simple?) It's possible that the uncooked chicken you thawed the day before—or a few days earlier—is still on the refrigerator shelf.
Or perhaps you even spent your whole Sunday cooking a large quantity of chicken and planning meals, but by the end of the week, what's left is starting to look a bit suspect. How long does food stay fresh in the refrigerator, and more particularly, how long does chicken stay fresh in the refrigerator?
It's a crucial question since eating ruined chicken may be just as deadly as eating spoilt milk, milk that has gone bad, or leftovers that have developed a fuzzy coating. Of course, you'll need to think about sell-by dates, fridge organization, and meat storage recommendations to get an accurate answer, but experts say there are other factors to take into account as well. Find out how long cooked and raw chicken remains fresh by reading on.
Get Reader's Digest's Read Up newsletter every week for advice on home maintenance, travel, and technology, as well as humor and interesting facts.
RD.com and Getty Pictures (5) How long can you keep the uncooked chicken in the refrigerator?
Martin Bucknavage, a senior food safety extension advocate at Penn State, claims that raw chicken purchased at the meat counter may keep for up to two days in your refrigerator. This might not match the sell-by date printed on the packaging.
Although you should examine the sell-by date, which shows the last day a retailer is permitted to have the chicken on the shelves, the appearance, and aroma of your dish are far more crucial.
To guarantee that bacteria aren't growing on the chicken, keep in mind that grocery store employees closely check the temperatures of freezers and refrigerators. Only cuts of meat that are likely to be sold that day are made at the meat counter, and the temperature of the case is then carefully watched.
Bucknavage adheres to the two-day-in-the-fridge guideline regardless. Of course, you have a little more latitude if you purchase sealed raw chicken, as from Purdue or Bell & Evans. Even if the sell-by dates on such packages are more precise, you should always check the condition of the chicken before using it. Follow the two-day rule for anything you don't use after you've opened the package and let the chicken air out.
How you store raw chicken in the fridge also affects how long it will last. First, says Bucknavage, make sure the fridge is at the correct temperature: at or below 40 degrees. The bottom shelf of the refrigerator, which is normally the coldest area, is the greatest spot to keep chicken.
Additionally, be sure to keep the raw chicken in airtight containers, which are the best food storage options, to prevent it from being exposed to moisture or air, which can lead to the growth of dangerous bacteria. Additionally, this will prevent other items in the refrigerator from contracting germs from the chicken.
How long can cooked chicken be stored in the refrigerator?
How long does chicken last in the fridge? has a significantly different response if you purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, such as one of Costco's well-known $4.99 rotisserie chickens.
What is the shelf life of a cooked chicken in the refrigerator? According to the USDA, a rotisserie chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for three to four days. No matter whether you roasted, broiled, baked, or fried the chicken, the same rules still apply. To put it another way: Don't anticipate that any sort of chicken you prepared on Sunday will be OK by Thursday.
As with raw chicken, Bucknavage stresses the need for appropriate storage of cooked chicken. Once more, this entails keeping it sealed up tight to prevent exposure to air or moisture. When cooked chicken is improperly kept or deteriorated, germs might start to proliferate and cause food poisoning.
The bacterium Pseudomonas putida and Aeromonas hydrophila can grow on damaged cooked chicken. While B. thermosphacta, P. fluorescent, and S. putrefaciens are distinct from those found on raw chicken, they nonetheless make you ill.
How long does frozen chicken stay fresh?
Raw and cooked chicken that you won't be eating straight away can be kept in the freezer. According to Bucknavage, frozen raw chicken may stay fresh for months in the freezer. How many months, precisely? Whole raw chicken can be stored for up to a year, chicken parts for nine months, and giblets and ground chicken for three to four months, according to the USDA.
Chicken that has been thawed out in the refrigerator is safe to refreeze, so if you planned to eat it but decided against cooking it for any reason, you may put it back in the freezer to thaw out another day. It might not taste as wonderful, though.
All of this, according to Bucknavage, comes with a significant caveat: Your freezer must be maintained cold enough and your chicken must be stored appropriately (0 degrees).
While you can wrap your chicken before placing it in a container, according to Bucknavage there is no need to, both raw and cooked chicken should be stored in sealed glass or plastic containers.
If you don't store your chicken properly, it might have freezer burn, which can cause it to become dehydrated and lose quality.
How to identify spoiled chicken
All these recommendations can help you determine whether your chicken is safe to eat, but they cannot take the place of your senses. According to Bucknavage, these are the clear symptoms that your chicken has spoiled:
It smells rotten.
It's sluggish.
The pinkish hue has shifted to gray, yellow, or green.
Recap: Whether it's cooked or raw, chicken may stay fresh for a very long time when properly frozen. Use it immediately though because the shelf life in the fridge is substantially shorter!
After learning what to do with chicken, find out how long fish may be stored in the refrigerator and which items you should never consume after their expiry dates.
Sources:
"Chicken from Farm to Table," says Martin Bucknavage, senior food safety extension advocate at Penn State FSIS.
"A study of microorganisms infiltrating refrigerated cooked chicken; their spoiling potential and putative origin," according to The Journal of Hygiene
USDA: "For how long may chicken be frozen?"
FSIS: "Food Safety and Freezing"
Comments
Post a Comment