Is my frozen chicken ok to use?

[schoolgirl]

Sometimes things just get covered up in our chest freezer and that is what happened with some chicken vacuum sealed in 2006. I know it has been frozen all this time so do you think it would be safe? I keep looking at it and wondering. I don't want to make us sick. These foodsavers do a wonderful job of sealing but is it enough? Faye

 

[babetoo]

Sometimes things just get covered up in our chest freezer and that is what happened with some chicken vacuum sealed in 2006. I know it has been frozen all this time so do you think it would be safe? I keep looking at it and wondering. I don't want to make us sick. These foodsavers do a wonderful job of sealing but is it enough? Faye

don't think it would make u sick. however the quality of the chicken will not be very good.babe

 

[Callisto in NC]

I would use it. I remember my mother used things she had frozen for very long periods of time and we never had a problem. The only problem with chicken is the texture can change. Look at it carefully and check the texture. If it looks okay, you should be fine.

 

[GB]

It is safe to eat. Quality may not be as good as it once was, but it also may not be as bad as some people will lead you to believe. Cook it up and let us know.

 

[pacanis]

Can I ask something here.....
What if it had freezer burn?
I just picked up some chicken wings on sale a few weeks ago and looked today and freezer burn is starting to move in. They are in the original bag.
Should I have taken them out and stuck them in a foodsaver bag after I bought them?

 

[GB]

The damage is already done pacanis. Putting them in a fooodsaver bag now will keep them from getting any worse, but the texture and flavor have already suffered if they are starting to get freezer burn.

 

[Michael in FtW]

schoolgirl - If it has been frozen all of this time ... yes, it is perfectly safe to eat. Since it is vacuum pack - you will notice little, if any, change in texture.

pacanis - Yep - I'm with GB. If you have vacuum packed it in the beginning you would have little damage to flavor or texture. Waiting until after the fact, the best you can do is accept the damage that has already been done and slow down any further damage - which hardly seems worth the effort at this point ... kind of like closing the barn door after the horses are already out.

 

[pacanis]

Thanks GB.
I don't want to have to throw out a couple more bags like I did a month ago. Chicken wings have gotten so expensive I try to buy a few bags when they are on sale. I wasn't sure how much quality would be lost since they are only going to get fried and grilled, but if that's all that will be affected I will repackage them tomorrow.
I will vaccuum seal them from now on after buying.

That said: (uh-oh)
When I moved into this house in 2001, there was a chest freezer in the basement that had foil packages and jars in it with date tags reading 1983. The woman who owned the place couldn't navigate the stairs anymore.
I threw that stuff out, too (lol).

 

[Michael in FtW]

LOL - skirt steak and flank steak were really cheap until fajitas became popular. Chicken wings? They could hardly give them away before the Buffalo Wing craze.

 

[schoolgirl]

Whew, I feel better about using it now. I sure did hate to throw those chicken breast out. I hate to waste food.
Those foodsavers are worth the money. I have found several packs of things just put in freezer bags that looked awful and would have to trash, but with the fs it still looks good for a lonnnng time. Thanks, Faye

 

[pacanis]

LOL - skirt steak and flank steak were really cheap until fajitas became popular. Chicken wings? They could hardly give them away before the Buffalo Wing craze.

You're telling me? I'm 1-1/2 hours from Buffalo.
Back when "the craze" was just catching on you could buy 5 lbs for $5 in the grocery store.... and that wasn't on sale. I think two or three bars in the closest city (Erie) were the only ones that had "wing night". All you could eat for around 3 bucks. 50 to go for $5. Nobody else even heard of them. And of course they didn't deserve a spot on the menu, let alone a second piece of paper to list all the flavors.
Terrible..... but that was a little over 20 years ago.
Hey..... wait a minute.... my chickens don't need wings to lay eggs

 

[Katie H]

Hey..... wait a minute.... my chickens don't need wings to lay eggs

pacanis, Marge's woodshed has just been renovated. Do you want to be the first one to see how NICE it is?

 

[BreezyCooking]

This happens to me too from time to time, & when I come across a "well-preserved" package of forgotten frozen chicken, I use it in a stew or well-sauced braise type dish. If there's any loss in quality at all, it ends up well disguised.

 

[Jeekinz]

It is safe to eat. Quality may not be as good as it once was, but it also may not be as bad as some people will lead you to believe. Cook it up and let us know.

You're recommending that it's "OK" to eat nearly 2 year old poultry? Frozen or not, it's in the trash. Let's be real people. Come on, Cuz. Is the $7.00 really worth it?

I'm the person that leaves a whole chicken in the sink to defrost. But I wouldn't touch 2 year old meat with welding gloves.

 

[GB]

Worth it? Sure is. What is wrong with frozen vacuum sealed chicken that is two years old? As long as it has stayed frozen the entire time then it is as safe as the day you put it in there. Why would you trash something like that?

 

[Jeekinz]

Why? Because a whole chicken is like $7.00 tops. I mean, if it's a kobe steak I might risk it. But the meat is so cheap, why even ask? Who knows how it was handled before it was packaged?

Just sayin'

 

[GB]

If you were willing to eat it before it went into the freezer then what would have changed? There is no next to no risk if it had been frozen the whole time. You say why risk it, but the risk is essentially the same as the risk you would take if you bought it and took it home and cooked it right away.

 

[Jeekinz]

Dude....2 years for a chicken breast? Paleeeze. There's no way I would touch that. It must taste like shoe leather. Two months I could deal with, NOT 2 years!

 

[GB]

This was not chicken that was loosely wrapped with plastic wrapped. It has been vacuum sealed. No air is getting in or out.

I have cooked meat that was vacuum sealed and was quite old. I can assure you it did not taste like shoe leather.

Leaving a chicken to defrost in a sink can make you sick. Bacteria is having a field day in it unless it is kept below 40F. That you will eat, but you won't eat chicken that has been sealed and frozen on the off chance that it might have dried out a little? Vacuum sealing works amazingly well. If the seal has maintained its integrity then there is little chance of it even really being dry, unless you overcook it.

 

[Jeekinz]

GB, there are alot of 'IF's' in that post. That's why I refrain from giving the OK. I realize the bird in the sink is not the "mainstream" way to defrost, but that's what I do. I only said that to show that I wasn't a Nervous Nelly when it comes to this issuue. I just feel the timeframe is way too long for that chicken breast to even be worth while consuming. What if the seal was not 100% on the packaging? I mean, Really? I'll send ya $2.00 for a new chicken breast. LOL