Frozen Chicken....how long till it's bad

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jennifer75

Senior Cook
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
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I purchased a pound or so of chicken parts with a sell by date of Jan 25th, placed it in the freezer on or slightly before that date and have forgotten about it. I took it down yesterday and put it in the fridge to thaw, so I'm guessing it is nice and thawed by now. Is it still good? Been frozen for a few weeks now.
 
I have chicken in my freezer that I bought in November. As long as there's no freezer burn, it's fine; and with it being less than a month old, I can almost guarantee from 3000 miles away that there's no freezer burn yet. :)
 
Oh goodness - it's definitely still good. And you know, even if it did have some freezer burn, it'd still be fine to eat; the quality would have suffered, but not the safety.
 
I have some chicken that I bought on sale.. I will be making chicken parm with it tonight and freezing it for future meals. Pop it in the oven!
 
Good good good. Now, what to make with it. ;)
You want easy or hard? You can always do the quick route and just dump a can or two of cream of mushroom on it and let it cook for 40 minutes (assuming it's parts with bone not boneless skinless).

Okay, I've got nothing after the cream of mushroom tonight. I couldn't think straight to make my own food tonight and sent my DD out for take out Italian. Sorry, wish I was feeling creative, I'm usually pretty good with chicken.
 
Your chicken will be just fine. I've kept it longer than that.

It doesn't spoil in the freezer, but after 8-10 months, it starts getting a freezer taste. Turkey is the same way. That doesn't mean it's spoiled...it just won't taste as good.

What to do with it? I'd love it fried.
 
I'll put a whole frozen chicken in the slow cooker -- thawing enough to get the goodies out of the cavity first -- add some seasoning and let it do its thing on LOW for 8-10 hours. Great chicken and lots of liquid for a future soup and bones for stock.
 
I'll put a whole frozen chicken in the slow cooker -- thawing enough to get the goodies out of the cavity first -- add some seasoning and let it do its thing on LOW for 8-10 hours. Great chicken and lots of liquid for a future soup and bones for stock.

According to the USDA, frozen chicken should not be cooked in a slow cooker.

Focus On: Chicken

This is because uneven heating can occur that would leave the food in the danger zone for more than 4 hours in a crockpot. This would more likely occur on the low setting.

While thorough cooking would eventually kill Salmonella bacteria, Staph bacteria present on the Chicken could possibly produce enough toxin to cause illness.
 
I've cooked frozen chicken in a crock pot for over 25 years. Sorry but there are certain things I think they tell us because they "think" something might-possibly-maybe-in-one-in-a-million cookings might make someone who's really sensitive sick. I just don't buy it. I'll take life long experience over a short term study.
 
I would assume that many previous models of slow cookers only heated from the bottom and would therefore have cold spots that might cause a problem with chicken not heating up quick enough. I don't see that issue with today's slow cookers and I would laugh at anybody that said a RIVAL Crock-Pot did not heat up enough. :)

I'm very sensitive and involved with the issues of canning foods and spoilage, but I am more comfortable with using a slow cooker with a frozen bird than I am defrosting it in water and all the subsequent handling of it.

Yes, the USDA recommendation is important and should be considered, but in this case I will risk it.
 
Hi mcnerd ~ my mother's crock from the 70s heated on all sides then she got on with a stone insert and it heated all around so I don't know where the information in that report could have come from. It certainly confuses me.
 
I've cooked frozen chicken in a crock pot for over 25 years. Sorry but there are certain things I think they tell us because they "think" something might-possibly-maybe-in-one-in-a-million cookings might make someone who's really sensitive sick. I just don't buy it. I'll take life long experience over a short term study.

Well there is some truth in that. Most regulations have some level of safety factor built in. And the probability of having the staph organism present and enough toxin produced is not large. But it has nothing to do with short term studies. The potential does exist and it is real even if you decide not to consider it in your own kitchen. In a food service establishment, safe food handling practices are more important because so many more people come in contact with the food both before it is cooked and after. The more people involved, the greater the likelihood of a problem.

And believe me, if the toxin is present in sufficient amount, everyone will get sick who eats the food.
 
I would assume that many previous models of slow cookers only heated from the bottom and would therefore have cold spots that might cause a problem with chicken not heating up quick enough. I don't see that issue with today's slow cookers and I would laugh at anybody that said a RIVAL Crock-Pot did not heat up enough. :)

I'm very sensitive and involved with the issues of canning foods and spoilage, but I am more comfortable with using a slow cooker with a frozen bird than I am defrosting it in water and all the subsequent handling of it.

Yes, the USDA recommendation is important and should be considered, but in this case I will risk it.

It is not about the crock pot, it is about the chicken. Even in a crock pot that heats like a dutch oven, the bird itself has different thicknesses and different densities. Generally when we cook meat, we are cooking a single muscle. With whole birds, we are cooking white meat, dark meat and wings all at the same time.

The simple point is that a frozen bird will not react the same way to heating up that a thawed bird that is essentially all at 35-40 degrees will. The bird can sit at the area between 40 and 140 far longer. This is what the studies have found and this is the reason for the caution.

If you put a frozen bird in a 350 degree oven, it may take 3 hours to get fully cooked. No problem, that is under four. Put it in a Crockpot on low (as you originally said) and you are cooking at around 200 degrees, no matter how well the heat is distributed. If it takes 10-12 hours to be "done" at 180 degrees, how long will it take to reach 140 degrees?

The reason problems are rare, is because all pathogenic bacteria will eventually be killed at 180 degrees and spores will not be a problem if properly cooled and handled afterwords.

The only real risk is staph toxin, which is heat stable.

It is the job of the USDA to caution about this type of potential even if the actual occurrence is not that common.

We all have to decide for ourselves if we are willing to take the chances with our own families that we don't want the restaurants taking when we eat out.
 
Why take such a chance? If you've ever had food poisoning, you would take all recommended precautions to avoid it.
 
Why take such a chance? If you've ever had food poisoning, you would take all recommended precautions to avoid it.
I've had food poisening but not from my own kitchen. I know how to cook and what to look/smell for. The OP's chicken has no issue. Cooking frozen chicken has never given me a problem. Certain agencies go over the top but it's not necessarily right for home cooks and how we prepare food. I will not stop cooking frozen chicken.
 
I've had food poisening but not from my own kitchen. I know how to cook and what to look/smell for. The OP's chicken has no issue. Cooking frozen chicken has never given me a problem. Certain agencies go over the top but it's not necessarily right for home cooks and how we prepare food. I will not stop cooking frozen chicken.

Was someone suggesting that you stop? Obviously it's a personal choice when it's your personal kitchen.

I am suggesting that a credible study trumps anecdotal evidence. I am suggesting that just because a person has avoided any problems doesn't necessarily mean the action is without any possible adverse consequences. And I am suggesting that since this is a site about cooking and food, we should be very careful about what we advocate.
 
I've had food poisening but not from my own kitchen. I know how to cook and what to look/smell for....
That sort of urban myth is a recipe for disaster. Botulism toxin, for example, is invisible, has no taste or odor, and is potentially deadly.

It's one thing to take risks knowingly yourself, but quite another to expose family and friends to illness or even death simply because it's never happened before. Suggesting that others ignore government and industry warnings because they're "over the top" is irresponsible.
 
Something else to keep in mind is that you can not know on your own that you have never given yourself food poisoning. Symptoms can vary greatly and can happen 3 days after you have eaten the food in question. You could get a headache 3 days after eating something and that could be a form of food poisoning. Only a doctor doing a blood test would be able to tell you for sure.
 
Was someone suggesting that you stop? Obviously it's a personal choice when it's your personal kitchen.

I am suggesting that a credible study trumps anecdotal evidence. I am suggesting that just because a person has avoided any problems doesn't necessarily mean the action is without any possible adverse consequences. And I am suggesting that since this is a site about cooking and food, we should be very careful about what we advocate.
We'll just have to agree to disagree because I have never heard any person who has cooked a frozen chicken having problems. "Studies" are paid for by someone. Our grandmothers, mothers, and other family weren't paid by anyone and their "anecdotal evidence" is not just anecdotal, it's also real life. These "studies" are not in real kitchens in real environments. Suggesting we disagree with "studies" isn't irresponsible, it's experience. I'm pretty sure people know when any of us say "in my experience" they know we aren't certified overpaid experts and just home cooks who have always had great experience with our methods. I will never stop advocating taking these studies with a grain of salt and trusting yourself. Just not my style.

And, again, the OP's chicken is perfectly fine to use. If you buy chicken before the sell date, freeze it, thaw it in the fridge, it is perfectly acceptable to use. There is no doubt in my mind or even in the "studies."
 
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