Cooking chicken and eating it later

[mah38900]

I used the 'search' feature and found a few related threads, but I didn't find an exact answer to my question. So I am posting this new thread.


What I would like to do is this:

Buy a bag of frozen, boneless chicken breasts
Thaw, then cook a few of them and store them in the refrigerator immediately after cooking
Eat the chicken in sandwiches for lunch in the following days.

I understand that while refrigerated, the chicken needs to stay under 40F. I'm trying to pack lunches and snacks for myself while I spend most of the day on campus. I can store the chicken in an insulated bag along with gel 'ice packs,' and I think this will stay below 40 degrees.

However, for safety purposes, do I need to re-heat the chicken, or is it still safe to eat it cold assuming it has stayed below 40F?

 

[babetoo]

should be ok . just refrigerate the sandwiches you make.

 

[TATTRAT]

yeah, you will be fine. Kids/people have been brown bagging it for years, with no temperature insurance. So long as the chicken has been handled properly in your processing of it, you will be fine for a bagged lunch chicken sammich.

 

[Chef Dave]

When you store the cooked chicken, initially put it in the refrigerator without covering it. One of the biggest mistakes health inspectors see in the industry are foods being improperly cooled.

Covering hot chicken with plastic wrap will trap heat ... so put the chicken in the refrigerator without covering it. Let it cool and then individually wrap the chicken and either refrigerate them or freeze them. I would also recommend dating and labeling.

In the food service industry, if you're reheating a cooked product, it must be reheated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 15 seconds. If you're okay with eating cold chicken, I don't see a problem with not reheating it provided you observe time controls i.e. don't keep cooked chicken in your refrigerator beyond 3-4 days.

 

[Zhizara]

Keep a days worth in the fridge, and the rest in day size baggies in the freezer. Easy enough to move a bag from the freezer to thaw in the refrigerator as one bag is finished. Why take chances on getting sick or wasting food. Also this way you can switch to something else for a day or so and it will still be available and fresh when you want it.

Another idea would be to freeze the sliced meat in sandwich size portions. When packing your lunch, pack your bread & fixin's separately. By lunchtime the meat will have thawed and you can add it to the bread for a non soggy lunch. The meat will stay fresher longer by starting out frozen.

 

[tmcgee]

I have often cooked chicken and eaten it cold the next day. It is often even tastier!

I have a friend who lives alone and hates cooking meals for 'one'. She roasts a chicken on a Saturday to eat during the week. She keeps the cooked chicken in the fridge and either has some in the evening with salad or slices up the breast to use in sandwiches for work. She is able to eat the chicken over 3 - 4 days and this has never made her ill.

 

[joesfolk]

If I were concerned with this issue I would make the sandwiches from frozen cooked chicken. It should thaw by lunch time. Don't forget that if you put mayo on the sandwich you need to take extra precautions to be sure that it will remain cold.

 

[Moon Flower]

If I were concerned with this issue I would make the sandwiches from frozen cooked chicken. It should thaw by lunch time.

Would not thawed cooked chicken cause the sandwich bread to go soggy?

 

[Barbara L]

Would not thawed cooked chicken cause the sandwich bread to go soggy?

I was thinking the same thing. If you used it frozen, you would probably want to pack it separately, then when it is defrosted, add it to the sandwich right before eating.

Barbara