Ugh, is there something worse than being greeted with unusual scent after you open a package deal of chicken? Discovering spoiled meals is a surefire manner to spoil any pleasure you had about cooking dinner! However is scent sufficient to know that your chicken has gone from contemporary to defective? As knowledgeable chef, I’ve discovered that it’s a superb indicator, however there are many different methods to inform if meals is spoiled.
Table of Contents
How to Inform if Chicken Is Bad
Expiration Date
It’s typically onerous to know when meals has expired. Counting the times is at all times a great way to begin! Chicken’s expiration date varies relying on whether or not the chicken is cooked or raw.
Reading: How to know if chicken is bad
Uncooked Chicken
Earlier than you allow the grocery retailer, take a peek on the “use by” date on the package deal. The USDA says this date isn’t precisely an expiration date—it’s the date after which the chicken begins to lose its “peak quality.” So that you’ll have up to two days after that date to use the chicken. Past two days, listen to different sensory indicators to know if the chicken has gone bad.
Cooked Chicken
After cooking chicken, pop it into the fridge to quiet down as rapidly as doable. Don’t neglect to label and date your storage container so that you’ll know when the chicken expires. Eat it between three and 4 days after cooking; in any other case, it wants to be tossed.
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Be taught extra about how lengthy cooked chicken lasts within the fridge.
Odor
Whether or not you’re coping with uncooked or cooked chicken, a fast scent check will clue you in if one thing is amiss. Recent chicken has little or no aroma, though it could have a slight “funky” odor if it’s been sealed with its juices for some time. Chicken that smells strongly ought to be a warning signal. If the odor is fishy, bitter or sulfur-like—harking back to rotten eggs—it’s not secure to eat.
Texture
Touching uncooked chicken is nobody’s favourite activity, however it’s an necessary manner to know whether or not the chicken is nonetheless contemporary. Uncooked chicken ought to really feel shiny, moist and barely slippery. If it’s cheesy, slimy or sticky, toss it within the trash. The identical goes for cooked chicken, which ought to be agency and dry to the contact.
Look
If the chicken has gone bad, you’ll discover visible indicators of spoilage. Listen to these indicators in uncooked and cooked chicken. (The identical guidelines apply for salmon—study to inform when it has gone bad.)
Uncooked Chicken
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Uncooked chicken meat ought to be pink and shiny, and the fats ought to be brilliant white. Pores and skin-on chicken may have creamy-colored or yellow pores and skin, relying on the chicken’s feed. If any of these colours fade to grey, or if the pores and skin seems to be dried and doesn’t transfer simply, the chicken is not contemporary. If the grey darkens or turns inexperienced or yellow, it’s properly previous its prime.
Cooked Chicken
When chicken is cooked to correct temperatures (165°F), it turns from pink to opaque white. Cooked chicken is secure to eat so long as it maintains that white coloration and it passes all the opposite spoilage checks. If you happen to discover every other colours, like yellow or inexperienced, throw away these leftovers.
How Lengthy Does Chicken Final?
Within the fridge, raw chicken lasts up to two days. As soon as it’s cooked, get pleasure from it inside three to 4 days. If you happen to can’t meet these dates, pop the chicken within the freezer. For greatest taste, use cooked, frozen chicken inside 4 months. When correctly packaged, frozen uncooked chicken maintains its high quality for up to a yr. (Be taught if freezer-burned meals is secure to eat.)
It’s onerous to know when it’s time to toss leftovers. Find out how to inform if floor beef has gone bad.
Want to use your chicken ASAP? It’s time to whip up one in every of our straightforward chicken dinner recipes.
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