Do you have a black hole in the fridge? A vortex that hides leftovers and then makes them reappear just when you have doubts about how safe they are to eat? If you eat a lot of chicken, then that vortex has probably claimed more than a few potential meals. It happens. Here’s the rule of thumb so you can play it safe. When Is Chicken Still Safe to Eat?According to the USDA, you should eat cooked chicken within 3 to 4 days. Pretty simple. What if it’s been longer – say, 5 days? Then it’s up to you. There are pathogens that can grow on chicken that don’t have a taste or smell and won’t change the way the chicken looks. Use your best judgement. As the adage goes: “When in doubt, throw it out.” There are exceptions to this 3 to 4 day rule, including chicken salad (5 days), chicken hot dogs (2 weeks unopened, 1 week after opening), and packaged chicken lunch meat (2 weeks unopened, 3 to 5 days after opening), and deli chicken lunchmeat (3 to 5 days). How Do I Know When Cooked Chicken Has Gone Bad?Any change in the way it looks, tastes, or smells is suspect. Mold, of course, means pitch it. So does a slimy or slippery feel. How to Use Up Cooked ChickenThrowing leftovers away is a bummer. Here are some low-effort ways to avoid chucking what might be perfectly good food. The only key is getting around to it before it’s suspect.
Laura Vryhof/Demand Media Comedy writers know they can always get a cheap laugh by having a male character sniff at a piece of clothing, shrug and say, "it'll do." There's an element of truth in that picture, especially when it comes to T-shirts you didn't wear for long, but it doesn't extend to food. If you've got a piece of chicken in your fridge that's a bit whiffy, "when in doubt, throw it out" is a good rule. If the only problem is that it's past its sell-by date, that's a different story. It's Not an Expiration DateThe whole issue of dating on food is confusing for a lot of people, especially when it comes to fresh meats and other highly perishable grocery items. The first thing you need to understand, and this is really important, is that the date on your meat isn't there to say, "It's too late now, fool, throw me out or suffer the consequences!" Food dating is a voluntary thing that producers and retailers do. Sometimes that date is there for the store's own convenience to say how long a product should be set out for sale. Sometimes it's an indication of quality, a reminder that the product will be at its best for only a few days and should be used quickly. It's very rarely a "dispose-by" date or expiration date. The USDA itself estimates that up to 30 percent of the food produced in the United States each year goes to waste, and a lot of that is from people misunderstanding food dating and discarding perfectly good food. Sell-By Date on MeatThere are three different phrases you'll commonly see on meats. A "use-by" date is the producer's best guess as to how long your food will be at its best. That's usually conservative because the producer legitimately wants you to taste the product when it's as good as it can be. A variation on that phrasing is "best if used before," which has much the same meaning. A "sell-by" date is for the store's own use, so the staff at the meat counter knows when to mark down a package or remove it from the display. A chicken sell-by date, then, is just a reminder for the store staff. It doesn't tell you whether the chicken is still at its best, let alone whether you need to throw it out. Refrigerator Life of ChickenUncooked chicken has about a two-day refrigerator life, so it's the kind of thing you should plan to use or freeze right away once you've bought it. Raw chicken in the fridge for seven days is something you probably won't even want to smell, let alone eat. The packaging date from your store can at least give you some guidance in that direction. If the chicken's use-by date is today, you'll probably only want to keep it one more day at most. If it's dated for later than today, you can keep it safely for up to two days. Remember, the nasty bugs that can make you sick – salmonella, Yersinia, E. coli, and all their kin – won't make the chicken smell or taste bad. You won't know they're there until your belly gives you the bad news. Stretching Your Storage LifeThere are a couple of simple ways to stretch the shelf life of your chicken. If your meal plans change, one option is just to cook the chicken anyway and refrigerate it. Cooked chicken will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator, so you'll have plenty of time to use it in another meal. You can also freeze your chicken in its original packaging or good-quality freezer bags. It'll keep for months in the freezer, especially if you use a vacuum sealer to extract all the air from the bag. Chicken gets freezer-burnt wherever it's exposed to air, so extracting the air means that you can keep it longer. Depending on the quality of the bags you've used, vacuum-sealed chicken might keep perfectly for a year or two. Keep Cold Food ColdOf course, all of these recommendations are based on the idea that your chicken has been kept cold at every step of the way. The package should feel cold when you buy it, and you should get it home into your refrigerator as soon as possible. If it's summertime, or if you live in a hot climate, use an insulated bag or picnic cooler to keep your food cold on the way home. Also, it's never a bad idea to check the temperature of your fridge and make sure it's at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. If it's running a bit warm, your food will spoil much more quickly. References Writer Bio Fred Decker is a trained chef, former restaurateur and prolific freelance writer, with a special interest in all things related to food and nutrition. His work has appeared online on major sites including Livestrong.com, WorkingMother.com and the websites of the Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle; and offline in Canada's Foodservice & Hospitality magazine and his local daily newspaper. He was educated at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. YOU MAY ALSO LIKECan I eat chicken 5 days after sell by date?The sell-by date on fresh meat is the date the grocery store references to know the latest day it should be on the shelf for sale. According to the USDA, it is not a safety date. After that date, the quality of the meat may decline, but it is still safe to cook and eat, up to 2 days beyond the sell-by date.
Can you eat cooked chicken after 7 days?If stored properly (in a ziplock storage bag or sealed container), the USDA says that cooked chicken can last three to four days in the refrigerator. And that goes for any type of cooked chicken—store-bought, homemade, or restaurant leftovers.
How long after sell date can you eat chicken?The FDA states that fresh poultry should be refrigerated and will remain good for 1 to 2 days after the sell by date or nine months if it is frozen.
How long does cooked chicken last in the fridge after sell by date?When Is Chicken Still Safe to Eat? According to the USDA, you should eat cooked chicken within 3 to 4 days. Pretty simple.
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