raw chicken

Hi, I've been alerted to the forum by some of my friends. I have a typical, inexperienced cook's question. I took a piece of chicken out of the freezer Saturday night, and still haven't cooked it. Is is still OK (it's been in the frig the whole time)? Are there any hard and fast rules of this? Thanks.

Should be fine, as long as you cook it to around 160° or so. Texture might suffer a little, depending on how it was frozen, but from a health aspect you'll be okay. And of course the refrigerator is the best place to defrost meat (among other things). I wouldn't recommend raw chicken sushi, though.

collegekid wrote:Hi, I've been alerted to the forum by some of my friends. I have a typical, inexperienced cook's question. I took a piece of chicken out of the freezer Saturday night, and still haven't cooked it. Is is still OK (it's been in the frig the whole time)? Are there any hard and fast rules of this? Thanks.

I would cook it today or tomorrow. Waiting until Wednesday may be safe, but quality will begin speeding downhill.

Spoilt meat is pretty easy to spot. It smells and looks like...well....rancid meat.

I think you're totally safe, as long as you cook it to a proper temperature, as said earlier.

Best,
Michael

Yeah, if there's anything where your nose should be able to tell you the answer, it's chicken. Take it out of the paper (I find the wrapping can sometimes give off a sulphurous whiff when the chicken's fine) and just... trust your instincts.

There should be no problem if the chicken was defrosted in the frig. It probably was not fully defrosted until yesterday or today. Do give it the smell and feel test. No odor and no slimy feel, the chicken is safe. Cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This should render it safe from bacteria.
By the way the smell and feel tests are for spoilage and not bacteria. Cooking the chicken as above is for bacteria not spoilage.
Paulette

nr706 wrote:I wouldn't recommend raw chicken sushi, though.

I was amazed to learn that chicken sashimi is eaten pretty often on the island of Kyushu, in Japan. The people seem to suffer no ill effects from it. (Although horse sashimi is the dish they're best known for...)

Pete wrote:

nr706 wrote:I wouldn't recommend raw chicken sushi, though.

I was amazed to learn that chicken sashimi is eaten pretty often on the island of Kyushu, in Japan. The people seem to suffer no ill effects from it. (Although horse sashimi is the dish they're best known for...)

But is their chicken processed the same way as grocery chicken here is? I can see it possibly working if the birds are carefully butchered ...

A few years go, the great chicken scare was brought on by events such as the New Jersey no-runny-egg law.

From what I've been able to tell, salmonella was endemic in mid-atlantic poultry farms. I don't know if that's changed (could be, I don't know), but at that time I read that salmonella was much less prevalent elsewhere in the country.

If you've got a reasonably strong constitution, you can probably tolerate a little raw chicken most of the time (if the texture doesn't make you gag). Probably no more risk than driving on the Dan Ryan.

My understanding is that salmonella exists in about 1/3 of the chickens sold for food in the US, and in about 1/20,000 eggs. Those figures might be outdated or wrong, though.

And, of course, in this increasingly global economy, the tyson chicken at Jewel might very well have been born and raised on the east coast.

Chicken sashimi is a bit much for me..

Pete wrote:

nr706 wrote:I wouldn't recommend raw chicken sushi, though.

I was amazed to learn that chicken sashimi is eaten pretty often on the island of Kyushu, in Japan. The people seem to suffer no ill effects from it. (Although horse sashimi is the dish they're best known for...)

But . . . how is their pork tartare?

Salmonella has been eliminated in chickens in some European countries. So no reason you couldn't have chicken sashimi there-- other than the fact that if you're like me, the idea of eating raw chicken is contrary to every fiber in your being.

Mike G wrote:Salmonella has been eliminated in chickens in some European countries. So no reason you couldn't have chicken sashimi there-- other than the fact that if you're like me, the idea of eating raw chicken is contrary to every fiber in your being.

I'd rate the appeal of raw chicken right up there with sun-dried oysters.

at least one restaurant in new york sells chicken sashimi; i'm sure it is quite delicious once you get used to the texture. Since it is unlike most other things in our cuisine, it is not something that the palette would understand right off the bat. I usually eat my chicken still slightly pink in the middle (medium), or with traces of blood on the bone.

pork sashimi is probably good too, Trichonella are large and VISIBLE to the naked eye - i never bring pork above 150f now, anything past medium/medium rare is too done for chops or tenderloin. the exception of course are ribs and shoulder etc, but that should go without saying. some things just arent good unless you cook the hell out of them. Sausage on the other hand, who knows what went into that....cook throughout.

Erik.

I had chicken sashimi in Osaka and it was sliced so thinly that it was fine. It didn't impress me, but it wasn't bad either. I felt that this dish was far preferable to the raw chicken livers on the menu, eeek! You are right though, there definitely is a certain culturally inherent gross out factor about eating raw chicken.

I can not imagine eating raw pork, but I am in complete agreement about med. to med. rare pork roast. Especially now with the new leaner pork. I thought that trichinosis was all but extinct.

I don't find steak tartare especially enticing either, although I do like carpaccio. Maybe has to do with the texture. There's no accounting for taste. Uni is considered a delicacy, but you couldn't pay me to eat it.

Heidi