how long to keep fresh chicken

I bought some chicken breasts at WF on Sunday. Forgot about them until today and then noticed there was a sell-by date of tomorrow, a full 5 days after purchase. I opened them up to freeze them and there was a "faint" odor but the fluids in the package were viscous and the chicken a tad slimy.

I've noticed from time to time that fresh meat seems to have fairly long sell-by dates and want to know if, in general, you're typically pushing things if you use things by the sell-by date. And what of the people that buy things on or around the sell-by date. Shouldn't you be able to keep something at home a day or two past a sell-by date and not worry about making yourself sick.

BTW, the FDA states storing fresh chicken pieces for 1 to 2 days max but don't address the sell-by-date issue which can really, well, affect the "total" number of days.

Take it out of the paper. Rinse it. If the smell's still there, at an offensive level of strength, toss it. Sometimes the fluids that stick to the paper smell a day or more before the chicken does.

shadesofjay wrote:I've noticed from time to time that fresh meat seems to have fairly long sell-by dates and want to know if, in general, you're typically pushing things if you use things by the sell-by date. And what of the people that buy things on or around the sell-by date. Shouldn't you be able to keep something at home a day or two past a sell-by date and not worry about making yourself sick.

BTW, the FDA states storing fresh chicken pieces for 1 to 2 days max but don't address the sell-by-date issue which can really, well, affect the "total" number of days.

In my house, ALL poultry is cooked within 24 hours of purchase or it is placed in the freezer. Also, I try to purchase chicken ONLY from markets with a lot of turnover.

In my years in the business, I saw more chicken mishandled than any item. That was back in the days where the chicken was packed in ice. As I was leaving the industry, they started gassing the chickens which made them last longer.

Personally, I would rather buy frozen these days and thaw as needed than risk buying fresh - but that is my opinion.

If the odor is bad, throw it out.

If you bought your fresh chicken already packed from WF in Chicago there is a big chance that it was from MILLER in Indiana, a group of local producers that sell their chicken fresh as "Amish" chicken under the name of MILLER.
By the way you find the same brand at Treasure Islands, and for less money at Fresh Farms in Niles. They also sell bresats, and thighs, as well as drumsticks already pre-packaged.
Since I was myself always surprised by the relatively long shelf life that is printed on the label I send a mail to MILLER to find out if it was normal for their retailer to sell chicken that has been kept in their fridge from 5 to 7 days.
To my greatest surprise, MILLER answered that it was perfectly OK and that nowadays their methods for killling, handling, and packaging allowing them to insure a longer but safe shelf life cycle.
I found out that MILLER delivers 3 times a week at WF, Once a week at Treasure Islands, and at least 4 times a week at Fresh Farms.
You should know that the labels and price tags that you find on these packages have been applied at MILLERS not at the point of retail. The retailers agree with Miller on the price and supply the labels. So there is actually no local packaging at WF.
As far as I am concerned, I buy only fresh chicken on the day when I know that it is delivered to the store and roast, broil, or bake it the same day. It is normal to find some redish liquid (water and blood) in the package or plastic wrapper.
I would never, however, keep an open package of fresh chicken in my fridge for more than 36 hours.

By the way, whenever I find it, at Treasure Islands most of the time, I prefer BELL and EVANS that has a very short shelf life of 3 or 4 days ( for breasts or thighs) but is air-chilled and offer, to my own personal taste, a better flesh structure and taste.

I would throw away any chicken with a slimy liquid in the package, and with the faintest of odor.

Thanks everyone for weighing in and especially to alain40 for going the distance. Not surprised to find folks like this on LTH.

I think I'll try to return this to WF and next time not bury the chicken under piles of other stuff. I feel that since I'm just at the sell by date, the quality should be just as good. This mostly winds up in the baby food, I'd rather not take the chance on an iffy product. While it technically may be safe, I'm sure they make the sell-by date at the far end of the quality timeline and that's where customer satisfaction comes into play.

-Jay

shadesofjay wrote:Thanks everyone for weighing in and especially to alain40 for going the distance. Not surprised to find folks like this on LTH.

I think I'll try to return this to WF and next time not bury the chicken under piles of other stuff. I feel that since I'm just at the sell by date, the quality should be just as good. This mostly winds up in the baby food, I'd rather not take the chance on an iffy product. While it technically may be safe, I'm sure they make the sell-by date at the far end of the quality timeline and that's where customer satisfaction comes into play.

-Jay

I've had to return things occasionally to WF for reasons such as yours and they've (the W. Lakeview location) always been very reasonable. By the way, if you haven't tried it, I think the air-chilled chicken is worth the nominal additional cost--I've never had any from the "farm" but I love the meatier flavor of the air-chilled (tastes a lot less watery and gummy--especially the white meat.)

It's also that there are other factors besides the date, including but not limited to your own handling of the product that have nothing to do with the dates but that might cause chicken to go bad - refrigerators break, stuff is in transit too long, even though every grocery store has a system to keep that from happening, sometimes systems break down. I wouldn't risk it - food poisoning from chicken is unpleasant for an adult, but another thing entirely for a baby.

I have purchased chicken from several different retailers that I thought was off - in most cases, I threw it away. Once, I decided to go with it and see what happened - I found the chicken to be really unpleasant in taste and texture, even after thorough cooking. Not worth it, IMO.

I have all this chicken I bought on Monday. You're all invited.