Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
jennyjj01
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Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by jennyjj01 »

I just pulled a 'Grade A' chicken out of the Freezer. It had been a bargain from FarmFoods at about £3 for 2.1kg purchased just about two months or so ago.

But now I read the label.......

Country of origin : Ukraine
Date of Production : 11 10 2021
Best Before Date : 10 04 2023

OMG. A pre-war Ukrainian chuck.!!!

So, Farmfoods deem it to be OK frozen for 14 months before sale and 18 months before it's past its best!!!!
I've generally considered 12 months a reasonable freezer life on domestic frozen raw meat. I do hope it's been stored correctly on it's way to my table tomorrow.
I wonder if their later stock is the same?

I also wonder if I can cook it whole in my slow cooker?....

[edit]The man on the internet said that I can cook it for 5 hours in the slow cooker, but to carve it before anyone sees :) But recipes talk of 1.7kg birds and this one is 2.1kg and a VERY tight fit in the 3.5l pot. Oh hum. I'll give it a try[/edit]
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jansman
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by jansman »

Provided it’s been solid frozen since you put it there it will be fine. Back in the 80’s we had, by law, to sell measures of EU food mountains- obviously as butchers, our sections were meat. We had frozen beef and pork that was 8 and 9 years old. And good stuff too!
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jennyjj01
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by jennyjj01 »

jennyjj01 wrote: Sat Feb 25, 2023 8:21 pm I just pulled a 'Grade A' chicken out of the Freezer. It had been a bargain from FarmFoods at about £3 for 2.1kg purchased just about two months or so ago.

OMG. A pre-war Ukrainian chuck.!!!

I also wonder if I can cook it whole in my slow cooker?....

[edit]The man on the internet said that I can cook it for 5 hours in the slow cooker, but to carve it before anyone sees :) But recipes talk of 1.7kg birds and this one is 2.1kg and a VERY tight fit in the 3.5l pot. Oh hum. I'll give it a try[/edit]
Well, after thawing it was a very close fit in the slow cooker 2.1kg in 3.5l pot.
Cooked on low for 6 hours on a trivet of onions, with a rub of oil, salt and paprika and a cup of water. Then browned under the grill for 5 mins. It cooked to the point of falling apart at the gentlest touch.

It was..... Different! though quite acceptable.
Flesh was somewhat yellow?
Chicken flavour was lacking.
It left a slightly oily after taste. Tasting panel agreed it was under par 6/10 for flavour.

The breast meat gave 4 generous portions with legs and wings making another 2 portions. The liquid became a generous litre of broth which will make at least a couple or more broth based meals.
Conclusion
Call that eight portions for £3. Good value. But 6/10 for familiar chicken flavour.
Stuffing it wouldn't work because it released a lot of water.
Maybe the onions tainted it?
I'll buy some more of these chickens.
Next time, I'll season it much more with pepper and much more salt and paprika. I'll add only half the water.
Next time will also probably be 1.8kg based on recent visits.

Lets see if we wake up dead or ill.

[edit] About an hour after the meal, the after taste is not getting any better. I'm leaning to downgrading the experience to 5.5/10. Not blaming the chicken as it might have been in the cooking and seasoning process.
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Yorkshire Andy
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Any down below rumblings? I'd blame the cold freezer not working properly told you to put the heater on :lol:


Past life I worked in the frozen food factory -35°C it run at nothing went bad in that temperature stuff regularly got re dated
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diamond lil
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by diamond lil »

This seriously turns my stomach. Very happy that we've got a local butcher who writes on his shop wall what meat came from which farm, all local.
jennyjj01
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by jennyjj01 »

Yorkshire Andy wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 10:14 pm Any down below rumblings? I'd blame the cold freezer not working properly told you to put the heater on :lol:


Past life I worked in the frozen food factory -35°C it run at nothing went bad in that temperature stuff regularly got re dated
:lol: :lol: :lol:
No ill effects. Thanks for your concern. I still recommend those 6/10 chicks as they were 'good enough' at the price. I will be trying Farmfoods dodgy looking frozen chicken fillets next, but definitely with seasoning. Among the cheapest /kilo that I've seen for any meat, even dog food!

Heater had to come indoors for a day when central heating went faulty a week ago! Jeez that was a cold day. House temp plunged and we could just about keep the lounge at about 17C. Heating that one room with electric was actually a bit cheaper than having the CH on.

On the freezers front, things have all gone a bit pear shaped in multiple ways. I BLAME YOU!
The fridge freezer that was touchy about cold weather was powered by the solar setup by day and mains by night. But 1) It got moody about the cold 2) the fuse blew in the solar charger circuit and 3) Battery keeps finding its way to 15V, thus tripping out the inverter. So that fridge freezer is now just a cool cupboard and the solar is mostly idle......
I'll write about that 15V problem in another thread.

Second garage freezer spontaneously completely died a couple of weeks ago. Contents have been dispersed and half eaten. Which leaves us just a small chest freezer which is ancient and the UC one in the house.
SO. I have some stuff to sort out. Frozen food reserves will probably be allowed to stay low.
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deckard
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by deckard »

I worked in a couple of supermarkets as a teenager; in both it was frequent that there wasn't room in the freezer when the delivery came in and they'd shuffle cages of food in and out to keep it frozen. Since then I've always been skeptical of frozen food from supermarkets.
GillyBee
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by GillyBee »

One of the things I took away from reading the "Surviving in Argentina" blog description of an economic collapse was that frozen/chilled meat became risky to buy as shopkeepers faced with unaffordable or limited power switched the fridges and freezers off overnight.
Even in the UK I have seen similar problems for years from some local shops with milk which had been stored "out back" and which went off within 24 hours despite the sell by date.
jennyjj01
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by jennyjj01 »

GillyBee wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:57 am One of the things I took away from reading the "Surviving in Argentina" blog description of an economic collapse was that frozen/chilled meat became risky to buy as shopkeepers faced with unaffordable or limited power switched the fridges and freezers off overnight.
Even in the UK I have seen similar problems for years from some local shops with milk which had been stored "out back" and which went off within 24 hours despite the sell by date.
I don't know if it's still the case, but that was a common warning for holidaymakers going to Malta.

I suspect that my local Spar corner shop has, or had, some such practices. I've bought in-date Pukka pies and chilled mash from there that had mould on them. Plus a chicken that was so stinky that it could have walked home. I took them back, of course. Most amusing returning the rank chicken in a carrier bag when the shop was busy.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
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diamond lil
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Re: Long Dead Chicken ? Shelf life?

Post by diamond lil »

deckard wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:22 am I worked in a couple of supermarkets as a teenager; in both it was frequent that there wasn't room in the freezer when the delivery came in and they'd shuffle cages of food in and out to keep it frozen. Since then I've always been skeptical of frozen food from supermarkets.
Exactly! I can mind the smell in the local Tesco when I used to shop there. Rotten meat - awful :evil: