Can I freeze cooked chicken???

embb

I do sometimes when I batch make a curry, as long as it's properly cooked then properly re-heated it will be fine. Let it go cold before you put it in the freezer though. HTH

Penelope_Penguin

Burp wrote: »

ello

I've just defrosted 4 chicken breasts.... chopped them up ... pan fried them... can I freeze some of the chicken pieces now they are cooked?

Cheers!

Yes I'll add this to an existing thread to keep suggestions together

Penny. x

oldMcDonald

I bought some chicken yesterday - it was in the reduced section and best before today (21st). I've cooked it and it is now in the fridge. I would like to freeze it, but I'm not sure if I can freeze cooked chicken! Is it ok to freeze it? If so, can I use the thawed out meat in sandwiches, or does it have to be reheated?

I'm sorry if these sound like basic questions! I'm a veggie and know nothing about cooking meat! I'm doing this for someone else, but they are sadly not in a position to help me with this.

forgotmyname

I am in the same boat, Never know what is safe to do with meat & chicken.

Not a veggie, Just really fussy and hate fatty meat so i tend not to eat much of it.

We cook a chicken from frozen for dinner, Put some in the fridge & make curry or similar the following day. To me thats the end of it. But my wife will save some and have it on sandwiches the day after,
How long is it safe to keep chicken cooked on sunday? Is it safe to reheat as we do when we make curry?

Thanks

itsallinthemind

These are the timings I use, nobody has died yet, sometimes I will keep less and other times longer, you can just tell really. I think though that often people will keep for a smaller or greater time, but I'd say this was fairly standard

Fridge:
Fresh Chicken 1-2 days
Cooked Chicken 3-4 days
Cooked Chicken Casseroles/Dishes/Soup 3-4 days
Cooked Chicken nuggets 1-2 days
Chicken Gravy 1-2 days

Freezer:
Freeze Fresh Chicken for up to 3 months, keeps longer and better in original packaging if possible.

Cooked Chicken and Cooked Chicken Casseroles/Dishes/Soup, my preference is to use within a month, but I know people keep up to 3 months.

I only freeze fresh or freshly cooked chicken. I know there are people who freeze previously frozen chicken, but I really would seriously advise against this, it is not recommended practice!

Defrosting:
If you defrost in the microwave it needs to be cooked immediately as the microwave will start the cooking process.

Thawed Cooked chicken does not need to be reheated.

Reheating:
Any Cooked Chicken can be reheated, just do it slowly and make sure it is cooked till steaming throughout. IE: Cook a bird Sunday Lunch time, keep it in the fridge till Wednesday or Thursday lunch time to eat cooked plain or reheated in a Curry etc.

Although personally I would not want to push the limits of the Raw/Cooked/Reheated times to the full.

ankspon

I wouldn't freeze after cooking chicken,you can't be too careful with white meat.

nickyhutch

It's perfectly safe to freeze cooked chicken. Make sure it's cooled down completely, wrap it properly, and freeze. Thaw it completely when you need to use it, in the fridge, and reheat it thoroughly. Don't freeze it again.

I'm 40 and I've never had food poisoning. I think we could do with a sticky about the dos and don'ts of freezing.

itsallinthemind

davidhwdn wrote: »

I wouldn't freeze after cooking chicken,you can't be too careful with white meat.

FSA (FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY) Disagree LINK

Here is an extract from their site, with certain points highlighted

Storing meat
It's especially important to store meat safely to stop bacteria from spreading and to avoid food poisoning.

• Store raw meat and poultry in clean sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so they can't touch or drip onto other food.
• Follow any storage instructions on the label and don't eat meat after its 'use by' date.
• When you have cooked meat and you're not going to eat it straight away, cool it as quickly as possible and then put it in the fridge or freezer. Remember to keep cooked meat separate from raw meat.

Keeping food in the freezer


The freezer is a great tool for making sure you’ve always got some food in stock and for helping to avoid wasting food.

You can keep food safely in the freezer for years, in theory, as long as it has stayed frozen the whole time. However, the taste and texture of food changes if it’s frozen for too long, so you might well find that it’s not very nice to eat.

You can check any instructions on food labels or in your freezer’s handbook (if you don’t have this any more, you might be able to find it online) to see how long food should be frozen.

For safety, it's OK to freeze most raw or cooked foods providing you do the following things:

• freeze it before the 'use by' date
• follow any freezing or thawing instructions on the label
• thaw it in the fridge so that it doesn't get too warm. Or, if you intend to cook it as soon as it's defrosted, you could defrost it in a microwave
• try to use it within one to two days after it’s been defrosted – it will go off in the same way as if it were fresh
• cook food until it's steaming hot all the way through

When frozen meat and fish (and some other foods) thaw, lots of liquid can come out of them. If you’re defrosting raw meat or fish, this liquid will spread bacteria to any food, plates or surfaces that it touches. Keep the meat and fish in a sealed container at the bottom of the fridge, so that it can't touch or drip onto other foods.

Always clean plates, utensils, surfaces and hands thoroughly, after they have touched raw or thawing meat, to stop bacteria from spreading.

If you defrost raw meat or fish and then cook it thoroughly, you can freeze it again, but remember never reheat foods more than once.

EmptyPockets

I often freeze cooked chicken if we can't use it all at once, but would never do so if it was bought frozen. If it was bought fresh then no problem.

Once you've defrosted thoroughly, you don't have to reheat it but I would advise doing so to 'firm' it up again and take away the 'wetness' of defrosting! I'm sure that makes no sense at all???

What I mean is, I think it tastes better if you DO reheat after thawing

itsallinthemind

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Once you've defrosted thoroughly, you don't have to reheat it but I would advise doing so to 'firm' it up again and take away the 'wetness' of defrosting! I'm sure that makes no sense at all???

I've found defrosting cooked chicken on top of clean kitchen paper helps:)