Timings for making HM stock into soup

kittykirsty

Apologies if this has been covered numerous times before, I did search and couldn't find anything, and just want to make sure I'm not going to make my OH ill!

I cooked roast chicken last night, and made stock with the bones, with onions, carrots, leeks. I'm going to fish it all out this morning before work, and pop the stock in the fridge. The plan is for chicken and leek soup on Thursday, and I have plenty of bits of cooked chicken left over to go into it to. But my question is will it be alright to keep the stock and chicken separate in the fridge til then, and make the soup on Thursday, or should I make it up tonight? If I make it tonight instead, will it keep in the fridge until Thursday or am I safer to freeze and reheat from frozen blocks?

TIA lovely OSers

kittykirsty

Please help, anyone? Thanking you lots in advance

zippychick

Some people have different ideas on how long you can keep cooked chicken for. Myself i use the 3 days theory but will look for a thread you can read in a minute .

If cooked on Monday, thursday would be your last day of use by the 3 days. Thing is if you cook the chicken with the soup, then have leftovers, the chicken wil be on its last legs.

If it was me, i would freeze the chicken asap and stock and make it on Thurs fresh to eat. Possibly seems a bit silly as it would only be in the freezer a day and a half, but i imagine it would prolong the chicken?

Sorry, you really need someone more knowledgeable than me! This is what I would do anyway - I'm a bit paranoid about posioning myself too !

msb5262

Don't worry, either is fine - you can freeze the stock, make the soup and freeze that or do the soup on Thursday. You will be fine as long as
a) you brought the stock to a proper rolling boil at some point
b) you cooled the stock reasonably quickly before refrigerating it (can be done by putting saucepan in sink of cold water, if all else fails)
c) you have kept the stock properly cool and properly covered in the fridge.
If you aren't 100% sure all the above bases have been covered, just get the stock out of the fridge on Thursday and bring it to the boil before starting on the soup. Simmer it for a good 5 minutes and you will have killed off any potential bacteria.
Hope that helps. Have a lovely soup!

zippychick

How long can you keep cooked chicken for

kittykirsty

Thanks all, I'm going to bring the soup forward to tomorrow night, and take msb5262's advice by bringing the stock to the boil first (I don't think I cooled it down quick enough). Hope it's nice and tasty after all this!

zippychick

I'm sure it will be. It's all a big learning curve isn't it?!

kittykirsty

Thanks zippychick, it really is a bigger learning curve than I thought Will get there eventually though

msb5262

zippychick - you asked about cooked chicken. I'd say you can keep it for a couple of days, provided it's been cooked thoroughly, cooled quickly and stored well-sealed at a proper fridge temperature. If you're planning to serve it hot (maybe with pasta or in a pie or curry), you could probably keep it three days - just make very sure you heat it thoroughly. Do check the use-by date on the original packaging though! If in doubt, chuck it out. Food poisoning can be really dangerous.
Hope that helps,
MsB