The ongoing chicken debate

Fusspot

I am still struggling with cooking. I live alone and have decided to buy a whole chicken again. I looked in M&S today and their chickens say on the packet 'Do not reheat' so that has put me off cooking it and freezing it and reheating it.


I have thought of cooking it and making it last but according to the pack it is safe to eat for four days so does that mean I have to eat the same meal for four days if I just keep it in the fridge?


I am currently buying Birds Eye frozen chicken and fish but I am thinking fresh might be better.

happy35

I cook chicken, cool and freeze in portions straight away and everything is fine.

I then defrost it when needed and ensure it is heated until really hot.

pigpen

Why can you not cook it and refreeze?? No reason whatsoever.. now get it cooked and freeze what you won't use in the next day or 2.

Honestly, this fear of chicken thing has gone way too far.. not you, the whole 'you cant do this/that with chicken' .. it's mostly hysteria.. if it is stored and cooked properly it is fine.. The nasty bugs chicken gets are dead at 55'C ... so long as the inner temp of the meat is reheated above that it is perfectly fine.

if I lived alone (*bliss*) I would cook it.. separate into 2 breast and 2 legs .. use 1, put 1 in the fridge and freeze 2.. and use the second the next day or the day after..

Now rice... don't even get me started on the evils of rice!!!

Linda32

Everything Pigpen said.

In addition I would add, don't re-heat it then Cook it properly until no juices run pink. Freeze in portions. Defrost and have cold with salad.

What do you think about that idea?

suki1964

There is a lot of histeria around chicken because of salmonella

In the professional kitchen I work in, we poach chicken fillets ready to be turned into burgers and goujons which means cooking twice. We do that so we never undercook chicken which is going to poison you quicker then twice cooked chicken ever will

Buy your chicken. Either joint it ( really really easy ) and freeze raw, or cook and portion then freeze


Seriously you are not going to die reheating a chicken

Right now chickens come with warnings about not washing, not reheating.

I always tell the kitchen porters that raw chicken is poison and to glove up and to use hot water and soap. In my own home I use the same precautions ( minus the gloves). Cooked chicken I have no qualms about what so ever. Indeed Friday we ate sandwiches from the chicken I roasted the previous Sunday

pigpen

most chickens are vaccinated so don't have salmonella any more, unless contaminated by something else.. it is campylobacter that is the issue causing 4 out of 5 cases of poorly tummies .. it's a nasty tummy bug.. but still it wont kill you and proper cooking kills the bacteria anyway.

theoretica

Its not the reheating I am worried about, it is the time spent warmish for bacteria to grow. So, I cool it fairly rapidly after cooking, and don't keep reheating the same bit over again.

Fosterdog

Yes just reheat what you need for the meal not the whole lot every time. Even if you didn't want to freeze it have a look at rubber chicken recipes, there is no reason for you to eat the same meal every day just because you cooked a whole chicken.

If I cook a whole one I tend to have a cooked dinner on day one then over the next few days make curry, soup, stir fry, wraps, chicken pie etc. so every meal is different despite them all being chicken based.

kathrynha

The shops tell you not to reheat it to protect themselves in case someone reheats it not enough/multiple times/etc and then gets ill.
Also if you chuck out leftovers it means you have to buy more often, which is better for their shop profits.

Emm-in-a-pickle

I regularly roast a chicken, or sometimes 2 small ones together.
One meal of fresh roast chicken.
Strip the rest of the carcass, freeze the cooked meat to use in curries, Spanish paprika chicken, or a green Thai curry.
Just thaw and reheat the chicken bits thoroughly in whatever sauce you`re using.
Carcasses get frozen till there`s enough to fill a big pan and simmer for stock.