Unthaw Chicken?

Question

I usually buy packs of chicken tenders or breasts and split them up into how much I am going to cook at once and then freeze them. But I keep finding that I will put the chicken in the fridge to unthaw one morning, and then get too busy to cook it that afternoon. How long is chicken good for that has been frozen and then unthawed?

Answer 1

as long as it is in the fridge it should be ok for about three days

Answer 2

Unfortunately, not very long. If you can't use them by the day after they are thawed in the refridgerator, I'd be skeptical of using them.

What I do is to repackage the fresh chicken tenders in a single thin layer. Then I have a thawing board, which is an aluminum tray made for thawing meat. It conducts heat very well I can put the thin layer of chicken on the thaw board on my kitchen counter and it is thawed out in about 30 minutes. That way I don't have to thaw them out ahead of time when I'm not really sure if I'll get a chance to cook them.

But you do have to remember to start thawing them a bit ahead of time but it isn't as bad as trying to thaw out a huge block of icy chicken for 3 hours.

Answer 3

I usually keep it unthawed a day or two. No more than usually 3 though. Because it's raw meat and can spread bacteria so quickly. But if it's sealed pretty good and there is no noticable smell or look to it I would probably use it.

Answer 4

You sound like me. I do that all the time. Chicken tonight. Thaw the chicken. Well, no, not chicken tonight. So I leave it in the refrigerator till I am ready for chicken. My nose tells me if it is OK. If it does not smell funny it is OK. Could be up to a week or more. Chicken is something you are going to cook until well done which will kill any bacteria.

Answer 5

The proper thing to do is to look at the expiration date on the container that it comes with. However, since you had opened it and moved it to another container, it had been exposed to airborne bacteria, and thefor you can only store it for a couple of days.
When I was in the restaurant bussiness as a chef, anything you have opened can not be stored more than 24 hours if you have cooked it. However, if you have not cooked it or heat it up, you can store it for up to four days after that you are risking to get some bacterias that have grown in there because of exposure to open air.

Answer 6

i think 3-5 days is way too much...i would go with 2 or 3 at the most. i had the same problem with taking chicken out of the freezer and then it would just sit and rot in the fridge. i fixed the problem by just throwing the chicken right in the oven from the freezer. you can put seasoning on it and it isn't dry as long as it doesn't cook too long!

Answer 7

its thawed chicked not unthawed haha but yeah just a day or tow watch out for the skin turning a bit yellow and a sour smell

Answer 8

It seems to me that to "un-thaw" something means to freeze it. You are making it unthaw. ie. when you UNdress are you dressed or not dressed? So if it is unthawed it should be fine until it thaws and then I imagine you should use it withing 24 hours of that event.

Answer 9

I often leave it until the next day, never had a problem. Should be alright day after that but always wish to be cautious. In theory it should be OK for as many days away as was the 'use by' date when you bought it.

Answer 10

It should last 3 to 4 days. Don't worry about it. The sooner (fresh) you cook it, the better it will taste.