Quick question about cooking a whole chicken please?!!

[MsWalterMitty]

Oh wise knowledgable hive of amazing people 😉

Bought a whole uncooked chicken at the end of July. Use by date 2nd Aug. Froze it straight away.

28th Aug I took it out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge.... it’s taken 3 days to fully defrost.

DH said we should have left it on the counter over night and cooked it the next day.

Is he right?.... Or can I cook it now?!

Thanks

Gone off chicken smells awful.

I wouldn't go near that!!

If that bird if off you will know. The stench is unbelievable. If it smells OK I'd say it's OK to cook it.

You can cook it and it will be fine, it is always advised to defrost in the fridge but I have never had a problem defrosting on the countertop.

I wouldn't cook it, even if it smells okay. Not all off food has a smell.

Bin it.

If its fully defrosted I'd cook it now
We often defrost food on the worktop overnight and cook it the next day. It takes ages to defrost large items in the fridge

Just to confirm, as I’m unsure from some responses.... It was defrosted in the fridge and hasn’t spent any time on the counter.

It doesn’t smell. It looks and smells fine.

It's fine to do it both ways! Official advice would be in the fridge but as you found it takes forever.

On the work surface overnight it's fine- check it in the morning to see if it needs to go back in the fridge (cold but soft) or stay on the counter (still hard).

I'd cook it .High heat (200 c ) .Sure it'll be fine .

It’s in the oven for the next 2hrs. I doubt DH will eat it! I don’t know what to dooo! Seems such a waste! Plus the nearest shop is 5 miles away 🙈

Right... I’ve decided to do a quorn spag bol instead... much safer

Honestly ,trust your sense of smell .It'll be fine .

Thanks everyone! I’ll still cook it and eat a bit and if I’m sick then I’ll chuck it. I’ll take one for the team

It's been in the freezer and then defrosting in the fridge? I'd cook now and have it for tea. I can't see the problem at all.

But you won’t know for a couple of days if you’re poisoned. By which point it needs ro be binned anyway,

@Bluntness100 why on earth is there a possibility of food poisoning?!

Its the same if you have a frozen turkey - takes days to defrost in the fridge but then it's fine to cook and eat

[quote silkience]@Bluntness100 why on earth is there a possibility of food poisoning?![/quote]
Becayse it’s been three days since she took it out the freezer. It wasn’t that fresh to begin with. There’s a risk bacteria has grown.

It'll be fine, it's very easy to tell if chicken is off as it stinks.

I was led to believe that you should always defrost things in the fridge, yes it takes time but that way it is kept below the temperature when bacteria multiplies (37 degrees?)
Note: I'm not a food expert, biologist, deepsea diver etc.

Great, thanks everyone. I’m still cooking it. If DH doesn’t want to eat it or feed it to the kids then I’ll have it for my work lunches this week 😀

Chicken will be fine. I'd eat it if it didn't smell.

It’s fine. Eat it.

It still had a good few days in date before you froze it, and it defrosted in the fridge? I’d think that would be fine to cook and eat. If it stinks, you’ll know before it goes in the oven.