To Cook an out of date chicken?

[begonyabampot]

was dated used by the 12th - just hate to waste it and throw it out.

YABU

Chicken is the one thing I would never cook once it has gone past the sell by date.

You might hate to waste it but think of the mess when the family get food poisoning.

I wouldn't - but I'm massively fussy about anything like that!

If it smells even slightly off, even within date, don't risk it.

Chicken is cheep if it's defrosted and been so since the 12th, then you have to bin it.

Does it smell? You cannot mistake the smell of a chicken that is no longer fine to eat.

If it has no smell other than chicken, yes, I would eat it.

Throw it out! It's not a waste if it could potentially make you very ill.

I bet it stinks. Do not use, you are asking for trouble.

Dont cook it,bin it, not chicken too risky.

As long as it smells ok then it'll be absolutely fine. I get my meat form the butcher so have to rely on my nose and eyes to gauge how fresh it is. Seems to work for me as no-one in the family has ever had food poisoning as the result of something eaten at home.

Take it out, smell it, and if it smells off bin it. If it doesn't, give it a good wash and pour some vinegar over it, rub on and rinse off. Then cook very well
tbh I have done this to chicken that has smelt, cooked it very well, and we are still here

If it smells ok it will be fine. You would know the minute you took the wrapping off it is off.

As Gubbins says, the butcher doesnt have a date on stuff, you have to be able to judge for yourself.

YANBU you are fine to cook it as long as it smells and looks okay! Use your common sense. Even if it IS a bit off, cooking it properly kills all the bacteria and it will be perfectly safe to eat. So much good food is wasted because stamped dates stop people using their common sense. Some supermarkets buy other supermarkets past-sell-by-date stuff and relabel it as they all have different policies. OTOH, I wouldn't eat cold meat that had been sitting around, or day old rice. You have to consider what could harm you (botulism, salmonella) and how you catch it (stuff that has been sitting round at room temperature, and, in the case of salmonella, not from anything recently cooked).

Chicken is NOT cheap if you buy properly reared ones (which you should if you have any heart). Enjoy it.

Bon Appetit!

How did people cope before sell by dates? Weird as it may seem, butchers do not (even now) neatly package meat with stickers and sell by dates.

Smell it. If it smells ok, it is fine. And make sure to cook it long enough so that it reaches an internal temp of 60 deg. I think that should kill most (if not all) bacteria.

I too have cooked slightly smelly chicken in the belief that the cooking temp would kill bacteria. No ill effects here either.

If it looks and smells ok then it's ok.

And this is why I buy meat from the butchers - none of this sell by date crap

Interesting - was getting ready to bin it but many of you talk sense regarding sell by dates just being a guide - I regularly eat other foods that are officially out of date. Was just a bit more worried with meat. Thanks for all the advice folks!

ewwwww, not chicken , don't do it.

it's rotting as we speak. you want that in your bodies?

If I am ever in real doubt.. I feed it my husband and I have something different...

He has survived for many years so far and not had food poisoning in all the years we have been married.

Chicken often really does go off by the sell-by date in my experience, often it's a bit smelly the day before and I end up binning it.

If it smelt fine, one way to cook it which really does kill bacteria is to boil it which sounds horrid, but my husband convinced me to do this and the meat comes out les dry and nice and tender, plus you then have a great stock, rice and veg in chicken stock (like a soup/stew) is one of our favourite dishes.

I boil a regular chicken for about 1 hr.15 to 1 hr.30 min. Just an idea (and no, you don't get the crispy skin which is a downside!)

If it doesn't smell I would eat

Do the smell test. I wouldn't trust a best before date without doing the smell test anyway (and that works both ways... if it is still in date but smels a bit, bin it.....)

I think there is a difference between "best before" (which is something to do with peak freshness) and "use by".

If in doubt, give it a sniff.

Onetoomany - when you boil it what do you put in the pot with it?

Est before and use by dates are just guidelines and they are normally "erring" on the side of caution.

I regularly eat food past it's sell by date - fruit, veg, tinned stuff - even yougarts. But I wouldn't eat a chicken 4 days past its use by. Not worth the risk.

I am honesly shocked that some people are happy to cook an out of date chicken that SMELLS and feed it to their kids. If meat smells of something other than meat smell then it is not good to eat! Why would you do this? I can't imagine wanting to save a few quid this much!

If it doesn't smell we eat it and been okay.

I would be tempted to do the vinegar rub that has been mentioned. My mum told me about that and I have done it a few times.