Xmas lunch food safety worry! Help please!

[CrunchyCarrot]

Posting here for traffic!

So I've a small Xmas lunch going ahead today for me, DP and MIL. It's always very laid back and food isn't overly traditional, we never have turkey, usually chicken, with a pile of roasted veg. I have some frozen chicken drummettes (bought frozen) that I was going to serve today. I bought them ages ago, but hadn't thought to check the dates. Anyhoo, this morning I got them out to defrost and they look rather freezer-burnt here and there (pack had already been opened some time ago as I used half of them awhile back). They are currently defrosting, but I noticed the BBE date was August 2021! So we're 5 months past that. The pack says they were originally frozen on 19 Feb 2020. I am worried they might be at best sub par quality and at worst give the gift I don't want to give at Xmas - a dodgy gut or worse!

MIL is here to relax but she does have a thing about not wasting food. I have some nice (fresh!) pork chops I can use instead. Right now I have hidden the defrosting drummettes upstairs out of sight. I suspect she might think we should eat them anyway so as not to waste them.

So my question to you lovely people today is:

YABU - The chicken will be fine, 5 months past BBE is nothing.

YANBU - Get rid of the chicken and just serve the pork, MIL will never know!

DP doesn't know about this yet, he is peacefully slumbering and will go along with my decision, although I expect some gentle chiding over not checking the food ahead of time!

The chicken will be fine.

Oh no haha you don't need this today! if they've been frozen since before expiry date id say they're fine x

The date wouldn’t concern me but the freezer burn would - they’ll be rubbery.

I'm more concerned that you are hiding defrosting chicken upstairs

I think the chicken might be rather tasteless with freezer burn, if it were me, I’d be cooking the pork chops.

You can always make the chicken into a casserole later, to camouflage it a bit!

Don’t waste even more money on cooking them. Enjoy the pork chops.

@Youdoyoutoday

I'm more concerned that you are hiding defrosting chicken upstairs

I could hide them in the shed but that seemed extreme. LOL. I can just see MIL saying 'oh it's a shame to waste them, I'm sure they'll be fine!'

I mean, she may be right! My two cats will have their eyes on them, anyway, whatever happens!

I would use the pork chops. Make some applesauce to go with them.

@AdaColeman

I think the chicken might be rather tasteless with freezer burn, if it were me, I’d be cooking the pork chops.

You can always make the chicken into a casserole later, to camouflage it a bit!

Yes, good idea! My gut instinct is 'don't use!'

I guess I'm lucky to have those nice chops. I know DP would love that.

I would cook the pork chops TBH. Stuffing /apple sauce just great .(Says I who havent cooked a Turkey for some years now. Doing it again after a break . Have a massive one for 4 of us!) Lots of lovely veggies /Roasties .I would quietly bin the drumsticks I think .

I would use tne pork. If nothing else you won’t be able to relax it your worrying about the chicken

They'll be fine to eat but maybe not taste great. Hit and miss. I would cook the lot and then if the chicken is OK you can have it cold. Or put some bbq sauce on the chicken and have cold tomorrow.

Some great ideas here. Will definitely make some apple sauce and use the pork for the main meal.

Am keeping an eye on the defrosting chicken to see how it looks!

Freezing makes the bacteria in food dormant-it's like pressing the pause button. As long as you use it within 24 hrs of thawing the date's irrelevant (from a safety point of view; the freezer burn is a sepaprate issue)

I'm not at all fussy but I'd go with the chops personally.