To cook a chicken one day past use by date?

[MimosasInFrance]

I'm cooking Christmas lunch tomorrow and my dad has kindly purchased the chicken (small family, turkey doesn't make sense). It's a reasonable expensive one from a local organic farm shop.

I've just seen the chicken had a use by date of today. Dad thinks it will be fine, won't entertain wasting money on a new one and I don't want to offend him. At the same time, I absolutely do not want food poisoning.

Any advice??? Considering secretly buying a new one and replacing it, but don't want to be wasteful if it's not needed.

Cook it today, use it sandwiches for supper tonight or tomorrow. Don’t spend Christmas worrying about food poisoning.

This. Cook it today and reheat it for tomorrow.

I mean, personally I'd just cook it tomorrow - but if you're concerned about the date, this is the next best option.

Honestly?

It will be absolutely fine, take any wrapping off so it's not sweating and leave on a plate in the fridge until tomorrow, take it out of the fridge at least an hour before you cook it to bring to room temperature and then cook until the temp in the thickest part of the breast, behind the leg is at 75°C.

Cook breast down for the first 45 minutes for juicy breastfeeding then flip to crisp.

As long as it's been stored correctly up until this point you will have no problems. I guarantee.

Buy another with a later date.
If you open the one he brought tomorrow and it smells funny then you have a spare. If you don't need it tomorrow you can either freeze it or have it later in the week.

Or cook it today, then reheat with gravy tomorrow.

My mother always used to cook her turkey on Christmas eve then put cold slices on the Christmas Dinner and pour hot gravy over it. I'm sure your chicken will be fine whatever you do.

If it smelt all right, I'd eat it, but I have cast iron guts and frequently disregard "best befores" without any adverse effects.

You will be fine 🤷‍♀️
How did people stay alive before they stuck dates on everything!
I remember eating stew for three days on the trot when I was younger that had sat in a pan on top of the stove the whole time and not once seen a refrigerator 🤣

What on earth are all the people who rely on use by/ sell by dates going to do when these dates are not there ? 🙄

It's a pretty basic thing to be able to tell by look and smell whether something is 'off' or not, which I learned by the age of 7-8 ?

When I was young, nothing had sell/use by dates. Ham etc was sold deli style by corner shops. they simply cut however many slices you want when you asked for it ? Not a date in sight.

I'm always shocked by how few people know the basics like how to see if eggs are 'off' etc

It just seems to be that this 'knowledge' is not being passed down through the generations anymore...😶

Ew. What a horrible experience. That would put me off poultry for life I think.

Wasn't there an issue a year or two back with either Aldi or Lidl turkeys going off before their use by dates?

You need to go by the smell. On Boxing day there will be loads of people moaning about off poultry and most of these will be well within date. Happens every year

Did other schools not do basic food hygiene/cooking lessons?? The chicken will be fine tomorrow. It can’t read the date printed on the packet.

Chicken goes a bit slimy and grey and then starts to smell god awful pretty quickly when it’s going off.

I had an off chicken once, it was about 2 days before use by, smell filled the kitchen when it was opened, you will soon know

Same! I had a packet of chicken that I didn’t realise had a tiny split in the packaging. There was an odd smell in the fridge for days until I worked it out. I didn’t dare open it given the rancid smell managing to escape this small slit. Once you’ve smelt that you know.

The only time I’ve ever got food poisoning from chicken it was from a 5 star hotel. I had campylobacter which is caused by poor personal hygiene than anything else. Chickens in the UK are vaccinated against salmonella so it should be rare.

I'm so shocked at the amount of people that think other people's attitude to this is a reason to insult them!? And to all those that are suggesting that OP and everyone who shares concern is " silly" or " daft" or their attitude to it " does their head in" have never opened a chicken on its use by date to be hit with a very obvious " do not eat me" smell!! So many variables that can affect the meat.. And with Chicken and Pork you are safe, because sorry can cause horrible acute illness and long lasting bowel dysfunction 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your "Knowledge" is incorrect though. Food poisoning bacteria, as in the kind that makes you very sick, has zero taste and smell and you cannot see it. So giving it "a sniff" will not help you determine food poisoning bacteria.

Campylobacter is the most common for chickens and its a food bourne disease which means the pathogenic bacteria doesn't multiply on the food, it multiplies inside your gut once you've eaten it, hence only needing a low threshold dose on the actual chicken to be present. So giving the chicken that time past its use by date, and it doesn't need much, will allow the pathogen to multiply just enough for you to then eat it, where it will multiply in your gut.

People are very ignorant when it comes to food poisoning!

IME chicken usually smells disgusting a few days before it's use by date. I now only buy chicken with 5+ days to go to use by and eat it that day. I never risk it with chicken, poultry or seafood.

If it smells ok then it’ll be fine. I don’t really go by use by dates just smell. A small local farm will have been cautious in their use by date too.

It will be absolutely fine. It wouldn't cross my mind for even a second to not use it.

FSA advice is that it is fine to use until midnight on the use by date. Seems bonkers that it would be unsafe a few hours after midnight, but that is the advice.

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates#:~:text=You%20can%20cook%20and%20eat,follow%20the%20food's%20storage%20instructions.

@BluebirdRobin - I’ve had campylobacter- I honestly thought I was going to die. However it was most likely caused by poor hand washing from the person who prepped and cooked my chicken. A chicken cooked one day after it’s sell by date won’t increase the risk of campylobacter as long as OP washes her hands and cooks the chicken properly. Also the infectious dose of it is quite high.

If you're having it for lunch it's only around 12 hours past the use by date. It'll be fine, it won't suddenly become poisonous it that short space of time.

@BluebirdRobin

The odourless/tasteless bacteria are either present, or it's not,. Regardless of a date on the packaging 🙄Thorough/properly cooking is what kills bacteria.

That's why we no longer wash chickens before cooking, because it simply spread already present bacteria on the chicken carcasses to the rest of the kitchen !

I'm talking about being able to tell if food is 'off' ?

It's like the USA washing bloody eggs, therefore removing the protective layer from the shell, meaning they then need to be kept in a fridge, rather than at room temperature !

People rely on dates on packets instead of their own senses ?

We're already getting rid of 'best before' dates (as of Sep 2022) and people are going to have to get used to not being 'told' when it's 'safe' to eat.

You could stuff it in the freezer and pull it out tomorrow morning.

You could cook today and reheat with hot gravy tomorrow.

I would not risk cooking tomorrow just in case. Noone wants to feel ill on Xmas day.

At very least turn fridge down to 1 degree and store till morning.

Infectious dose is low for campylobacter as its food bourne, not food poisoning, so doesn't multiply to unsafe levels on food, it multiplies once in the gut.

It's the toxins some pathogens give off too which cannot be killed through the cooking process.