How Long Does Chicken Keep in The Refrigerator
May 27, 2009 by Tom
Filed under Storing Whole Chicken
Fresh chicken has to be cared for and stored correctly to ensure it remains fit to eat but how long does chicken keep in the refrigerator?
The first thing to consider when treating raw whole chickens is what makes it go off in the first place. Most chickens come prepacked in cellophane wrappings protecting the food from damage and in addition to present it in such a way to make it appealing to customers. Starving the chicken surfaces of air through this method of storage is the principle reason why chicken goes of in the the refrigerator along with the bird sitting in it’s juices.
Prepacked Chicken Remove From Packaging Before Storing
A top tip to ensure that your chicken remains fresh is to remove it from the container and place it upon a plate uncovered. This enables the air within the fridge to circulate around the bird keeping it fresh. Turn the bird on the plate from its front to back each day to ensure optimal air circulation. Should any juices appear on the plate mop these up with kitchen paper – a further contributor to making your chicken go off is these juices becoming stale and contaminating the surfaces of the chicken. You may notice after a day or so that the skin of the chicken starts to become blotchy and dry, this is a perfectly normal reaction to the air circulation and a ‘dry’ skin is a good sign that all is well with your chicken.
Bare in mind that many if not all reputable butchers will ‘hang’ their chickens in fridges to ensure shelf life, this is what you are trying to replicate in your own home, although ‘hanging’ is not practical in most fridges, leaving uncovered and regularly turning will work just as well.
If the chicken skin becomes slimy to the touch and a distinctive smell is present inside of the carcass cavity this is a sure sign that your chicken has passed it’s best and must not be eaten and should be disposed of quickly. Ideally, chickens should not be kept for more than 3-4 days uncovered in the refrigerator before consuming but following the above tips and ensuring that you remove all packaging to allow the air to circulate around the bird will dramatically prolong the life of the chicken and is a very good practise for storing any kind of meat.
Just be careful to set aside a cooked and uncooked section of your fridge for these foods and keep it cleaned regularly to avoid any cross contamination which is the principle reasons behind food poising caused through transmission of juices from cooked to uncooked meats.
