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I hate to throw away chicken...

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Comments

  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Theophan said:
    bgebrent said:
    ... Disagree brother. Too much afraid and not science. 

    My brother, you might be right about possibly too much afraid.  Yeah, I do tend to be paranoid.  :)

    But no, sorry, plenty of science:  First, I'm a retired physician, and I studied microbiology as a biology major in college, and again in medical school, where I also studied infectious diseases, notably including foodborne illness.  I've also spent dozens and dozens of hours going over reports of incidents of foodborne illness and what was found to have caused them, and the recommendations of experts at the CDC, FDA, etc., to try to offer information to my church about people (a) bringing food to church, and trying to minimize the risks in that, and (b) cooking food for fundraisers, etc..  I've read cover to cover the ServeSafe manual that is the standard used by the food service industry across the country.  I really am pretty darned familiar with this topic.

    Here are a few lines from a very quick search just now:

    Centers for Disease Control:  "Foods that have dangerous bacteria in them may not taste, smell, or look different."

    CDC again:  "Food contaminated with Staph toxin may not smell bad or look spoiled."

    CDC again:  "Contaminated foods usually look and smell normal, which is why it is important to know how to prevent Salmonella infection."

    CDC again:  "The foods contaminated with emerging pathogens usually look, smell, and taste normal, and the pathogen often survives traditional preparation techniques"

    Plenty of science out there if you want to look for it.
    I was being sarcastic my friend. I too am a scientist. The information you provided will be helpful for sure. 
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
    After a restaurant meal, a coworker developed food poisoning and the Docs had to remove part of his stomach!!  Beware!!!

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  • The_Stache
    The_Stache Posts: 1,153
    edited September 2017
    I would have already cooked and eaten the chicken and remember a good dose of alcohol helps in killing germs and stuff (as well as your liver, which is evil and must be punished)!!

    PS... I've had food poisoning years ago from a fast food joint... I still would have eaten the chicken already!
    Kirkland, TN
    2 LBGE, 1 MM


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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,656
    nolaegghead said:
    ... Mostly what changes in the fridge is the harmless bacteria...
    I might be misunderstanding you, here.  In the fridge, bacteria are growing, just more slowly than they would at room temperature, but they're still growing.  Any "bad" bacteria that were there in the package are growing just as happily as any less harmful bacteria.  So if there were only a few pathogenic ones when you bought it, there might be zillions of them after a while, and my main point of entering this thread was about the fact that smelling the chicken tells you nothing at all about whether the kind of bacteria that can make you deathly sick are there in huge numbers or not.
    nolaegghead said:
    ... Does something happen after a couple of weeks in the refrigerator different between beef and poultry that make poultry more of a risk to eat after cold storage than beef?  Because we dry age beef and don't worry that much about time after butchering.  We cook the bejesus out of poult...   Or is it because the older poultry with higher bacterial loads cross contaminates our kitchen and we get sick from other things?
    I do think that commercially farmed chicken probably is more likely to have salmonella in it, for example, than beef that's been properly prepared for aging.  I'm pretty sure that people used to shoot wild duck and then at least sometimes hang it for a day or several (people in cold climates, at least) to let it age a bit before cooking it.  I'd guess that the bacterial ecosystem in modern meat and poultry is profoundly different than it was several generations ago.

    To me, the point is that the situation is murky, and most of the time you can do everything wrong and still be fine, so all of the guys on this forum saying they've been doing this ____ for years and they've never gotten sick are right in that sense!  It's just that it's not a small risk of catching a bad cold -- it's a small risk of being so sick you wish you were dead.  For me, it's just not worth taking that risk.
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • JohnnyTarheel
    JohnnyTarheel Posts: 6,629
    Carolina Q said:
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html
    Smart man!!
    Charlotte, NC - Large BGE 2014, Maverick ET 733, Thermopen, Nest, Platesetter, Woo2 and Extender w/Grid, Kick Ash Basket, Pizza Stone, SS Smokeware Cap, Blackstone 36"
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  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    edited September 2017
    Carolina Q said:
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html
    Wuss... 

    The other CarolinaQ would have ate that like a boss. 

    SMH
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
    Instagram
    Facebook
    My Photography Site
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  • JohnnyTarheel
    JohnnyTarheel Posts: 6,629
    tarheelmatt said:
    Carolina Q said:
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html
    Wuss... 

    The other CarolinaQ would have ate that like a boss. 

    SMH
    And I bet all your FRIENDS will be right there with you.. as you suffer... :o
    Charlotte, NC - Large BGE 2014, Maverick ET 733, Thermopen, Nest, Platesetter, Woo2 and Extender w/Grid, Kick Ash Basket, Pizza Stone, SS Smokeware Cap, Blackstone 36"
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  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    JohnnyTarheel said:
    tarheelmatt said:
    Carolina Q said:
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html
    Wuss... 

    The other CarolinaQ would have ate that like a boss. 

    SMH
    And I bet all your FRIENDS will be right there with you.. as you suffer... :o
    Nah man.  Honestly, I'm in the camp of it smells , toss it. That date is just for reference (just my opinion). 

    To my knowledge,  I've never had food poisoning nor given someone food poisoning.  I've feed a lot of people in my life too. 
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
    Instagram
    Facebook
    My Photography Site
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  • THEBuckeye
    THEBuckeye Posts: 4,232
    Dredger said:
    I vote for tossing. I am super anal about that kind of stuff. I've had food poisoning once from eating at a restaurant. That gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "If you love me, kill me". You really, really mean it.

    "super anal"? Don't arouse @SGH so early on a Saturday morning. 
    New Albany, Ohio 

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  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,921
    Take it put of the garbage bin and make broth

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Theophan said:
    nolaegghead said:
    ... Mostly what changes in the fridge is the harmless bacteria...
    I might be misunderstanding you, here.  In the fridge, bacteria are growing, just more slowly than they would at room temperature, but they're still growing.  Any "bad" bacteria that were there in the package are growing just as happily as any less harmful bacteria.  So if there were only a few pathogenic ones when you bought it, there might be zillions of them after a while, and my main point of entering this thread was about the fact that smelling the chicken tells you nothing at all about whether the kind of bacteria that can make you deathly sick are there in huge numbers or not.

    Actually I'm talking about psychrophilic bacteria as opposed to psychrotrophic.

    I know they all grow, albeit some very slowly at lower temps.  The relative concentration of fauna changes as a function of temperature, and my question, what's there to start with and the difference between beef an poultry. 
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,380
    Carolina Q said:
    Okay, the votes are in. I tossed it. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I'm just glad it wasn't that SRF Wagyu chicken! =)
    http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/chicken/chicken.html
    So you chickened out then.
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    absolutely

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    "super anal"? Don't arouse @SGH so early on a Saturday morning.

    Funny @THEBuckeye. I hope he's okay, haven't noticing him posting much lately.


    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC
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  • GoldenQ
    GoldenQ Posts: 590
    If you ever get salmonella you never trust chicken even at the by date.   That stuff is hellish.    Listen to DoubleEgger
    I XL  and 1 Weber Kettle  And 1 Weber Q220       Outside Alvin, TX-- South of Houston
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,877
    Y'all may be confusing raw chicken with old chicken.
    NOLA
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    If it looks and smells OK, only a easy to be led astray guy would toss it - you think most restaurants don't serve after sell by dates? 
    I like the FDA logic, if it has been kept in the fridge unopened, I'm thinking all is good. 
    If it was a supermarket whole chicken and was only 6 days past the sell before date, it would be on one of those rotisseries selling for $7.....
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Skiddymarker said:
    If it looks and smells OK, only a easy to be led astray guy would toss it - you think most restaurants don't serve after sell by dates? 
    I like the FDA logic, if it has been kept in the fridge unopened, I'm thinking all is good. 
    If it was a supermarket whole chicken and was only 6 days past the sell before date, it would be on one of those rotisseries selling for $7.....
    Well, it wasn't "unopened" though I don't see why that matters. It wasn't cryovac'd, just standard grocery store packaging. I cooked one, waited too long, then tossed the rest. You may be right, but the consensus seemed to favor trashing it.

    So I'm out six bucks. I'll get over it.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    If it doesn't smell bad... Eat it 
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Quitter. 
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    Damn, $6, you will regret that in the years to come when your (what is it called) 1040 tanks.
    Whatever. You are happy/comfortable with is the right thing to do. 

    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Eoin
    Eoin Posts: 4,304
    I threw away a couple of packs of in date chicken last week because it smelled bad. I'll take a chance with red meat, but not with chicken. You did right to chuck it.
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