I’ve had an unopened box of frozen chicken in my freezer for about 4 months. Never thawed. I was thinking of barbecuing it tonight, but I don’t know how how long chicken can be kept frozen before it goes funny. Any advice? Is it safe to eat?
Should be fine.
From a safety standpoint, I would think that chicken that’s frozen would be OK for a very long time, maybe forever.
Having said that, the main issue with long-term freezer storage is taste. Freezer-burned foods are perfectly safe to eat, yet taste like crap.
True, but if you’re just going to use it as a delivery medium for barbecue sauce, it probably doesn’t matter! 
Personally, I would check and see if it’s freezer burned (and if it was well-packaged, it shouldn’t be). Freezer burned, I’d toss. Otherwise, should be fine. I’ve certainly found forgotten packages of meats in the back of my freezer that were more than 4 months old. Hasn’t killed us yet.
Yeah, bacteria don’t grow in the freezer. Should be fine from that standpoint.
Hmm. This thread has inspired me to check the long-neglected mysterious void that is the back of my freezer. Upon doing so, I discover some chicken, which appears to have been bought in 2002. That would be around the time I moved into this apartment, which explains the origins of the chicken (it was a housewarming gift from a well-meaning relative who somehow figured an 18-year-old single male restaurant employee would cook).
I’m almost tempted to fry it up, just to see if it tastes like anything remotely resembling food. Notice I say almost. Before I engage in this death-defying experiment, I must know…how likely is the death which I am proposing to defy? (We will assume here that “death” is defined as food poisoning and/or severe nausea, because it’s my post and I will redefine words as I please.)
Again…zero. You’re not in any danger of food poisoning unless you thaw it and let it sit out for a while before cooking it. Bacteria don’t grow in the freezer. Period.
The taste and texture might be pretty nasty due to freezer burn and the absorption of other flavors from your freezer, but from a microbiological standpoint, it’s as safe as it was the day it went into the freezer.
YEah, stuff that spends that much time in the freezer tends to taste a little like everything that was in there.
So what is freezer burn? And why does it take several months to rear it ugly little head?
From http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-sto3.html
Freezer burn is a food-quality issue, not a food safety issue. It appears as grayish-brown leathery spots on frozen food. It occurs when air reaches the food’s surface and dries out the product. This can happen when food is not securely wrapped in air-tight packaging. Color changes result from chemical changes in the food’s pigment. Although undesirable, freezer burn does not make the food unsafe. It merely causes dry spots in foods. Cut away these areas either before or after cooking the food. When freezing food in plastic bags, push all the air out before sealing.