I bought some chicken breasts at the meat counter of my grocery store. Fresh chicken breasts, not packaged and nitrated. Took them home, put in fridge, left for about a week.
I pulled them out, they smelled a little gamey. Not deeply rank, but a bit more than what I expected. I rinsed them well, rubbing under the water, then cut them up and roasted them in the oven.
After that, they still smell a little gamey.
Are they safe to eat? Is that just an aesthetic thing? Should I be worried?
Um, you can’t leave raw chicken in the fridge for a week. Don’t eat it. Cook it sooner next time.
Getting sick from gamey chicken is what you would wish on your worst enemy.
yeah, cook it or freeze in in a day, maybe two. Especially if it is advertised as not having any preservatives. If it’s not preserved, it’s actively aging* all the time.
*rotting, actually.
If chicken smells off, it’s not safe to eat, period. You might get away with it, but given the possible consequences, I wouldn’t risk it.
Freeze it or cook it sooner next time. COOKED chicken can hold up quite well in a refrigerator, but you’re gambling with salmonella or worse with raw chicken.
I’m pretty lax when it comes to food safety, but a week in the fridge for chicken would be past the point where I’d try to eat it for me. If it smells gamey and feels a bit smiley and tacky, dump it. Not worth the risk. I try to eat or freeze any raw chicken within three days. Maybe four if I feel like lady luck is shining upon me.
Thanks. I’ll pitch it.
I noticed the smell was caught in the oven and stinking up the place. Had to air that out.
What about the practice of hanging birds for days, outside? I remember a scene from Shogun where the villagers cut down Richard Chamberlain’s bird because it smelled too bad. I assume people actually did that?
That’s usually for gamier birds than domestic chickens, and nobody sensible is hanging their pheasants outside.
I’ll also note that rinsing chicken does no good and in fact can do harm because it potentially spreads contamination to other surfaces. Salmonella can’t be rinsed off.
One note: when I went to throw out the chicken, it smelled like fish. Um, yeah, not eating that.
You don’t like Chicken of the Sea?