# How long does raw chicken stay good?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-raw-chicken-stay-good/237176>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 29, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-raw-chicken-stay-good/237176 "2004-03-29T22:10:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-raw-chicken-stay-good/237176/1 "2004-03-29T22:10:02Z")

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Well, as the title says, I need to know how long I can keep raw, thawed out chicken in the refrigerator?

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-raw-chicken-stay-good/237176/2 "2004-03-29T22:21:38Z")

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A lot of that depends on how fresh it was when it was frozen - freezing halts bacterial growth, but does not actually kill the bacteria, so they just start where they left off.

I just returned home from teaching a food hygiene refresher and oddly enough, the topic of how long food can be kept refrigerated isn’t a lrge feature 9most of it deals with what happens if you _don’y_ store it properly refrigerated.  
One thing I can tell you is that appearance and smell are NOT reliable guides as to whether something is safe to eat, as pathogenic bacteria can be present in dangerous population without the item seeming to be ‘off’ at all.

The accepted wisdom on this appears to be: thaw it in the fridge and use within three days.

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-raw-chicken-stay-good/237176/3 "2004-03-29T22:48:20Z")

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According to [foodreference](http://www.foodreference.com/html/artchickensafety.html)

> [@](#):
>
> REFRIGERATOR HOME STORAGE (at 40° F or below) OF CHICKEN PRODUCTS
> 
> Fresh Chicken, Giblets or Ground Chicken 1 to 2 days