Cook up day chicken

[Erica Gucc]

Hey so I cooked up a bunch of chicken thighs on Sunday. Since its been 3 days and I didn't use them all I packaged them in the freezer

First of all..did I do this right? If I had known I wasn't going to eat them I would freeze them right away. Is it OK to freeze 3 days later? And once I defrost it I should eat it immediately.

Second, any ideas on what I could do with this chicken? I don't want it to go to waste. Ideas for emergency foods or last minute / back up means or lunches I can make ... Also how and when I should defrost for those diff types of meals. Ideally I'd just be able to throw it in the microwave. But for how long and is that right?

Thanks!

[kimmykins]

Eh... freezing chicken after cooking 3 days is fine.  I wouldn't give it a second thought.  TBH, when I roast a whole chicken, I have eaten the chicken up to 5-6 days later.  Gut of steel? Perhaps! 

 

* You could use the chicken to make chicken salad (celery, red onions, salt and homemade mayo.  Yum!).  

* Slice the chicken and add to a salad.

* Shred and add to homemade chicken soup (celery, carrots, onions, homemade broth)

* Slice and dip in sunshine sauce.

 

Were I to freeze the chicken, I'd add them to freezer bags (2-3 per bag) and squeeze the air out of the bag.  Just defrost in the fridge.  I hate defrosting in the microwave as it tends to partially cook them.  In a pinch, I would also add to warm water (with the chicken in the bag) in a bowl and place on the counter, changing the water every 10 minutes or so.  Defrosts much quicker that way.  

[jent103]

I routinely eat meat that I cooked and refrigerated a week prior - I do a big cookup on the weekends, usually, and eat on it all week. That's personal preference - some people would shudder at the thought - but I definitely wouldn't worry about freezing it after three days. As long as it smells good, I'm good.

 

Since it's already cooked, once you defrost it I would not re-freeze it - the texture will suffer. (I have re-frozen defrosted raw meats and lived to tell the tale.) I wouldn't defrost in the microwave for the same reason, except maybe on very low power - I don't think there's a safety problem, but it would probably get rubbery. Defrost it slowly.

 

For emergency backups, I keep cans of tuna on hand all the time - if I have celery, pecans and mayo I'll make tuna salad; if I have greens I'll use it as protein on a green salad. (Check the labels for added soy - soy is in a LOT of canned tuna. I get mine from Trader Joe's.) I've frozen extra portions of a ragu or chili so I can defrost those if needed. Aidell's chicken apple sausages are compliant and shrink-wrapped, so they last a long time in the fridge - those are good for quick meals too.

[SugarcubeOD]

I'm with the folks that will eat cooked food for 5/6 (even 7) days... I don't like to waste and if the sniff test passes, then I say it's good to go.

 

Now that you've frozen it, I would put some sort of sticker on it saying how long it had already been out before it was frozen so when you take it out to thaw, you know how long it's already been out... if that makes sense... My own personal caveat about eating cooked food for 5-7 days is that it hasn't been frozen.  For some reason after I thaw it, I feel it needs to be eaten in around 24 hours...