Can You Freeze Delicious Chicken? 2023

Chicken is the most popular meat to eat worldwide. In total, Americans eat over 85 pounds of chicken on a yearly basis. Chicken also happens to be the cheapest to purchase at your local butchers or supermarkets as a result of its low cost to farm. 

Who Are the World’s Biggest Chicken Eaters?

• Australians love their meat and one thing they know better than what meal to make with their chicken is how to farm it. Such a big awareness of farming in a humane manner has been brought to the locals’ attention that it’s extremely normal to run into an animal rights protest or two. This has put pressure on their farmers to farm their meats in better conditions or risk losing business.
• America is known for its funky diners and wacky menus so there is no surprise here.
• In Argentina, chicken is so popular that the sale of red meat is on a constant decline.
• Israel, being such a tiny country has knocked the largest countries to the curb. In 80% of Israeli homes, you will find families eating chicken daily.
• In 2013, Great Britain ate 2.2 million chickens every day. Madness!

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Not only does the world’s human population love chicken, but salmonella also loves it even more. That means that all aspects of handling chicken must be done right and hygienically. We will be looking at whether or not chicken can be frozen raw or once cooked and how to store it safely. 

But first, we have to find out some weird and wonderful chicken facts of course.

Funny Chicken Facts

• If chickens were intelligent beings, they surely would take over the world. Chickens outnumber the human race with an outstanding population of 25 billion.
• If you see a chicken cross the road, help it to the other side. Chickens can remember up to 100 faces so beware and treat them nicely or else.
• What determines the color of chicken eggs? The hens’ earlobes! A hen with red earlobes will only lay brown eggs and white eggs come only from hens with white lobes.
• A ‘chicken gun’ is used to propel dead chickens at aircraft windows during the construction of a plane to test its strength.
• South Koreans love their chicken so much that they are home to more fried chicken restaurants than Mcdonald’s restaurants in the entire world.
• Two yolks in an egg are considered lucky, but did you know there is an egg holding the world record for nine yolks?
• A hen suffering from malnutrition will eat her eggs if she has to.
• Hens and chicks converse with one another while the chick is still in the egg.
• If you want a hen to lay larger eggs, she must first think a daily cycle is 28 hours, not 24 hours. Some egg farmers do this.

Well, that is a lot of information to take in. Chickens aren’t quite as simple as we thought. Now for the important stuff. 

Can Chicken Be Frozen While Still Raw

Freezing chicken raw is a brilliant idea. No one wants to be going to the shops every two or three days just for the protein accompaniment to their meal. The great news is that if stored correctly and frozen at a constant temperature of below 0 Degrees Fahrenheit then the chicken will be edible and safe once defrosted, for as long as you wish to keep it.

Frozen chicken tastes best if it’s only kept in the freezer for up to 9-10 months. This shouldn’t be a problem at home as it’s not likely to be forgotten about for that long anyway. 

Those guidelines are more relevant to restaurant owners that purchase meat in bulk and must label with accurate dating when the chicken was purchased and frozen to keep the taste the number one priority.

The longer your chicken is frozen, the less nutrients it will contain over time. The best way to freeze your chicken is to remove it  from the original shop or butcher’s packaging and place it in a freezer bag. Label and place flat in a section of the freezer dedicated only to frozen meat. 

Can You Freeze Cooked Chicken

Chicken and, in fact, all meats need to be treated a little differently once already cooked. You can keep cooked meat in the fridge for roughly two days. If you think you are not going to eat the chicken within that time limit or there is excess then you can freeze the chicken you cooked. 

Cooked chicken should be kept frozen for no longer than three months. Cooking chicken, or any food for that matter, change its texture and consistency. The frozen cooked chicken just isn’t fun to eat once it’s been frozen for longer than 3 months. It becomes rubbery and chewy, a bit like a frozen ready meal.

Make it a household rule to only reheat cooked chicken once. It isn’t advised to cook and then reheat meat multiple times as doing so changes its protein composition and isn’t very healthy for you. 

The same storage requirements apply when freezing cooked chicken. Place the chicken in a freezer bag and lay flat in the freezer with other frozen meats.

In Conclusion

Defrosting your meat is another important step that must be done correctly. The best way to defrost frozen meat is to leave it out to thaw naturally. To speed up the process you can place the sealed freezer bag containing the meat in a bowl of water. 

Avoid cooking meat straight from frozen, the meat will be tougher due to the dramatic change in temperature that happens. Please cook frozen meat until it is piping hot all the way through.

So there you have it, thank goodness we can freeze our chicken regardless of whether it has been cooked or if it’s raw. Meal preparation for the family is that much easier when you have a frozen option ready to use that’s for sure. 

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