What if raw chicken smells bad

Spoilage —meaning the changes that take place in food that cause it to smell bad, feel slimy, change color, and so on—is also caused by bacteria, only it's different bacteria. What happens is, like all living organisms, these bacteria eat food and excrete waste.

And, in many cases, it's this cycle of eating and excreting that causes the changes in the food that we recognize as spoilage. In other cases, it's the dead bacteria themselves since their life cycle isn't particularly long. But what's important to know is, chicken that smells bad can't actually make you sick—assuming you cook it properly, in accordance with the guidelines we described above.

Now, whether you would want to cook spoiled chicken is another matter, but the point is, you could. And, it wouldn't hurt you. You'd just be eating smelly chicken. Most of the changes known as spoilage occur on the surface of the food, so if you have some chicken breasts that feel slimy, your first step should be to rinse them thoroughly in cold water.

As for the smell—spoiled chicken smells, well, bad. As in ammonia, or rotten eggs, or just plain pungent. Even fresh chicken smells like something, but it shouldn't smell funky. If yours does then it's probably spoiled.

Note: One of the reasons sauces were invented was to mask the off-flavors and aromas of meats and poultry that had gone slightly bad. The best way to ensure that your chicken doesn't go bad is to cook it and eat it the same day you bring it home.

And, if you're not going to do that, you should freeze it the same day you bring it home. You can learn more about how to keep your chicken from going bad , but in general, if you get into the habit of either eating it or freezing it on the first day, you'll be fine. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads.

A healthy kitchen depends on your knowledge of how to safely cook and store your food. Baking chicken or cooking any poultry comes with the potential for foodborne illnesses like salmonella. Learn how long to bake a chicken and at what…. Chicken comes in a variety of cuts, including breasts, thighs, wings and drumsticks. This article explores how much protein is in different cuts. Given that chicken has a high risk of bacterial contamination, preparing, cooking, and storing it properly is important.

This article explains how…. Meat is a staple food that's rich in nutrients, but how you cook it matters a great deal. This article reviews the healthiest ways to cook meat. Though ground beef is a popular meat, it's also highly perishable. Here are 4 simple ways to tell if your ground beef has gone bad. Learning how to properly defrost chicken only takes a few moments. Food spoilage is often caused by mold, and some types of it can produce harmful toxins. This article takes a close look at mold in food and whether….

You may wonder whether it's safe to freeze meat more than once. This article reviews under which conditions refreezing meat is safe. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. This article helps you learn how to tell whether chicken has gone bad.

Appearance and color. Purchase and expiration date. The bottom line. Also, we can keep chicken in our freezer for 4 months. This will allow us to avoid getting an upset stomach or even food poisoning. Skip to content. Jan 4 Look for Gray and Yellow Spots One of the best ways to tell if raw chicken has gone bad is by looking at it and paying attention to the color of the meat.

Pay Attention to Funky Smells When we try to figure out if our food is still good, we need to use our senses to our advantage. Feel for Slimy Meat The way chicken meat feels to our fingers is another way to tell whether the meat has gone bad or not. Remember When You Bought It Last but not least, it is important to remember exactly when we bought the chicken.

Related Posts. November 5,