Category: Food poisoning
When making purchases, there is a possibility of purchasing semi-finished products that have spoiled due to the fault of the manufacturer or seller. If there are delays in sales, the merchant suffers losses and may attempt to sell goods with expired shelf life. Chicken meat dominates the Russian diet and is sold fresh carcasses in markets and bazaars, chilled or frozen in grocery stores and chain stores. A buyer who has the knowledge of how to understand whether chicken has spoiled or is still fresh will maintain health and avoid the danger of poisoning from poor-quality products.
Meat color
One of the criteria for meat spoilage is a change in its color. Fresh chicken meat is characterized by a pinkish tint, which becomes gray as the condition worsens.
If the meat has just begun to change color and a pinkish tint predominates, it should be cooked as soon as possible. If most of the product has turned grayish, you should stop using such a component in preparing the dish.
A sign of rotten meat can be not only the grayish color of the carcass, but also the appearance of yellowish spots on it. Also pay attention to the appearance of the product after it is prepared.
If you used rotten meat for these purposes, it does not change its color towards a lighter color under heat treatment conditions.
How to increase egg production
Egg production depends on several factors.
- Heredity. Egg breeds of chickens lay the best eggs, followed by meat and egg breeds. The egg production of meat breed chickens is very low.
- Age. The older the chicken, the worse it lays eggs. Before checking whether a chicken is laying eggs or not, you need to check its age.
- Mode. Chickens are conservative birds. The slightest deviation from their usual daily routine causes stress and a decrease in egg production. To prevent this from happening, you need to feed the birds, turn the lights on and off, or take them out for a walk when keeping them in an aviary, strictly at the same time. The birds are fed 3 times a day. The first time is given wet mash immediately after waking up. In the evening – grain or mixed feed. Daytime feeding is placed at an equal interval from morning and evening.
- Diet. Laying hens need plenty of food, but not excessive nutrition. Greens or vitamin complexes to increase egg production as a source of vitamins, and crushed shells or chalk as a source of calcium. Potatoes, vegetables and steamed flour are sources of carbohydrates. It is necessary to give foods containing protein: whey, broth, fish or bone meal. You can feed them with special feed for laying hens according to the instructions on the packaging.
- Temperature and light. In cold conditions and little daylight hours, chickens lay eggs less often. By heating and lighting the chicken coop, you can increase the productivity of laying hens. If the light period is less than 14 hours, the hens are physically unable to lay eggs daily.
- Free place. In cramped conditions, birds become nervous and begin to lay eggs less often than usual. There should be at least half a square meter of area per hen.
No ice crust
Purchasing frozen meat does not guarantee a fresh meat product. In this regard, it is strongly recommended that you carefully study the purchased product.
A freshly frozen chicken carcass is necessarily characterized by the presence of a thick ice crust, the presence of which confirms the fact that the product was frozen correctly and in compliance with all requirements.
If the presence of white ice is observed on the product, we are most likely talking about meat that has been frozen. Of course, frozen meat can be safely used in cooking, because it does not pose any danger, but in this case you need to be prepared for the fact that the taste of the final product will be slightly spoiled.
Duration and storage conditions of chicken meat
When purchasing chicken meat, be sure to pay attention to the expiration dates indicated on the packaging. Unfortunately, compliance with this requirement does not always guarantee the purchase of fresh meat, because the product may be stored in inappropriate conditions.
To avoid mistakes, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the storage conditions of meat. The product must be packaged in vacuum packages and sealed containers.
Chicken must be stored at low temperatures to avoid rapid spoilage. So, chicken meat can be kept in the refrigerator for no more than two days. As for the frozen product, the maximum duration of its storage in the freezer can be up to 12 months.
Why is chicken soaked in potassium permanganate?
Add potassium permanganate, which is popularly called potassium permanganate, to regular tap water. ... The first task is that potassium permanganate disinfects the chicken, degreases it, washes away the fat, which mainly contains microorganisms, and also removes odor due to its sorption abilities.
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Study of the skin surface
Fresh chicken meat is smooth and elastic, so by touching the chicken you will be able to determine its freshness. To do this, simply press firmly on the carcass with your finger to form a dent. If after this the meat quickly returns to its original position and the dent disappears, then you have a fresh product.
Chicken meat that has expired is characterized by looseness, and after pressing, the formed dents do not disappear. As already noted, in addition to the friability, there will certainly be a sticky and slippery film on the surface of spoiled chicken meat.
If you observe at least one of the signs of meat spoilage, which were discussed in detail in this article, or you have doubts about the freshness of the meat, it is better to refuse to use it in cooking. Such an error can cause serious poisoning and the development of dangerous complications.
Mustard gives good results. Carefully coat each piece on all sides with it, place them in a bowl, cover with film and refrigerate for several hours. You can also grate chicken meat with a mixture of sugar and salt. You can also mix spices and herbs that you have around the house. Rub the chicken pieces with salt and sprinkle them with this mixture, leave for 1 hour at room temperature.
Garlic can also eliminate bad or strange smells caused by chicken that has been smothered in a bag. Cut two or three cloves into quarters and stuff them into pieces of chicken, adding salt. Pass a couple of large cloves of garlic through a press, mix with salt and ground black pepper, coat the chicken pieces and put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Another technological technique that helps get rid of the unpleasant odor of any meat is marinating. For the marinade, you can use, in addition to spices and herbs, wine vinegar, dry red wine or freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon. Don't forget to add salt to the marinade. Toss the chicken pieces with the marinade until each piece is completely covered, and leave to stand in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Dream interpretation Chicken, rooster
The chicken is a restless bird, famous for its long clucking sound after laying an egg.
The Rooster is the embodiment of courage and fighting nature, although in most cases these qualities turn into cockiness and pugnacity. Seen in a dream, these symbols are related to the household and the character of the people with whom the dreamer communicates.
To see a dream in which chickens are looking for food, rummaging through money scattered in a thick layer around the yard is a harbinger of sad news or an event that may happen due to your negligence, try to focus on the main thing, and everything will be fine.
Seeing a fairy-tale hut on chicken legs in a dream means you will be surprised.
If you meet a person whose speech you cannot understand because it strongly resembles cackling, do not believe the rumors.
Evil tongues will deceive you; Don't make hasty decisions under pressure.
Seeing a chicken that sits unnaturally in one place for a long time means that they may soon turn to you for help, citing illness or disability, but you should not take everything for granted. Help so that you don’t regret participating in a person’s fate later.
You dream of a chicken with a cow's udder - be careful: they are trying to deceive you, it is possible that the business that is being offered to you is an empty scam; do not believe those who promise big money and mountains of gold.
To see a chicken that attacks a stranger who has entered an unfamiliar yard - the one who promises to provide support will not fulfill his promise; do not rely on the help of those who have not been personally verified by you.
To dream of a garden bed being eaten by chickens - beware of a trick from careless family members, from children, from those who still do not know much.
To dream of a pan of cabbage soup containing an unplucked rooster - you are warned of a surprise that will cause in you a storm of emotions of the opposite nature.
In a dream, saving a hen that rushes to recapture its chick from a hawk is a symbol of the fact that your protector himself needs help.
To dream that you have been pecked by a roast rooster - before making a final decision, weigh the pros and cons, because the dream foreshadows something unexpected for you.
If in a dream you want to slaughter a rooster, then such a dream indicates that in your environment there are evil, envious people who are doing a lot of harm to you, even though you don’t know anything about it right now.
Killing a rooster in a dream that prevents you from sleeping at night is a sign that you are too cunning and will suffer greatly because of this. Perhaps such a dream indicates that misfortune awaits you due to the cunning of a person close to you.
Catching a rooster in a dream is a harbinger that you will soon have a difficult task ahead of you, which you are unlikely to be able to complete.
Checking the chicken for freshness
Raw chicken
You can tell if a chicken has gone bad by the following signs:
- Color. Fresh raw chicken meat has a pink color that begins to fade over time. Poultry that is unsuitable for consumption has gray meat, and sometimes yellow spots appear on the carcass. During heat treatment, spoiled meat will not lighten, remaining the same gray shade.
- Smell. A fresh chicken carcass does not smell of anything, but spoiled raw chicken meat has a pronounced, repulsive, sharp putrid odor. Sometimes it happens that chicken meat begins to smell unpleasant already at the beginning of cooking when heated. You should also avoid using such a product.
- Consistency. To determine the freshness of chicken meat, you should touch the flesh. Fresh meat will be firm to the touch. Spoiled chicken sticks to your fingers, you can also notice that it is covered with a slippery shiny film that is not washed off even under running water.
- Presence of mold. If green or black mold is found on chicken meat, it should be disposed of immediately.
The freshness of chicken meat can be determined by pressing on it. If a dent in the flesh remains for a long time or does not level out at all to its original state, this indicates that the meat is spoiled. On fresh meat, the pressure mark will disappear and the meat will return to its shape.
Video - how to choose fresh chicken
Frozen
How to determine the freshness of frozen chicken:
- Color. Frozen chicken meat may be pink or yellowish. If frozen chicken is gray in color, it is better not to use it for cooking.
- Presence of ice crust. If the technological standards are observed, when freezing chicken meat, it will be covered with a thick ice crust, reminiscent of ice on the walls of a freezer that has not been defrosted for a long time.
A white icy “rash” appearing on the chicken meat, near which the skin of the bird is bristling, will indicate that the chicken has been frozen.
It is preferable to buy chicken meat in packaging from the manufacturer, paying attention to its integrity.
Quite often, unscrupulous sellers repackage chicken carcasses after the expiration date and set a new packaging date - in this case, you need to ask the seller for documents about the date of purchase of this product.
Fried chicken
- Smell. Spoiled fried chicken will have a hydrogen sulfide smell. In this case, you should pay special attention - spices added during the cooking process can mask the unpleasant odor.
- Color. When cut, fried chicken that is unfit for consumption will have a gray tint. This is especially noticeable on “white” meat – fried chicken breast.
Boiled
- Smell. Chicken cooked without spices will have a pronounced sulfur smell.
- Taste. In order to determine the freshness of chicken, you can taste a small piece of meat by chewing it without swallowing. Spoiled meat will have a sour taste.
If the chicken has been cooked in a marinade, breading, or sauce, it will make it much more difficult to determine its freshness by smell.
Smell
A sign of spoiled chicken is an unpleasant odor.
Raw, fresh chicken will have little or no odor. If the chicken has a very strong odor, such as sour or a sulfur smell similar to rotten eggs, discard it.
However, to determine whether chicken is safe to eat, you should never rely on smell alone.
People's senses of smell can vary, which means not everyone will notice the change in chicken smell. So look out for other signs of spoilage.
Conclusion:
Spoiled chicken usually has a sour or sulfur smell. Most often, fresh chicken has virtually no odor.
How to properly store chicken
Raw
Raw chicken meat is stored at home chilled or frozen in the refrigerator.
The shelf life of chilled chicken in the refrigerator should not exceed 3-5 days at a temperature of 2 to 6 degrees. If the temperature is reduced to 0, the permissible storage time increases to 10 days.
Do not store chilled chicken uncovered in the refrigerator. If particles of previously spoiled products get on it, the meat will become unusable faster.
It is best to pack the chicken in a container, cling film or plastic bag, from which the air must first be released.
When frozen, the shelf life of chicken increases - up to a year at temperatures from -18 to -24 degrees, but already at -5, chicken can be stored for no more than one month.
Poultry that has been stored no more than a few hours at room temperature or no more than two days chilled in the refrigerator can be frozen.
Chilled chicken stored in a container will last 2 days longer than chicken packed in cling film or a plastic bag.
Ready
Cooked chicken does not last long, as it is not advisable to freeze it. At room temperature, the permissible storage time for cooked chicken does not exceed 3 hours.
In the refrigerator, fried and boiled chicken will be suitable for consumption within 48 hours, stewed - 72 hours. Prepared chicken dishes should be stored in tightly closed containers, without leaving the meat exposed.
❌ You should not store ready-made chicken dishes on a balcony or loggia during the cold season, since there, unlike a refrigerator, the appropriate air humidity is not maintained, which can lead to premature spoilage of the food product.
Before each holiday, in anticipation of the pleasure of the feast, we begin to think through the menu. Cutlets, homemade sausages, chops, stews, pilaf with lamb, cabbage rolls and dumplings, oven-baked chicken, rabbits, ducks and, of course, the fragrant, long-awaited smoky kebab!
The main product for all this deliciousness is meat. Now we will figure out how to identify spoiled meat and choose a fresh, high-quality product.
We look carefully
Usually spoiled meat is immediately visible during a visual inspection.
Fresh meat of all types of large animals, such as beef or veal, goat, pork, lamb, should have a color ranging from dark pink to brown. In no case should there be rainbow tints or gray tints.
The poultry should be pinkish-white to pink in color. If the bird is young, the color may even have a bluish tint.
The color of the entire piece of meat or poultry carcass should be uniform, without dark or gray spots. The edges of the cut parts of the carcass should not be dried out or weathered. If the pieces of meat have bones or joints, pay close attention to their color. Only white!
When buying any type of meat in a store, keep in mind that the lighting of display cases greatly distorts the real picture. Be sure to ask the seller to take out the piece you like and examine it carefully.
Using touch and smell
Be sure to touch and smell the product to identify signs of spoiled meat and avoid becoming a victim of poisoning. The structure of good, proper meat is dense, not loose. If you try to press a piece with your finger, your finger should not go into the meat like butter!
Under no circumstances should the meat be sticky!
Remember that the correct smell of good meat is almost imperceptible and has notes of milk in its aroma. If you buy minced meat, know that its smell should not be different from whole pieces of meat. If this is not the case, it means that spices or flavorings have been added to the minced meat. Careless sellers use this method to hide the putrid smell of a stale product.
One more tip. Do not hesitate to ask for a certificate of quality for the selected ham or ribs in a store or market. If the meat is fresh and not spoiled, every conscientious seller will definitely provide you with all the necessary documents.
It may happen that a lot of time has passed from the moment of purchase to preparation; and you had no way to store meat in the refrigerator. Make sure it is cooked or fried well!
How to understand staleness when cooking
During the cooking process, how can you tell if the chicken fillet is spoiled? Before cooking, the meat is washed and wrapped in a paper towel. If the pulp has been stained with chemical reagents, the dyes will appear on the paper in the form of colored spots within 5 minutes.
The fillet is cut with a knife, the odors are removed from the blade by immersing it in boiling water for 1 minute. You need to understand that the processes of decay begin in the depths of the muscle mass. It is more difficult to remove the odors accompanying decomposition by chemical treatment, so it is easier to detect unpleasant odors.
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Poor-quality meat begins to smell stronger during heat treatment, so spices are added to the prepared dish after 3-5 minutes, after making sure the chicken is safe.
