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 Domestic
consumption fact
Health
tips for chicken consumers
How
long can I keep chicken at room temperature?
From the point of view of food safety, you're taking a risk
if you leave it outside the refrigerator for more than two
hours. Unfortunately, bacteria grow and multiply at temperatures
between 40F and 140F and they flourish at room temperature.
To avoid food borne illness, all foods of animal origin should
be kept either hotter than 140F or colder than 40F. If you
know you won't be returning home directly after shopping,
bring along an insulated bag or box to keep cold foods cold
until you can get them into the refrigerator.
Do
I need to rinse chicken before cooking?
Advice on this has changed over the years. The latest research
shows that from a health point of view; washing is not necessary.
Any microbes that you'd wash off will be entirely destroyed
by heat when you cook the meat. It's actually far more important
to wash your hands, your cutting board, and your utensils
since they won't be sterilized by cooking.
How
do I get the best flavor?
That depends on whether you're after a mild and delicate flavor,
or a strong and robust flavor. The younger the chicken is,
the milder the flavor will be. A game hen, which is five weeks
old, will have the mildest flavor of all. A broiler at seven
weeks, will still have a quite mild and delicate flavor; a
roaster on the other hand, is usually about five weeks older
than a broiler and it will have a much more pronounced "chickeny"
flavor. For a really strong, chickeny flavor, see if you can
find fowl or spent hens or stewing hens. These chickens are
around eighteen months old, which means they're going to be
quite tough, but if you use them in soups or stews, they'll
add an excellent flavor. I've had chicken in the freezer for
a year. Is it still edible? From a health point of view it
would be okay, but the flavor and texture will have deteriorated
and it just won't be particularly tasty I stored chicken in
the freezer for a year once as an experiment. It wasn't awful,
but it was kind of flat and tasteless.
Why
are bones sometimes dark?
Darkened bones occur when the product has been frozen. Freezing
causes the blood cells in the bone marrow to rupture. When
the chicken is thawed, these ruptured cells leak out and cause
Visible reddish splotches on the bones. When cooked, these
discolorations will turn from red to almost black Is it better
to cook a chicken quickly at a high temperature or slowly
at a low temperature? Both work, but with high temperatures,
you run a greater risk of uneven cooking, with the wings and
legs becoming overcooked before the rest of the bird is done.
Usually we recommend a moderate temperature of 350F for whole
chickens and 350-375F for parts. If you are in a hurry and
want to use a higher temperature, shield the wings and legs
by wrapping them with aluminum foil when they start to become
too brown. How much should I allow for shrinkage when cooking
chicken? For each 3-ounce serving of cooked poultry, buy an
extra ounce to allow for shrinkage and an extra 2 ounces to
allow for bone.
If
I want to use different parts of the chicken from what the
recipe calls for, how do I go about making substitutions?
This table should help:
• Whole breasts - 3 parts
will equal one chicken
• Half breasts - 6 parts
will equal one chicken
• Whole leg (thigh and
drumstick) - 9 parts will equal one chicken
• Thigh - 12 parts will
equal one chicken
• Drumsticks - 14 parts
will equal one chicken
• Drumette (upper part
of wing) - 24 parts will equal one chicken
When using cooked chicken, allow one pound of whole uncooked
chicken for each cup of cooked, edible chicken meat.
Some
of your recipes call for roasters. I don't live in an area
where Perdue chicken is sold, and I haven't been able to find
roasters in the stores. What exactly is a roaster, and can
I substitute a broiler?
A roaster is a twelve-week-old bird especially developed for
a broad breast. Roasters have a more favorable meat-to-bone
ratio than broilers. Because they are older chickens, they
also have a much deeper and richer flavor. You can use broilers
in roaster recipes, but plan on the chicken being done sooner
and having a noticeably milder flavor. Back in the early 1970s,
when few people had ever heard of a roaster, it was a hard
work to breed these broad breasted birds and put effort into
advertising so people would learn about the new product.
Source:
the Perdue Chicken Cookbook by Mitzi Perdue
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