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Old Homemade Chicken Stock

5K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  ruthieq 
#1 ·
I made chicken stock a week ago.  I have read that it must be used or frozen in two or three days.  Why is that?  And is it too old to be safe to use now?
 
#2 ·
It tastes a bit better the fresher it is.  But I've used stock that was on the order of 8 - 10 days old, after I've brought it to a nice boil in case anything too nasty decided to move in.  If you managed to keep your stock out of the danger zone as much as possible when it was made it will tend to last longer, pathogen-wise, than stock that sat out too long at unsafe temps.

mjb.
 
#3 ·
3 days is usually considered the safety limit. Keep in mind it's all statistics. It's not like on day 3 it's perfectly safe and on day 4 all of a sudden it's very dangerous. It's more like bacteria slowly develop, and it is estimated that the risk is low enough up until 3 days, and starts to be a bit high if you keep it longer than 3 days.

Boiling is good to kill some of the bacteria, but many bacteria will resist to boiling, which is why after a while you have to throw it out.

One week old... I would throw it out.
 
#4 ·
Really makes you think about medieval england when they had a pot of porridge on at all times.  Every day they would throw something in it.  It was a bottomless pit of bacteria and yuckiness I imagine.
 
#6 ·
Not only medieval england, but through all countries and history.  But remember, it was on the fire all the time, and that is constantly killing the bacteria.  over a certain temp, it's not allowin any bacteria to develop. 

Anyway, i remember when everyone, just everyone would put the sunday roast back in the turned off oven and ate it at supper.  My inlaws did that through the 80s when i finally prevailed on them to put it in the fridge - and since they had a cooked meal at lunch every day, it means every day they ate dangerous food.   Lived to be 95 each of them.  So, as french fries says, it's a statistical thing, not a certainty.  And of course, when people get used to eating that way, they develop SOME antibodies. 
 
#7 ·
They most definitely develop some kind of antibodies.  I know lots of people in greece that still don't put left over food in the refrigerator.  Pasta, lasagna, stews, roast chicken, everything stays on the counter loosely drapped with a towel.  They don't even warm it up the next day.  Eww.
 
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