Wednesday, July 30, 2008

H-E-L-P

I love how you guys come out of the woodwork when I have a question and I am hoping that you will do so again.

There are two problems that are overshadowing other real issues in my life. The refridgerator and chicken.

I have some issues when it come to the refrigerator. I feel like I am constantly throwing things out for fear of food poisoning.


  1. The big rule, above all rules, is that nothing goes into the fridge uncovered! Ever.

  2. I don't like to cover things with saran wrap. Leftover food needs to be in some sort of container with a lid.

  3. I never put metal utensils in the fridge.

  4. I really dislike it when The Love puts open cans with a rubber band securing the saran wrap in the fridge!

  5. I don't eat leftovers if they have been in the fridge longer than a day.

And the list goes on and on. I won't even go into my bizzar-o issues with having a fridge that is organized by height and grouped by type of food!

Here are my questions: How long do you keep cooked chicken in the fridge before throwing it out? How long do you keep uncooked chicken in the fridge? Is it okay to thaw meat and then refreeze it with out cooking it? Generally, how long do you keep things in the fridge?

Help a girl out!!

3 comments:

KDMilWife said...

I think, not for certain though the general rule that i had heard from one of those news shows was that three days for uncooked (depending how cold your fridge is kept) and up to five days for cooked. Here is my rule three days for cooked food unless I know I can some how reinvent the leftovers to a fresh idea. Uncooked I get very finicky after two but if budget is tight i will look over the content but typically if I haven't cooked it by then i don't think I will even eat it if i did.

Elizabeth said...

#1 NEVER re-freeze meat after it has been thawed, or even partially thawed. Kind of like breastmilk:)

#2 I think it's perfectly safe to keep cooked chicken, or most anything else, in the fridge for up to 3 days. If it's uncooked, I think you should throw it out after a day or so.

If with you-there is a right way to store things (covered, sealed, etc.) and too long is too long! Also, frozen meat should be thawed in the fridge or in a sink of cold water and not at room temperature. That's grosses me out. It's also gross to leave food out for too long before refrigerating it. I know a family who leaves food out for hours before putting it in the fridge. Yuck!

I organize my fridge into categories. Doesn't everyone?

Melonie said...

This is embarrassing to say after the last two comments, but we somewhat frequently go longer...like up to a week for certain (cooked) leftovers, unless it starts to smell weird or something. I re-heat it until sizzling in the microwave, and figure that's got to be killing germs (but perhaps I'm just rationalizing; I don't know for sure). We've never had food poisoning, though. Uncooked chicken, well, I try to cook it in the first couple of days or else I freeze it. I think you're NOT supposed to thaw and refreeze any meat unless you've cooked it in between. I think that's cool that your fridge is so organized - definitely not bizzarre! I wish ours was. I am not an organized person at all, and that's something I really long to be. Organizing things gets me confused and stressed, because there's undoubtedly something that doesn't "fit the mold" and I never know what to do with miscellaneous items... Wish I could see inside your fridge!