Sorry - Another Freezer Question

[sherrardk]

Just got a chicken out to defrost but it is older than I thought - October 2011. Still good or not - the packaging is not broken or anything. Thanks

[starone]

I'm still using fish that have been in the freezer for ever. Should last ages if frozen. I have just finished using pheasant which I froze last season so it has been in the freezer for over a year. Still all right and hasn't had any deleterious effect on me. I would use it.

[sherrardk]

Ok, thank you - I must get a freezer book of some kind, usually stuff goes in and doesn't come out again until I bin it.

[Buenchico]

I'll happily keep stuff in the freezer for far longer than the recommended times but an extra 14 months for poultry would seem to be 'pushing it' a bit. As well as the potential health issues, chicken tends to become very 'rubbery' if it's kept frozen for too long.

I'd bin it.

[SeaJayPea]

Thaw it. If it's off, you'll know, believe me. Chances are it'll be fine. They found stuff that Captain Scott had frozen 100 years ago in the Antarctic and decided it was edible - although I'm not entirely sure if anybody actually tried it!

[atalanta]

It is probably perfectly edible, but will have lost some of its nutritional value. If you have not had power-cuts ( no chance of defrosting and re-freezing ?) it should not do you any harm, unless it pongs on defrosting. Which seems unlikely.

[boxtops]

Have you got a cat, sher? I'd thaw it and test it on the cat - if the cat won't eat it, we won't either.

[diddlydo]

It'll be absolutely fine.

[pastafreak]

Probably fine,though may have some dryness/freezer burn,and texture may be affected.

[gollob]

The sell by codes are but there by the supermarkets for their own benefit so they can rotate their stock and sell it before it goes off . It has nothing to do with how long you should keep it. If the chicken was fresh when it was frozen ,if frozen properly it will keep indefinately. Foodstuffs that have a marinade like indian and Chinese foods have a far longer life than the supermarkets give them. Worcestershire sauce has a 4 year code on it, yet in 4 years time it is better than first bottled
Bottled Water: Fresh as a mountain stream yet it has a sell by date on it. Do not understand why they bother putting a sell by code on herbs and spices

[NOX]

It'll be absolutely fine, I am still eating things I bought last Christmas that have been frozen including poultry.Just use your common sense, if it looks okay and smells okay when it's defrosted then likelihood is it IS okay- I've never managed yet to poison myself.