My Bad Chicken
September 24, 2022 4:31 PM   Subscribe

I roasted a chicken. I cut into the chicken breast, and there's a section where the texture is off. I'm guessing I know the answer, but... can I eat it?

The chicken's "use by" date was 9/24 (aka, today). Two days ago, I took it out of its packaging and put salt all over it. Then it lived in the fridge until yesterday, when I then roasted it. After letting it sit at room temperature for just a bit, I put it in the fridge. (It was going to be dinner last night, but then plans changed. I figured I should cook it rather than let it sit uncooked for another day.)

I just cut into the chicken breast. Most of it looks really beautiful, but there's this little.. pocket area. Where the texture is like creamy cheese. It is a texture that meat just absolutely is not supposed to be.

Should I throw the whole chicken out?

I feel like I already know the answer, just asking this, but... It's a whole roasted chicken! I feel so wasteful.
posted by meese to Food & Drink (12 answers total)
 
Are we sure the cream cheese-y stuff is meat and not albumin that's caused by cooking at too high a temperature? I would err towards the side of caution. Throwing a whole chicken out might be wasteful... but food poisoning would also be very resource-intensive!
posted by Stephanie Duy at 4:38 PM on September 24, 2022 [4 favorites]


Response by poster: Can you get albumin inside a chicken breast? The goopy area is in the middle of the breast, and I just got contact with it by cutting the breast open.

Although... I did use a meat thermometer, and the goopy area is where the thermometer may have been located.
posted by meese at 4:43 PM on September 24, 2022


Personally, I would discard that section of the breast, but happily eat the rest unless there were weird smells or something else of concern.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:13 PM on September 24, 2022


the texture is like creamy cheese. There's a type of fat that gets that way.

discard questionable bits. Try some of the other part, see how you feel in an hour or three. This is not foolproof, but you were within limits.
posted by theora55 at 5:15 PM on September 24, 2022 [2 favorites]


How does it smell?
posted by amtho at 5:19 PM on September 24, 2022


Response by poster: I just cut into the other breast, and there is another pocket of weird gooey texture. And my response to it is: no, no no no no.

It smells normal? It all just smells like roast chicken.
posted by meese at 5:23 PM on September 24, 2022


I give you permission to accept that you have the ick and just throw it away
posted by raccoon409 at 5:48 PM on September 24, 2022 [20 favorites]


Just toss it, or you’ll spend the next three days worrying that any little stomach twinge is the start of the food poisoning.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 5:51 PM on September 24, 2022 [4 favorites]


I give you permission to accept that you have the ick and just throw it away

I would have been ok with one weird spot, but two? That would be a nope from me.

Depending on how much the chicken cost, it might be worth your time to talk to customer service at the grocery store and see if you can get a refund or a replacement.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:24 PM on September 24, 2022


Response by poster: Yeah.... I threw it out.

I just wish I understood what the heck was going on with it! I've never encountered anything like that before, and I'd like to do what I can to avoid ever encountering it again.
posted by meese at 8:04 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]


This is something I’ve encountered in store bought roasted chicken. I generally eat around it. Not sure what causes it but I’ve not gotten sick, in case you encounter this again.
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 11:15 PM on September 24, 2022


Chicken is often injected with a solution of salt-water to make it weigh more, stay fresh longer and reduce the (apparent) price.
A saline injection keeps the bird moist, but this dilutes the flavour so binders of sodium phosphate or more recently potassium phosphate are also added.

It seems to be an unavoidable side effect of mass produced meat.
posted by Lanark at 4:43 AM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]


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