Would you eat this old Caulipower chicken?

August 27, 2024 2:17 PM

I have some Caulipower chicken with a best-by date of 3/2023. It’s been in the freezer the whole time.

I know it won’t be great, but will it be edible? Cauliflower is kind of nasty on a good day.

Bonus: it tends to ignite in the microwave- any way to stop this from happening? (I don’t have a stove).

posted by dianeF to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

If it's been in the freezer the whole time, it should be perfectly safe.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 2:25 PM on August 27 [3 favorites]

Might have a bit of freezer burn, but I'd eat it. That's really the point of a freezer
posted by Art_Pot at 2:41 PM on August 27 [2 favorites]

It may be tastier if prepared in an air fryer or toaster oven or something along those lines, if you have access to something like that.

In terms of food safety, you should be fine.

Grocery-store frozen chicken, as a category, probably isn't going to be the most delicious thing ever. When I eat it, I try to have some barbecue sauce or honey mustard or whatnot (not a big ranch person) for dipping.
posted by box at 2:44 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

yes I would eat it.

do you really mean ignite (catch on fire) in the microwave? or do you mean it pops / explodes?

if the latter, try cooking at lower power level, for longer, and ideally finish it in an air fryer, toaster oven, or oven.

if the former, I don’t really have any advice other than one part of the equation must be really off… either the chicken, or the microwave… it bears a thorough review!
posted by seemoorglass at 6:42 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

With my normal (not deep freeze) freezer that gets opened all the time, no I would not eat chicen that has been frozen for a year and a half. I always heard a year at the most for raw, a couple of months for cooked or processed. It might be ok but it might not.
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 7:06 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

I would not eat it, because the cauliflower trend has gone too far and these weird hybrid foods must stop. The fact that the item is past dates is a great excuse to discard it.
posted by shock muppet at 7:09 PM on August 27 [3 favorites]

If you have a chest freezer which maintains the temperature near zero all the time, I would eat it.

But chances are this is coming out of the freezer compartment of a frost free fridge, which would mean that your freezer regularly has run refrigerant heated up well above 32 degrees through the coils to melt ice which has accumulated and drain it away as liquid water, and that is almost certainly reflected in brief spikes of above optimal temperature in every thing in the freezer.

Over a year is quite a few cycles of heating and recooling, and I think that makes chicken just a little bit too dangerous to eat.
posted by jamjam at 8:32 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I have to admit, I don’t want to eat it.
posted by dianeF at 3:17 AM on August 28

They'd be fine; I'd eat them. Actually, with a processed food like this, I wouldn't even pay attention to the date. *shrug*

Regarding your microwave issue, their website doesn't even include microwave directions, and your issue is probably the reason. You say you don't have a stove. Do you have an oven, toaster oven, or air fryer?
posted by hydra77 at 6:04 AM on August 28 [1 favorite]

If you don't want to eat it, then I'm sorry to tell you, you definitely shouldn't eat it. It is probably poisoned and also will burn your house down, and it will give you diabetes and sprain your ankle.

Seriously though, if you want permission to throw it away because you don't want it, permission granted. If you really feel guilty about it, compost the food and recycle as much of the packaging as you can.
posted by decathecting at 1:33 PM on August 28 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: hydra77: You’re probably right..I don’t have any of those, just a microwave and a quesadilla maker.

Thank you, decathecting!
posted by dianeF at 2:47 PM on August 28