Chicken

How to buy Chicken

The chicken, it’s a white meat. It must be bought in establishments where they have a good handling and conservation of meats and meat products. The site has to have good physical conditions (clean, walls veneered in sanitary material, personnel with adequate endowment and the display of the refrigerated or frozen product. Self-branded stores, meat shops, chain stores or supermarkets are the best and most reliable. In the last two, it must be at the end of the purchases when you should buy the chicken.

The presentations in which the chicken comes are:

Frozen

(whole with skin, without viscera, is less perishable than by pieces or channels.  If you are not going to eat it soon and you like the viscera (liver, heart, gizzard and neck) for broths or sauces, buy them separately.

Refrigerated

By pieces (breast or supreme), legs and perniles (thighs and thighs or colloquially called, columbines and squares), with or without skin (clean). Try not to buy chicken that is not in these conditions. Do not leave a lot of time exposed to heat inside the car, or outside the refrigerator (because it shortens its “lifespan”), maximum 30 minutes not to interrupt “the cold chain” of the chicken, which prevents the proliferation of bacteria that cause disease. If possible, it must be transported in a thermal bag and away from polluting products such as cleaners, automotive oils or petrol as it absorbs these smells. The chicken must be bought at the end of the market together with the other meats, so that the “cold chain” of the product is not interrupted.

The freshness of the chicken will be noticed in:

• Characteristic smell, fresh and soft (that does not smell like a feather, or any other bad smell).
• Moist, thin, white (non-pink, neither yellow, nor grey, much less violet, purple, or green skin, characteristics of an old and damaged chicken). There should be No stains.
• The color of the meat is slightly pink (rosy) and white fat (not yellow that indicates little freshness). Only in peasant chickens the skin is hard and yellow along with its fat, because they have been fed with corn.
• Flesh texture is firm, soft and shiny (not viscose, slug, or sticky) and should not have a lot of fat. It has to be elastic to the touch, which by pressing with the finger regain its shape immediately. The breast should be rounded (not flat).
• It has to be bought: refrigerated, (national chicken), or frozen (imported chicken). Never frizzy (half-freezing, because it has already been frozen).
• The best state to buy the chicken is refrigerated, which feels very cold.
• Check packing date and expiration or expiration date.

Uses:

As a strong dish or as an ingredient in countless preparations and using various culinary techniques (roasts, stews, baked, empanadas or breaded and frying in general), among others, because you can use any method of cooking.

Storage:

For hygiene, sanitation and to avoid contamination and possible intoxications, hands should be washed and/or gloves placed before starting to handle chicken meat. If it is consumed before 24-36 hours the chicken should be:

• Remove the liquid that has been released into the package.
• Place it in a container with a lid that prevents its juices from falling on other foods and produces a “cross-contamination”.
• Put it in the coldest place in the refrigerator to refrigerate.

Freezing.

It consists in rapidly lowering the temperature of the food to-19 degrees Celsius (-5 F) or less to preserve its nutritional value, smell and taste, and to keep the bacteria inactive and prevent food from deteriorating. Food may become contaminated during processing by:

• Equipment malfunction (refrigerators).
• Contaminated utensils (knives, tables, trays, containers, bags, etc.). All this must be thoroughly washed with water and detergent to prevent contamination.
• Improper storage.
• Poor handling (dirty hands).
• Cross-contamination.
• Inadequate time and temperature.

Freezing will be effective as long as no pathogenic agents are present. Pack the air out of the bag as much as possible. Use a large bag, which does not squeeze the contents into it. Use plastic bags that can be sealed preferably if it is to be frozen for a long time. If it is for a short time (up to 3 weeks) wrapped in aluminum foil, with the opaque side facing inward. Freeze at temperatures below 0 °c because the freeze keeps the microbes inactive by decreasing the movement of the molecules, preventing their growth and deterioration of meat and food in general.

It is advisable for your comfort before freezing the chicken:

• Remove this from its packaging and discard the liquid that has been released, wash the channel or parts with clean water to remove traces of blood. This wash should be quick so that water-soluble vitamins are not lost. Drain and dry with a kitchen absorbent paper.
• Remove excess fat, so that it has longer life and better flavor if it is going to freeze for a long time. It’s also healthier.
• To be used according to the quantity of pieces that are needed daily, so that when thawing the whole package, it is not necessary to re-freeze any surplus, since the bacteria have been activated and multiply, producing toxins.
• Pack The daily portions wrapping in aluminium foil, vinyl paper, in bags to freeze or in plastic bags, sealed and labeled, scoring with indelible marker (the date of packing, part of the chicken: Breast or supreme, legs, perniles, wings, etc.).

• Freeze to less than 4 °c in a separate container of the other meats, stacking the bundles of the portions, well flattened (to make them better fit, occupy less space and can be more easily thawed).
• In many places they provide the filleting and packaging service at no additional cost.
• Do not store raw chicken next to cooking, because crude contaminates cooking (cross-contamination) and can cause mass poisoning (all diners).
• Do not freeze stuffed chicken, because the filling does not freeze and may present bacteria that contaminate it and are toxic.
• If you are going to freeze cooked chicken, wait until it cools a little at room temperature, refrigerate until it is completely cold and then freeze.

Cooling.

It is a method for the conservation of foods that consists of cooling them to 4-6 degrees centigrade (42 degrees F), to reduce bacterial activity. It should be placed in airtight containers to avoid cross-contamination.

Main pathogenic agents in chickens.

-SALMONELLA ENTERÍTIDIS: It can be located in the intestinal tract of poultry and other warm-blooded animals. It is also presented in the eggs (dirty husk of excrement). -STAPHYLOCOCUS ÁUREUS: Can be transmitted through the hands (wash hands and/or use plastic gloves to handle chicken). -CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI: Is the most common cause of diarrhea in people. Cross-contamination should be prevented and use proper cooking methods to reduce the risk of infection.

Its duration:

• 1-2 days, refrigerated, chicken or whole raw turkey. 1 year, Frozen.
• 1-2 days, chilled, chicken or raw turkey in pieces or dispresed. 6-9 months, frozen.
• 3-4 days, refrigerated, chicken or cooked turkey. 2-6 months, frozen.
• 1-2 days, refrigerated, raw chicken or turkey sausages. 1-2 months, frozen.
• 1 week, refrigerated, processed chicken sausages (sausages, ham, Bologna) open package. Two weeks, no opening. 2-3 months frozen (open or closed package).
• 1-2 days, Chicken burger, refrigerated. 2-3 months, frozen.
• 24 hours, chilled with viscera (not cleaned).
• 1-2 days, refrigerated, viscera (giblets or giblets) of chicken. 2-3 months frozen. They should be frozen separately from the chicken because their duration is less than that of this.

Conservation:

Freeze.               Cool.

Duration:          

6 approx.              1-2 days approx.

Tips:

It is advisable to freeze the chicken always fractionated and preferably packed in daily portions. Note: When handling the chicken, always do it with your hands clean and/or preferably with gloves. Check that the site, containers, trays, inns, and other utensils are clean before use and when the process is finished wash them with plenty of soap and water, before proceeding with other raw meat, especially when poultry or pork have been handled because they are meat With lots of bacteria and you can give the cross contamination.

Although frozen chicken meat can be kept for more than a year, it is advisable not to exceed 6 months since it becomes dark and loses flavor and aroma and its flesh becomes darker, it turns black. To defrost the chicken, it has to be done slowly (from the freezer to the refrigerator for the whole night), to avoid microbial growth. If you have forgotten, place it in a sealed pouch inside a container with fresh, clean water at room temperature in the same refrigerator until it thaws.

Never thaw chicken at room temperature, or re-freeze after thawing, because bacteria are activated, can become toxic and cause disease.

Organic Chicken

In cooking it shrinks less. When you go to prepare the chicken:

• Keep hands and utensils clean.
• Wash all the ingredients to be added.
• Cook at suitable temperatures.
• Separate raw food from cooked foods.
• To find out if the cooking is perfect, carve the chicken with a fork, if blood comes out complete the cooking because it is still raw and is detrimental to the health and the meat can be damaged.
• When the microorganisms are thawed, they are re-activated and can be multiplied to cause disease, for this reason to defrost inside the refrigerator. Never at room temperature and less freeze again.