How to Choose and Store Fresh Chicken Carcasses
Learn how to choose and store fresh chicken: 8 signs of a healthy carcass, plus how long raw chicken keeps in the fridge and freezer.
Chicken has become a staple food as more restaurants and eateries make chicken dishes the star of their menus. Rising demand for chicken meat has also pushed up the profits of broiler farming. Farms that produce chicken carcasses are flooded with orders to meet market demand. Even with so much demand, farmers should keep their chicken fresh and high quality, because more than a few chicken sellers cut corners to make extra profit. To avoid being cheated, shoppers should know how to choose chicken that is fit to eat.
Also read How to Choose Quality Broiler Day-Old Chicks (DOC)
Here is what to look for to get a healthy, fresh chicken carcass:
- The carcass is whole, without a single defect
- The skin is clean, white and glossy, with no bruises or visible blood vessels anywhere on the body
- At cut areas such as the neck, the muscle fibers look widely and unevenly stretched
- No pin feathers remain on the carcass
- The smell is normal, not strong and not rotten.
- No preservatives and no artificial flavors
- No hormones and no additives of any kind
- Contains no trans fat at all
How to Store a Chicken Carcass
If you are cooking the chicken right away, first wash it under clean running water, then pat it dry with a clean, dry cloth. Once it has been washed and dried, it is ready to prepare.
If the chicken needs to be stored before cooking, it should also be washed under clean running water first and dried with a clean, dry cloth. Once the carcass is clean, it can be kept in the refrigerator for one day. If you will not cook it for a while, move it to the freezer for up to 30 days. Still, it is best to cook a chicken carcass soon so the meat is still fresh when you eat it.
