Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (104 page)

The temperature has been above freezing (but below 40°F [4°C]) for no more than 2 days

When the power goes out, the first thing to do is avoid opening the freezer, even if it means preparing something other than the meal you had planned. If you keep the door closed, a loaded freezer will stay cold enough to preserve chicken and other foods for 1 or 2 days, depending on its size. Even a partially loaded freezer should keep meat frozen for a day. In a heated room you can
prolong thawing within the freezer by wrapping the unit in comforters, quilted furniture pads, bed pads, or anything else that’s large and thick.

If you live in an area where power outages are frequent, a generator makes a good investment. As an alternative, look in advance for a place where you can buy dry ice in a hurry. Dry ice is carbon dioxide, solidified at a temperature of –220°F (–140°C). As it warms, it turns into a gas that evaporates, leaving no puddle the way wet ice does. A 50-pound (25 kg) block will keep a 20-cubic-foot (0.5 cu m) freezer going for up to 4 days if it’s fully loaded, 3 days if it’s at least half full. To avoid burning your fingers when handling dry ice, wear gloves and leave the ice in its brown-paper wrapper.

Although refrozen chicken is safe to eat, it won’t taste as good as meat that hasn’t been thawed and refrozen. To preserve the remaining flavor, cook the chicken before refreezing it. Even raw meat that’s too far thawed to refreeze, but is still safe to eat, may be cooked and refrozen. Cooked chicken that has thawed should not be refrozen but may be eaten within 2 days.

Frozen chicken pieces may be cooked without being thawed, but they’ll cook faster if thawed first. A whole chicken should always be thawed before being roasted. Thawing chicken on a counter at room temperature is dangerous because the outside layer may thaw and start to spoil while the inside is still frozen. Chicken may be safely thawed in one of three ways:

In the refrigerator
chicken pieces will thaw overnight, and a 4-pound (2 kg) chicken will thaw in about a day. This method is the safest, since you don’t run the risk of forgetting about the chicken and letting it get too warm for too long. Put the package of frozen chicken on a plate or tray to catch drips, and place the plate in the refrigerator until the meat is pliable.

In cold water
pieces will thaw in about an hour, and a 4-pound (2 kg) chicken will thaw in 2 to 3 hours. Seal the frozen chicken in a plastic bag and submerge it in cold tap water until the meat is pliable. To speed up the defrosting of pieces, separate them as soon as they have thawed enough to break them apart. In a warm room, change the water every half hour to make sure it stays cold; in a cool room, the thawing chicken will likely keep the water colder than cold tap water. Cook the chicken as soon as it has thawed.

In a microwave oven
chicken may be thawed in a matter of minutes, although some spots may begin to cook while others have just barely thawed. Chicken defrosted in a microwave should therefore be cooked immediately
after thawing. Every microwave oven is different, so follow your microwave manufacturer’s directions for thawing frozen foods.

If you start to thaw chicken in the refrigerator and it isn’t completely thawed by the time you’re ready to cook it, speed things along by putting the packet in cold water or in the microwave. Another way to shorten thawing time is by freezing pieces with wax paper or freezer wrap between them, so you can separate the pieces easily for thawing.

Don’t be alarmed if frozen chicken happens to look dark near the bone after it’s cooked. Darkening is a reaction to slow freezing that normally occurs in home-frozen chicken.

Home-canned chicken has the distinct advantage that storage does not require electricity. To safely can chicken you need a pressure canner; for pint (0.5 L) and half-pint (0.25 L) jars you may use a pressure saucepan. No method that processes without pressure is safe for any kind of meat.

Chicken, like other meat, may contain bacteria that cause botulism, a form of food poisoning. The bacteria are destroyed by processing at 240°F (115°C) for a specific length of time that depends on the volume. If the temperature is lower or the time is shorter than recommended, the risk of botulism occurs.

If you are not familiar with the use of a pressure pot, do not attempt to can chicken based on the suggestions offered here. Read the manual that came with your canner, consult a reliable canning guidebook, or get information from your state or county Extension home economist.

A pressure canner operated at sea level at 10 pounds of pressure reaches a temperature of 240°F (115°C). If you live above sea level, you’ll have to adjust the pressure for your altitude.

Chicken meat is easier to handle and will be more tender if it has been chilled for 6 to 12 hours before being canned, but there’s nothing wrong with canning it as soon as the body heat is gone. Remove as much fat as possible. Do not can excessively fatty pieces. Add salt for flavor, if you wish. Work as quickly as possible, and process the jars as soon as they are filled.

Stored in a cool, clean, dry pantry, canned chicken will keep for up to 5 years. In my experience, the limiting factor is the quality of the lids, which don’t always have enough coating on the inside to prevent them from rusting through. Another
potential problem is that a bit of fat or meat on the jar rim might prevent a good seal. To ensure the safety of canned chicken:

Keep all equipment clean

Carefully wipe jar rims before sealing

Meticulously follow processing times and temperatures

Let jars cool before washing them and storing them in a cool, dry place

Boil home-canned meat at a rolling boil for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring constantly, before serving it

If you wish to use canned chicken for cold salads or sandwiches, chill the meat in the refrigerator after it’s been boiled. Signs of spoilage include:

Bulging or leaking jar lids

Gas bubbles inside a jar

Liquid spurting out when a jar is opened