Frozen Chicken

[Melman Giraffe]

I've never bought frozen chicken before always fresh.

Would you buy frozen chicken or is it a no no?

[bobbo89]

Watch the water content and its fine, good for slow cooking into curries etc. Also good with those Maggi So Juicy cook in the bag things. Quite handy to have in the freezer TBF

[grumbledoak]

The producers can get more water into frozen meat, so I prefer to buy fresh and freeze it myself.

[Melman Giraffe]

grumbledoak said:

The producers can get more water into frozen meat, so I prefer to buy fresh and freeze it myself.

Interesting. So it looks like a good deal but probably isn't

[bobbo89]

They have to specify how much water has been added, if it doesnt specify that any has been added or it does but doesnt state a percentage, your good to go!

[TeeRev]

I've never bought a whole frozen chicken, I always buy good quality fresh free range birds for roasting.

On the other hand for casseroles, stir frys etc my favourite cut is the thigh, so whenever I see large packs of fresh on offer at the supermarket I buy a few, split them down into meal for two size portions and freeze them for use when needed.

[condor]

I always buy fresh chicken as it's usually British - a lot of the frozen chicken is from other countries ie Thailand where chicken welfare isn't top of their agenda.

[grumbledoak]

Melman Giraffe said:

Interesting. So it looks like a good deal but probably isn't

That is my understanding.

There is a whole industry in undeclared (i.e. illegal) hidden water. You need to mix animal protein with the water to stop it leaking out, so there can be e.g. pork protein in chicken. Holland is world leader, apparently. Quite why they would want this distinction is beyond me.

[tedmus]

To quote a chap from another forum who works in the industry:

meat bloke from the internet said:

"Fresh" will be, without exception, minimum 3 days old before it could possibly hit the shelf
The frozen fillets, due to line set ups, will be in the nitrogen tunnel after the maturation process so will be within 18 hours of slaughter.

Frozen is fresher than "fresh"

The Oakhurst frozen chicken breasts from Aldi are great.