How long to keep defrosted chicken?

[Merlin5]

I normally buy a supermarket pack of chicken thighs and legs (on the bone), stick it in the fridge and cook them before the use by date. But now that I have a shiny new fridge freezer I decided to freeze an unopened pack on the day of purchase. I've now moved it to the fridge to defrost overnight.

I've been reading that once chicken is defrosted it should be cooked no later than 2 days. What if the use by date is longer than 2 days? Or does freezing and defrosting shorten the safety period?

Also, I was considering defrosting them in the microwave but changed my mind. I've read that defrosting chicken in the microwave is dodgy because if it's warm to the touch after defrosting it's dangerous because of bacteria at certain warm temperatures? Or if it's in the microwave but not completely defrosted it would be dangerous to cook? I defrosted sausages in the microwave, perhaps a bit too long as they came out a little warm but then oven cooked them immediately and everything was fine.

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks for the replies. So let's say after say 3 or 4 days it didn't smell or wasn't sticky, would that mean it's still fine?
And what is the danger of cooking chicken that's still frozen?

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks chaps. I defrosted it overnight and even after 24 hours although it was basically soft to touch it still wasn't completely defrosted. So I cooked the whole lot (about a dozen pieces of legs and thighs) in the oven for much longer to be on the safe side. Normally I cook chicken that hasn't been frozen at 200c for 40 minutes. Tonight I cooked it at 180c for about an hour and a quarter, which is almost twice as long, possibly even overkill. Tasted fine, seemed to be properly cooked right through to the bone. So fingers crossed I'll be alive tomorrow.

 

[Merlin5]

probably neede to acclimatize to new fridge .. or, maybe, get a temp monitor.
24 hours and partially thawed, sounds like it is too cold at level where you placed item. (apparently meat tray might be 1-2C)
.. but otherwise that's cold& maybe damaging on delicate vegetables / dairy(cream/cheese)

(some troll comment, nearly bit on, in another thread, about setting their new fridge to 1C - lol )

You might be onto something though. Yes I did initially place it at the bottom, sitting over the veg crisper so I moved it further up to the next shelf.

My new fridge defaults at 4c for the fridge and -18c for the freezer. An engineer came round under warranty to replace a part and changed it to 2c and -19c. Milk I used to throw away is certainly keeping super fresh now even over a week after the use by date. And unfrozen chicken that used to smell after 2 or 3 days is staying odourless now for much longer.

But I think everything is maybe a bit too cold now? I took a bowl of petit pois out of the fridge and the liquid the peas were in was icy cold. Perhaps I should bring the temps up again?