my chicken stock

[hillvalley]

I made pot of stock a week ago Monday. I am finally getting around to freeze the left overs that has been sitting in the fridge for a week. As it is warming, there is white, swirly stuff floating in it. It kind of looks like foam, only fluffier? It is floating on top of the chicken fat thatis melting.

I added salt, but only a little at the end. Everything else is organic.

Any idea what it is? Should I throw it away? Help

[Cynthia G]

I try not to hold most things like stock, meats, etc, more than a week in the fridge. I'd probaby throw it out.

[edsel]

If it's over a week old, I'm afraid you'd better pitch it out. I'm surprised it doesn't have a nasty odor. When storing stocks in the fridge you can extend their life by boiling them every few days (discussion here ) but you can only do this a limited number of times. Every trip through the "danger zone" (of temperatures, that is) increases the bacteria count.

[Carolyn Tillie]

When storing stocks in the fridge you can extend their life by boiling them every few days (discussion here ) but you can only do this a limited number of times.

I disagree with that -- my cooking school teachers attest that chicken stock would keep indefinitely if brought to a boil every three days. There are a number of restaurants that continue to replenish their stock in this fashion.

Instead of throwing out the stock, it can't hurt to strain it through some cheesecloth and bring it to a boil -- depending on how cold your 'fridge is, it might be fine.

[hillvalley]

To keep or not to keep, that is the question

[edsel]

...my cooking school teachers attest that chicken stock would keep indefinitely if brought to a boil every three days.

Carolyn,

I'm not one of those food sanitation fanatics. I'm just wary of taking stock through the heat-cool-heat-cool cycle too many times.

As for hillvalley's stock, the foam on the surface raises an alarm. It's normal for stock to have flotsam and jetsam on the surface the first time you bring it to a boil (if it hasn't been clarified) but that frothy stuff sounds ominous.

I can't tell you how many times I've had a container of stock go bad in the fridge because I neglected it a day or two too long. The likelihood of stock spoiling in the refrigerator is inversely proportional to the quality of the stock. I had to toss a gorgeous veal stock last weekend because I forgot to "maintain" it. It didn't really smell "off", but better to send it down the disposal than make someone sick.

[Rachel Perlow]

I am finally getting around to freeze the left overs that has been sitting in the fridge for a week. As it is warming...

I'm confused. You're getting around to freezing it, but you are warming it? Clarification please. If you are boiling it before freezing it, I suppose that makes sense from a food safety perspective, as long as there were no off odors before you boiled it, it should freeze well.

[hillvalley]

Yep, I was boiling it to freeze it. I also was going to bring some to a sick coworker, but now I am not so sure.

[Carolyn Tillie]

...my cooking school teachers attest that chicken stock would keep indefinitely if brought to a boil every three days.

Carolyn,

I'm not one of those food sanitation fanatics. I'm just wary of taking stock through the heat-cool-heat-cool cycle too many times.

As for hillvalley's stock, the foam on the surface raises an alarm. It's normal for stock to have flotsam and jetsam on the surface the first time you bring it to a boil (if it hasn't been clarified) but that frothy stuff sounds ominous.

I can't tell you how many times I've had a container of stock go bad in the fridge because I neglected it a day or two too long. The likelihood of stock spoiling in the refrigerator is inversely proportional to the quality of the stock. I had to toss a gorgeous veal stock last weekend because I forgot to "maintain" it. It didn't really smell "off", but better to send it down the disposal than make someone sick.

Well, I do belong to the "when in doubt, throw it out" club and that flotsam DID sound a bit odd. Mostly I wanted to say that I disagree with the idea that there are limitations on how long stock could be kept. I've never done it for a year, but while in school, I routinely kept an eight-gallon container of chicken stock in a status of half-filled, re-filled, etc. for several months.

[Dave the Cook]

Anything that could contaminate stock will die when boiled. In fact, the vast majority of them die long before the temperature reaches the boling point. So the issue is not one of food safety, it is one of taste. A batch of stock that has been invaded by bacteria can be made safe to consume -- but the stock is now full of dead bacteria, not to mention the er, end product of their consumption of the growth medium you've so thoughtfully provided.

Now, some bugs (yeast, for instance) excrete downright tasty things, but it's unlikely to be true of all spores, molds and bacteria. I don't know the flavor profile of staph or salmonella (or staph or salmonella poop), but I suspect it's not better than chicken, and probably not as good as yeast. In any case, the flavor of your contaminated stock is likely to be changed, one way or another. That's why you throw out stock that's been seriously invaded.

As for the three-day rule, it seems like a reasonable compromise between convenience and the chance of contamination.

[snowangel]

We've been "lucky" here in MInnesota. Very cold and snowy, so a stint on the back stoop quickly puts stock into that frozen solid state, which I do believe is safe, and keeps taste proper. But, an 8 quart batch of stock is certainly a bitch to chop and put into smaller zip lock bags.

[paul o' vendange]

Anything that could contaminate stock will die when boiled.

Edited to say: Obviously, all things depend on time and temp. 170 for twenty minutes will kill most things. Bringing to boiling temp for 2 minutes will kill more. Sustained boiling will kill all. But merely bringing to boiling temp will allow some things to live through - i.e., spores.

I'd agree, the real problem (assuming an effective sanitation regime) isn't the living beasty, but its metabolic by product. Blecch.

Edited February 12, 2004 by paul o' vendange (log)

[AlexP]

I have another question regarding stock safety. I few weeks ago I made chicken and beef stock. I stored the stocks in Ziploc (sp?) bags (2 and 4 cups). I also made some stock cubes. Anyway, I made the mistake of introducing and piling the bags in the freezer wet in the outside (just water) and now they are attached to each other. Obviously, it is pretty easy to detach them by just running some warm water over them, but once I have a single bag in my hand, the other one (previously attached) that I do not need, has melted a little. Is it safe to put the unused semi melted stock bag back in the freezer for future use? The contents of the bag that are not frozen might be 5%, so it is still a pretty solid piece of ice...

Sorry for the long confused description and if the answer should be obvious, but these days I am thinking more about safety than I used to.

Thanks for all your help.

Alex

[fifi]

Don't worry about it. That 5% that thawed is still very cold, probably colder than refrigerator temperature. And, you probably have it out of the freezer such a short time that it should be no concern at all.

[ellencho]

Alex, did you try smacking your two bags against the kitchen counter? I've frozen two wet bags of liquid together and a good smack did the trick to liberate them from eachother. That way you can avoid the self-doubt that might occur from running water over them.

[AlexP]

Alex, did you try smacking your two bags against the kitchen counter? I've frozen two wet bags of liquid together and a good smack did the trick to liberate them from eachother. That way you can avoid the self-doubt that might occur from running water over them.

No, I thought about it, but I was afraid that the bags would break and I would have a mess. Although if everything is frozen, I should not have a problem. Thanks for the suggestion and I will try next time.

Thanks also to Fifi. Your answer is what I wanted to read.

Alex