What's the "Use By" Date of the Chicken You Buy?

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

I have been getting chicken breasts that are huge, tough and within a day or two of "use by (or sell by)" date from Walmart pickups. I have not encountered this until now.

So, I am asking how many days until "use by" date is the chicken you are getting? Maybe it's a local supplier, maybe these two Walmarts dirty dealing to pickups, but I've never notice chicken this bad or this near sell by until now.

Care to weigh in and enlighten me?

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

I don't buy meat from Walmart. It's roosters, not chickens. Old, tough roosters. Not spring chickens.

Trinity11 · ‎11-16-2014

I shop at Whole Foods and usually the sell by date is at least a week away. We eat Bell and Evans exclusively. I don't like the taste of store brand chicken.

Bookplate · ‎08-19-2011

I don't shop at Walmarts, but can tell you that the supermarket chicken I buy usually has a sell by date of 4-6 days, depending on what store I shop at, and what day of the week.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

Theres lots of good information online about "sell by" and "use by" dates on chicken.

https://northernyum.com/blog/chicken-sell-by-date/#:~:text=A%20use-by%20date%20is%20added%20by%20som...

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

Briefly..

Three to five days

A use-by date is added by some poultry producers to indicate the date by which they recommend consuming the product for best quality. This date is typically three to five days after the chicken was packaged. Is chicken safe to eat after the sell-by date? Yes, it is perfectly fine to eat chicken past the sell-by date.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

I don't think the use by date tells us whether what we buy will be tender and sweet. I've had really tough chicken from several sources where I usually buy excellent products. I do expect the use by date to tell me how soon I need to use what I buy or at least get it into the freezer.

Sometimes even that doesn't work. A few months back at a local market which is known for excellence, I bought a factory sealed package of Bell and Evans chicken. Its use by date was 4 or 5 days later, but when I peeled a corner open that very day, the stench permeated the kitchen! If there's any thing uglier than rotten meat, I don't know what it is.

As for why some chicken is tough to the point of being inedible - I don't think that's something the butcher knows for sure, but I do believe the tough breasts I bought were also huge. Now I often buy chicken tenderloins. They've been very reliable every where so far.

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

@millieshops

I buy tenderloins because I have a problem with dysphagia and my GI doctor told me if I hate chicken, to eat chicken tenderloins or nuggets, that as I am easily choked, I did not need to eat anything else om the way of meat but seafood, freshwater fish and those chicken particles or ground beef cooked in casseroles.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Nonametoday wrote:
I don't buy meat from Walmart. It's roosters, not chickens. Old, tough roosters. Not spring chickens.

@Nonametoday You are 100 percent right. Unfotunately not all of us live where there is much of a choice. Back to frozen for us!

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Trinity11 wrote:
I shop at Whole Foods and usually the sell by date is at least a week away. We eat Bell and Evans exclusively. I don't like the taste of store brand chicken.

@Trinity11 Lucky! Yes that is by far the best chicken. I suppose I will have to gird my loins and plan an expedition and take a BIG cooler to stock the freezer. Again!