# do chicken bones go bad when saving for making a broth?



## CherryBombMama (Jan 25, 2010)

i roasted a chicken and had PLANNED on saving the bones to make a broth, and then a week later ... i remembered it was still in the fridge waiting for me to take the leftover meat off the bones. i threw it in the freezer cuz i wasnt sure if it was still good after a week (the bones to make broth, not the chicken meat.)

what would you do about this? discard and start over? im just annoyed because i bought the chicken to save the bones, and then i forgot to save the bones!


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## 34me (Oct 2, 2006)

My dh, who works in food safety, wouldn't let me use mine after a week....


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

I regularly keep them a week. Yes, in a professional setting you're not allowed to for food safety reasons, but my kitchen is not a professional kitchen, and I do what I can with what I have. And that means that food may be a week old before I get to it. If it's not stinky and not growing, then I don't worry about it. But you have to determine for yourself where your comfort level is with that.

IMO, the fact that I'm going to be boiling those bones for a day or more makes a big difference with what I'm willing to put up with.


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## ASusan (Jun 6, 2006)

Agree w/ Cristeen. They would get used here (heck, even week-old chicken leftovers would get eaten here). If you heat them up and they smell bad, toss them.


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## Chicky2 (May 29, 2002)

I would use them, too.


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## icy02 (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm a (non-working) professionally trained chef. If the bones smell rotten or smelly at all you should not risk it. If it smells fine, it is fine  I have made the same mistake myself and while it's a bummer not really worth getting sick.


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