Need Advice Fast!

Parruthead · Aug 8, 2011

I'm in charge of cooking for a large chicken bbq this this weekend 400 PC of chicken. Tonight a gentleman approached me and asked how I prepared my chicken. He said someone approached him (apparently just recently) that they were served raw or undercooked chicken or just cold I don't have alot of details being its a year later. I was never told this until tonight 51 weeks later about this and now I'm FREAKING!!!! Let me share with you how I prepared it last year and how I was planning on doing it again this year.

Anyone see a problem with my method or have suggestions!

1.) We cleaned the chicken by hand and then Par Boiled it for 10-15 mins to cook it thoroughly.

2.) I cooled it down as fast as possible in a large fridge at the church i cooked it at. ( Should I maybe use a Ice Bath to cool it faster?)

3.) Took the Par-boiled chicken to a local school which I have access in and stored it Friday night till Sunday morning. To Guarantee it stayed COLD!!

4.) Day of Event I stored Cold Chicken in 48 Qt Coolers for 2-3 hours till I grilled it off on my gas grill I checked pieces as I was pulling them off with my Thermometer making sure it was up to 155 Degrees. Then put it into heated Nesco roasters. And it was served within 15-20 minutes of coming off the grill. If i remember correctly I started cooking at 10 A.M last year and lunch started at 11 A.M I bet i didn't pull the first batch off of the grill until 10:30 A.M .

All this said it wasn't like they said they got sick! But it still un-nerves me!! Why on earth would you wait a year to tell your cook their was a problem!!

Thanks for listening and I look forward to your answers and suggestions.

landarc · Aug 9, 2011

If you cook them throughly at the first cook, you have little to worry about, although ice bath to cook is not a bad practice. It is important to note, that many folks are very particular about their chicken and want it cooked until well done. So, hotter is better at service.

We used to do a large chicken feed at our church when I was a teen, it ran up into 500 to 600 halves of chicken range, and we had no problem with poisoning anyone. We cooked them, air cooled them in an air conditioned room and then into a chilled room overnight. Nobody ever got poisoned.

I think your process seems fine. Just keep checkiing temps during service, and start cooking a little earlier to ease you mind.

Ford · Aug 9, 2011

If parboiling, then make sure it temps out at 165. That is cooked for sure. Use an ice bath and temp the meat before putting in fridge. under 70 for sure and under 40 is better. A fridge is not made to cool large quantities.

Reheat to at least 165, that's the law for reheating not 155. All nasties left from cooling will be gone.

Terry Knife · Aug 9, 2011

51 weeks later someone tells you that someone else was served undercooked or maybe even raw chicken??? Sounds like a steaming pile of second hand BS to me. If I was served chicken that was undercooked I'd be taking it up with someone right then and there, with the chicken in hand.

You're process seems good to me, especially if the church fridge was a commercial brand.

pigoutbarbecue · Aug 9, 2011

This has nothing to do with the yardbird being cold or undercooked, however when cooling the chicken, it must be cooled to 70 degrees or below within 2 hours of begining the cooling process. It is also important to store the chicken below 41 degrees. If you do not reach 70 degrees within 2 hours it CAN be reheated to 165 for a minimum of 15 seconds and cooled again using a more efficient method. It should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 as ford stated earlier.

Parruthead · Aug 9, 2011

Thanks for the help guys.. FYI the church fridge is a isn't a great big walk in more of a smaller one. But the High schools is!

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