Started cooking chicken breast in crock pot. It was raw 30 minutes before we had to take it to party. How can we rescue it?

Matthew McKenzie
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6 Comments

BerryBaby September 20, 2018
Seeing from the responses you are all fine and the chicken turned out afterall.
I'd suggest oven method over crockpot unless you have 6 hours to spare. Oven takes less than an hour and heats hotter and faster, which you probably know.
 
Nancy September 20, 2018
OK. Misunderstood from your question both condition of the chicken when served (thought it was still undercooked) and what you wanted to know (what to do with still-raw food).
If chicken breast was cooked in moisture (stewed or braised), probably can't do chicken salad. But yes in:
1) hot chicken sandwiches (like hot turkey, with gravy)
2) a pasta dish (over lovely wide egg noodles)
3) baked into a savory bread pudding.
If these don't strike your fancy, wait to see what others here can suggest.
 
Matthew M. September 20, 2018
I wasn't so much looking for best food safety practices, though I appreciate them being provided here. I was looking for the best way to save the dish in a fairly short window of time. We all ate the dish and I, at least, feel fine more than 12 hrs later. For any others wondering the chicken and dish ended up tasting great. Will update if any of us got sick ;)
 
Nancy September 20, 2018
Please tell us what you did with the chicken-in-crock-pot when & since you left for the party. And for how long....e.g., how many hours at room temp, at cooking temp, and/or in fridge.
Then we can give you a knowledgeable answer.
 
Matthew M. September 20, 2018
Literally took it out of the crock pot that was set on high for about 4 hours and had it in a glass cake pan long enough to shred it(maybe 10 minutes). I then put it in the oven at 400° for about 15 minutes with some of the juice from the crock pot. I took it out and put it in a large stock pot where it sat completely covered in juice for the 15 minutes it took me to get to the gathering. When it got there I immediately set it to boil(which it started doing in literally 1 minute). Left it on the boil for maybe 5 minutes and added the remaining soup to the stock pot.
Then ate it.
 
Nancy September 20, 2018
Matthew, thanks for the cooking history until you served the chicken.
Was & am more crucially interested in what happened once you ate or served it, discovered it was under-cooked and no one ate anymore.
1) If since then the chicken has been at room temp MORE THAN two hours, it is unsafe to eat even if you bring it back to a high temperature and keep cooking. Better to discard.
2) However, if you have refrigerated or frozen it after LESS THAN two hours at room temp, then you can continue cooking until internal temp registers 165F.
Hope this note helps, Nancy
PS If you want more info, look at this link or search internet more on your own for chicken safe-cooking tips.
https://www.thekitchn.com/the-right-internal-temperature-for-cooked-chicken-quick-kitchen-facts-216074
 
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