Why Does Reheated Chicken Taste Funny
Chicken is one of the most delicious meals one can ever enjoy, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that many of us make it in loads. However, people usually end up having to store the leftover chicken. Honestly, it doesn't matter how delicious and succulent the chicken was an evening before; reheating will result in a weird taste. So, if you are worried about the flavor and want to know why does leftover chicken taste bad, we are here with the answers!
Why Does Leftover Chicken Taste Bad?
To begin with, the specific taste of leftover chicken isn't related to chicken being spoiled, but it's only related to taste. This particular phenomenon is known as a warmed-over flavor, and it's stated as lending the stale and rancid flavor to your chicken along with a cardboard-like texture. According to the food experts, the weird flavor is developed when the chicken has been in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours and will become more evident when the chicken is reheated.
The primary reason behind the bad taste development is oxygen exposure, which results in the deterioration of the chicken's polyunsaturated fatty acids. In simpler words, taste development is a result of multiple chemical reactions.
Ways To Avoid The Bad Taste In Leftover Chicken
You might not know this, but chicken has a higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids as compared to lamb or beef, which makes it more vulnerable to the warmed-over flavor (the same issue happens with fish since it has a higher PUFA content). So, if you want to prevent this taste development, we are sharing some reliable ways with you;
1. Sauces
Many people would think that they should not use sauces, gravies, or curries with chicken to prevent the taste development, but it's actually different. Having said that, you need to use a sauce because it will act as a barrier to oxygen and air. In addition to this, you should also use oregano and rosemary in the sauce because these two ingredients are antioxidants that help protect the oxidation of PUFAs. So, if you are planning on storing cooked chicken for later use, you should prepare a sauce and layer it all over the chicken to make sure it tastes well.
2. Reheating Method
Whenever it comes down to reheating the leftover chicken, it is common for people to use a microwave oven for reheating. However, the taste will be much better if you use the same heat source for reheating the chicken as you used for cooking the chicken. For instance, if you roasted the chicken, you should put it in the oven for reheating. In case you are wondering about the right way of reheating the fried chicken, you should put it in the fryer for one to two minutes to make sure it's properly heated.
We are not recommending reheating in a microwave oven because it will result in the rubbery texture of the chicken. In simpler words, reheating the chicken in a microwave oven will dehydrate the chicken, and you don't want to chew on rubber chicken that was once tender and succulent.
3. Seasoning
If your recipe allows, we suggest that you add some citric acid to the chicken to make sure it doesn't develop a bad taste. For this purpose, you should drizzle some lemon juice or vinegar all over the chicken and cover it for a few minutes before cooking it. This is because citric acid tends to overpower all our flavors and tastes. In particular, you should opt for fresh lemon juice or buttermilk vinegar rather than regular white vinegar.
4. Proper Storage
The last way of avoiding bad taste is ensuring proper storage. As already mentioned, the taste develops when the chicken is exposed to air. For this reason, it is best that you store your chicken in an airtight container.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that if you have refrigerated the chicken for more than a day, you should look for other signs of spoiling, such as green-grey or grey color. This is because the bad smell could be a result of spoiling, and color changes will simply confirm the issue. However, if you refrigerated the chicken only a day before and there are no color changes, it's safe to be reheated and consumed.
Source: https://missvickie.com/why-does-leftover-chicken-taste-bad/
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