Why do my chicken quarters taste horrid?

If the taste is horrid, they may be spoiled. Regardless, if they taste awful you don’t want to eat them. Throw them away.

Did you thaw them in an appropriate way?

An electric frying pan for an hour sounds off to me, but I don’t generally freeze & thaw chicken.

I’d research to check to make sure I was thawing them in the safest way possible, and the warning signs, then smell them, and then cooking them in a faster way, and be careful that was done correctly too.

@Zaku No. I cooked from frozen, on low, in my electric frying pan. I have been cooking them with some minor taste problems for 4 years when I over-under cooked them. I asked family and they said not to throw out and cook in the oven with bbq sauce next time.

Also I put way too much pepper this time. Next time I get groceries I will get some cheap BBQ sauce and I will update Fluther on my success or failure .

I did a quick search.

While I found several sites that said not to eat bad-smelling chicken, I also found this site about beef that smells specifically like urine: https://cookindocs.com/beef-tastes-like-urine/

It explains several reasons that would have me not want to eat it, but they claim that the US Food & Drug Administration said that beef (chicken not mentioned on that site) that has a urinary taste is safe to eat.

I noticed that some of the causes matched what you said you did, particularly not thawing the meat first, and cooking it (I expect) too long.

@Zaku Ok great thanks. I will not buy anymore chicken quarters for a bit. Also the ones I have left I will experiment with cooking in the oven and using bbq sauce.

I have no major problems with the chicken wings from the same store.

Have you considered taking the frozen pack of chicken & moving it out of the freezer into the main part of the refrigerator the day before so the pack has an opportunity to begin to thaw some??? I don’t have much luck cooking chicken from frozen to a decent meal so I ALWAYS thaw before cooking!!! I don’t believe in wasting food; however, I also don’t believe in putting myself in a hospital from eating bad food!!! It’s also possible that, that one pack was bad when you bought it from the store so freezing it right away wouldn’t help anything. I definitely would NOT smother it in BBQ sauce just so it will taste better because IF it is a bad piece of meat, it can still make you sick. I’d err on the side of caution & throw that crap away!!!

@LadyMarissa Yes. Good idea. I will try defrosting in the fridge next time.

I will take two chicken quarters out of the freezer and into the fridge now. Will eat on Monday. I will update Fluther.

No cooking method should produce foul odors or flavors. Heating straight from freezer is not ideal, but safe as long as it reach correct temp. However, you can smell thawed meat, giving you more time for plan b. Actually a chicken should smell “foul.” Lol. Sorry.
I don’t advise eating meat that smells bad.

Something is wrong with them. I cannot imagine it matters that you cooked them from frozen or let them thaw first. I would tell the store where I bought them, maybe they had other complaints. They might give you a refund.

It doesn’t matter whether they are thawed or frozen when you cook them other than as @kruger_d pointed out that you can smell in ADVANCE that the meat is bad & make an immediate change of plans. I don’t care for the consistency of most meats when cooking is started while still frozen. That is a personal preference!!! I prefer to cook my meat from a thawed status because I can smell when there’s a problem…another personal preference!!!

Don’t ever cook bad meat, you might regret it like Frank Costanza.

ewww, pee chicken is the worst!

Update I smelled the thawed out chicken and was horrid. I chucked and will chuck the rest in the freezer. I had some spaghetti with margarine instead.

Thanks @all

^^ And that is WHY I ALWAYS thaw my meats before cooking…you can’t smell bad when frozen!!! I’m just surprised that you didn’t get a hint of the smell while cooking the last time. I’d definitely register a complaint with the grocery store where you bought the meat. They might not make it good because you can’t prove that you froze it immediately; but they may have had enough complaints that they will know you’re telling the truth & give you maybe one free chicken. I definitely wouldn’t be buying in bulk from that store again anytime soon!!!

@LadyMarissa Thanks. I will stick to bulk chocolate and maple leaf top dog’s from the bulk store.