{"id":26014,"date":"2026-11-10T21:20:04","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T21:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=26014"},"modified":"2026-11-10T21:20:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T21:20:04","slug":"the-bones-in-my-cooked-chicken-are-dark-gray-or-black-is-that-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=26014","title":{"rendered":"The bones in my cooked chicken are dark gray or black \u2014 is that dangerous?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gray or black chicken bones can look alarming, but discoloration alone usually does not indicate spoilage. A common explanation is marrow pigment seeping through porous bones, particularly in young chickens whose bones have not fully hardened. Freezing can contribute, and cooking darkens those pigments, sometimes staining nearby meat. Despite its appearance, this change is generally harmless. The important distinction is between an unusual color and evidence that poultry was undercooked, spoiled, or improperly stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For safe cooking, use a food thermometer: chicken should reach 165\u00b0F (74\u00b0C) in the thickest part, without the probe touching bone. Neither clear juices nor the absence of pink reliably proves safety. Discard chicken with mold, an unpleasant odor, or a slimy texture; cooking cannot reliably rescue spoiled food. Harmful bacteria may also cause no obvious changes. Refrigerate promptly, generally within two hours, and remember: safe handling and temperature matter far more than bone color.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gray or black chicken bones can look alarming, but discoloration alone usually does not indicate spoilage. A common explanation is marrow pigment seeping through porous bones, particularly in young chickens whose bones have not fully hardened. Freezing can contribute, and cooking darkens those pigments, sometimes staining nearby meat. Despite its appearance, this change is generally &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26016,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26014\/revisions\/26016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}