If chicken has a use by date of tomorrow, I know I have to cook it by tomorrow or freeze it. But does the use by date still stand after its cooked? or is it ok to keep an extra day or two?
no, the date doesn't stand. yes it's ok to keep it if u cook it. the date is extended by cooking. the fda has a table on what's safe for how long. check it out. http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fttstore.html 3/4 down page it says cooked meat and chicken are good for 3-4 days.
Once meat is cooked it has a 3 day shelf life. After that it becomes iffy especially with chicken as it can cause Salmonella which is a sever food poisoning that can kill. The use by date the shops put on meat are for our use when it comes to cooking or freezing the meat. I also use the same 3 day rule for non cooked meat. I feel it better to safe then sorry. Food poisoning isn't much fun.