Hot answers tagged defrosting
26
A lot of bacteria grows in the range of 40-100F (i.e. room temperature). It's definitely not recommended to defrost meat at room temperature. In fact, you are not supposed to leave meat at room temperature for more than an hour.
However, defrosting in the refrigerator can take a long time and require you to plan at least one day ahead of time. I'm not so ...
13
There are two safe ways to defrost, one more rapid than the other.
First method is to defrost in the refrigerator. This keeps temperature below 40 degrees F, in the safe zone. This will, also, take a while.
Second method is to defrost in the sink under cold running water. The water doesn't have to run rapidly, but it should change regularly. This will ...
13
Put the meat in a sealed plastic bag, place in a bowl in the sink, fill with cold tapwater, then set the tap running in a thin stream with the water overflowing the sides of the bowl. The moving water will safely thaw the meat through convection. Make sure you get as much air out of the plastic bag as you can. You might need to put some weight on it in ...
12
I suppose that depends on what you're defrosting it for.
The microwave (on low power) is safe and quick. The downside is that you're using a microwave, which means there's a good chance you'll actually cook the outside slightly in the process, and you're killing enzymes that are normally part of the flavour. The lower the heat, the less the impact of ...
12
If you dough is a disc shape:
When I worked as a pizza cook at a popular fast food pizza place, we would put our dough still frozen into what we called a proofer. It was basically a heated cabinet around 130 F. It would defrost and have it's final rise in there. After that we would stretch to make the pizza. You could probably replicate this by putting your ...
9
If you're really in a hurry then you can't beat the microwave. It might defrost a little unevenly, but assuming you plan to brown it or something afterward, then that will take care of evening it out.
The microwave is perfectly safe; the key point about food safety here is not allowing the meat to sit in the "danger zone" (basically more than a few degrees ...
8
Technically or practically?
Technically, it's not the best idea. The purpose of thawing is to bring the meat above 32 degrees but not above 40. (Bringing it to room temperature is a separate process, done only immediately prior to cooking). In a refrigerator, the temperature is probably between 35-45 degrees, so there's no problem. On the counter, ...
7
Well, you can always add some broth -- chicken would be good. That would allow you to control the salt more so than using boullion crystals.
As far as cooking the vegetables, it depends on whether there are already pieces of vegetables in the frozen soup. If yes, then you may want to cook your add-ins first so that the stuff that's already in the soup ...
6
Don't. Ice cream is hard. It melts slowly. Instead, focus on scooping.
Get the largest spoon you have, or ideally, an ice cream scoop. Fill up a cup with boiling water, or as hot as your faucet will get it. Dip spoon/scoop in the water. Scoop. Dip. Scoop. Shake off excess water as you go.
Like a hot spoon through ice cream.
6
If you're unthawing them in your refrigerator (below 40 F), then you should be just fine. Most beasties don't reproduce at any significant rate below 40 F.
There isn't a clean cut off point because it depends entirely on the existing level of contamination present in your meat.
You should be aware that repeated cycles of thaw/freeze will really damage the ...
6
The best way? Plan better. :)
The microwave is rarely a good plan for quick defrosting, as you found out. I would suggest putting the container in warm to hot running tap water.
The warmer the water is the faster it will melt, but it will also melt more unevenly - though nothing like the microwave. The important part is that the water is running, and is at ...
6
Sauces separate when frozen for several reasons.
If it contains vegetables, the plant cells rupture when the water in them freezes. This means the sauce gets watery and the taste changes as the contents of the cells escape.
With emulsions, the oil/fat microdroplets clump together when they freeze. When you thaw the sauce, the emulsion is wrecked, ...
6
I would think that USDA would err on the side of conservative when it comes to safety, especially with no financial interests in the equation
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/
Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter, or in hot
water and must not be left at room temperature for more than two
hours.
Even though the ...
5
As long as your normal marinating time isn't significantly less than the defrosting time, then I believe that'll work fine. If the normal marinating time is much smaller, then you'll end up over-marinating your meat; if the marinade is acidic that would produce undesirable results. If it's the same or longer, then you'll be marinating for the right amount of ...
4
No no no no. Bag idea. Don't defrost on the counter. Like a lot of people said already, 40-100 degrees exponentially causes bacteria growth. Yes proper cooking can kill a lot of bacteria, but nothing is guaranteed. Besides, certain types of toxins (eg spores) are produced by bacteria and aren't destroyed by heat, only way to prevent is to not allow ...
4
It it's not for immediate cooking, defrost in the fridge. The rule of thumb is for a piece of meat to spend no more than 4 hours (cumulative) in the danger zone (above 40 degrees F). A thin piece of steak won't take that long to defrost, so it's relatively safe to defrost on the counter and then cook immediately. A big roast or chicken on the other hand, has ...
4
A microwave is fine for pieces of chicken, particularly it's a newer one which automatically sets the time for you based on the weight of the chicken pieces. (and don't stop just 'cause you think you're done ... that frozen core in the breast won't cook and might ruin your dish.
For whole birds, I go with the running water method -- mostly because my ...
4
Let's start with the assumption that Safety is never in the balance. Safety has to be taken into account for any method that we use and that means that we want to keep any food that is time and temperature sensitive out of the danger zone. The danger zone is the temperature range from 40 degrees F to 140 degrees F.
If you have plenty of time, letting the ...
4
The very document you link to clearly explains the reason:
It is important to use methods that will allow the entire mass to thaw evenly. Any method that allows one part, for example, the outside surface, to defrost before the inner portion is not acceptable, because the portion that thaws out first will be in the danger zone before the other portion is ...
4
You don't need to defrost it, you can add cold roux directly to a boiling liquid. To avoid lumps from the roux, most cooks suggest you either add cold roux to a hot sauce, or cold liquid to hot roux.
If you heat the roux gradually with the liquid you may get lumps, and don't get a good impression of how much thickening is going on until it heats fully.
3
I wouldn't bother thawing them, unless they're going to be in a huge block otherwise. For pies with frozen berries, you really just need to cook them a little longer to make sure everything is done...If the top crust browns too fast, throw a piece of foil over it until the whole thing gets bubbly.
I do this with blueberries and blackberries and...Well, I do ...
3
While this doesn't directly answer your question, I wanted to jump in with a way to avoid this altogether. When you get home from the market, separate and portion your meats so they can be frozen individually. Wrap each with either freezer paper, or plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Then they're able to all be stored in one bag, but can be pulled out ...
3
A good way to extend the soup you already have (a chunk of) is to begin a base/stock (using something like some celery hearts, or thinly sliced celery, shredded carrots, a bay leaf, a stalk of parsley, etc) and then defrosting the chunk in the base once it has a nice savory flavor of its own established. To minimize over-cooking of existing components of ...
3
Traditional dough will not freeze well. You have to par-bake it.
In the US, the “freshly baked” bread sold in most supermarkets is par-baked dough. This is risen dough, which is then baked for 70 to 80% of the usual baking time, cooled, frozen, and shipped to the supermarket, where it is baked again until golden. You could do the same.
A ...
3
The problem with defrosting meat on the counter is the temperature the exterior of the meat reaches, and the duration it stays there in order for the entire thing to be completely defrosted.
For any meat, unless you're letting it reach room temperature from a refrigerated temperature (35-40℉) to immediately cook it you should keep it at a refrigerated ...
3
Screw the microwave. The only thing it's useful for is crappy frozen food and hot water for tea (and even for tea an electric kettle is better).
What you want to do is put your chicken parts in a zip-lock bag if they're not already packaged, and drop that in a container that will hold it. Place said container under a slow-running tap of cold or lukewarm ...
3
I have used the following method with success: Put ball of dough in a sealed ziploc bag (with all the air squished out) and submerge it in warm water. Every now and then, check on it and try to squash the dough out so that the frozen middle is more exposed to the warm water. It's not as instant as a microwave defrost, but it was still relatively quick and ...
3
Your proposed method is possibly dangerous, you'd be warming it enough for botulism to thrive, but not enough to kill it. When you cook it, cook it properly and all at once. What I'd suggest is simply cooking it on Friday, then re-heating it saturday, or getting up early enough to cook it through on Saturday. As for when to thaw it if it's a truly heroic ...
3
To defrost faster, you could put a vacuum-packed item in cold water. Just be sure to keep the water cold--either put the whole container in the fridge or change out the water periodically on the counter. If you don't use water, I'd allow at least 48 hours in the fridge to defrost.
Anyhow, please don't attempt cooking in two phases. Botulism is one ...
2
Using a microwave is probably the quickest way, but you must make absolutely sure the bird is defrosted. Every microwave is different, so check the guide that came with yours for timings. Even then, once you believe it to be defrosted, check the inside of the cavity for ice crystals.
If possible, rest for 10 minutes at room temperature before starting the ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
