63
votes
Accepted
Should one - moreover can one - defrost a frozen lasagna before cooking?
Frozen foods are made for convenience. For most people, convenience does not include remembering to defrost the food several hours before cooking. So the recipe and cooking method are indeed for ...
- 10.6k
56
votes
Accepted
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
The salmon will get water logged and mushy (and consequently release a lot of water during the cooking process) if you omit the bag. It's not unsafe, but it will decrease the quality of the salmon.
- 10.6k
32
votes
Can you store frozen dinners in the refrigerator for up to a week before eating them?
I wouldn't recommend it for a couple of reasons:
Food in general degrades much faster in the fridge than in the freezer, so you risk spoilage during that time. Most prepared foods are not ...
- 79.3k
20
votes
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
Osmotic Pressure
If you boil vegetables in water, some of the compounds from within the cells will leach out of the vegetables into the water. The reason is because vegetables are bags of water with ...
- 331
11
votes
Should one - moreover can one - defrost a frozen lasagna before cooking?
Outside of premade freezer dishes (as Johanna notes, those are basically never defrosted), the "do I need to defrost it" question is really quite interesting. For the most part, if the food ...
- 5,673
11
votes
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
Yes, if you use brine!
(And keep an eye on it to make sure you don't leave it in too long after thawing.)
It's interesting that Lawnmower Man brings up osmotic pressure. Though he makes some very ...
- 375
10
votes
Why does my meat never thaw in the fridge?
The difference between cold and frozen where a refrigerator is concerned is actually only a few Kelvin (or "degrees").
The standard refrigerator will have warmer and colder zones, typically the top ...
- 57.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Defrosting individual frozen fish fillets---- in their plastic packets, or not?
If you defrost in water, by all means keep the plastic on. If it weren't wrapped, you'd put it in a baggie anyway and not dump it directly into the water.
The instructions to unwrap are for ...
- 57.8k
7
votes
Accepted
How to stir fry frozen veggies?
The trick is to not use a wok at all. A wok works by concentrating a lot of heat on the bottom, more heat than you can achieve with a home stove. "Stir frying" moves the food from the cool sides of ...
- 4,416
7
votes
Accepted
Why does this work? (defrosting steak)
Have you ever noticed that if you walk outside on a cold day and touch a metal object, the metal feels colder then the air? The reason is, solids and liquids transfer heat better than gasses do. If ...
- 1,840
6
votes
Accepted
How to defrost frozen food in fridge
If this is all kept at refrigerator temperatures, then cooked, your health risk is extremely low. However, there is a better method, which you suggest. Place your seafood/shellfish in a colander or ...
- 73.2k
5
votes
Accepted
How long does Turkey Crown take to defrost at room temperature?
Disclaimer: this is likely to be closed as duplicate, but I couldn't find the corresponding post. And as Christmas dinner and the health of a whole group is at stake, I'll post an answer anyway.
Do ...
- 57.8k
5
votes
Accepted
I have two days to thaw a 16 pound turkey; Can I start thawing it in cold water, and do the rest in the fridge?
It's fine to thaw for a few (or several) hours under cold water and then put it in the refrigerator. Just keep the water cold and refrigerate immediately upon removing the turkey from the water. The ...
- 58.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Accidentally bought a "butter basted" turkey. Can/should I still brine it?
Pre-basted turkey is indeed already brined. You can double check this by looking on the ingredient list of the turkey packaging and you should see a salt or vinegar solution listed.
You can still ...
- 2,638
5
votes
How to defrost coriander / cilantro?
Frozen supermarket coriander/cilantro is perfectly good to use whilst cooking. Very similar to adding stems for flavour. You'll never get fresh looking leaves to finish the dish from the ice blocks, ...
- 96
5
votes
Should I microwave-defrost sandwiches?
No matter what you do in this situation, you are likely to end up with soggy sandwiches. This has nothing to do with light. Firstly, the bread of pre-made sandwiches will naturally pick up moisture ...
- 73.2k
5
votes
How to defrost frozen food in fridge
This same liquid was contained within the food itself. Some of that liquid does not drip out of the food and will be cooked. There is no danger here.
- 2,192
4
votes
Should I thaw cherries for a sour cream cherry pie?
Thaw and drain them.
If you use fruit as a main ingredient like for a [your choice of fruit]pie, using frozen cherries will cause two things to happen:
They will significantly increase your baking ...
- 57.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Can I store raw meat in the fridge after defrosting in the microwave?
You can use it in a few days, that will be fine. Issues with food safety come into play largely when food is kept in the danger zone, around 40-140F for an extended time.
The texture of the bacon ...
- 2,838
4
votes
How do you safely defrost a whole lamb?
Food safety rules are written around the ways bacteria reproduce, not around the chefs' convenience. There is no difference in the speed of getting unsafe between different types of meat (or any other ...
- 135k
4
votes
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
My opinion is to go ahead and do it, without the bag. The points of the other answers, about a bit of stuff leaching into the water, are generally true, but I think the effect will be quite small. ...
- 135k
3
votes
Accepted
defrosting homemade frozen bread
As a possibility, here's what I do for make-ahead sandwiches with (previously) frozen bread. I'd suggest only a couple things beyond what you are planning.
After the bread is out of the oven and ...
- 2,831
3
votes
Can I defrost fish in the microwave?
Defrosting anything in the microwave is dodgy. They're designed for serious heating, and don't heat completely evenly, so they tend to start cooking food before it's fully defrosted, even on low power....
- 58.1k
3
votes
Food safety issues related to eating raw frozen vegetables
There have been Listeria incidents, as already mentioned, and also Norovirus incidents. Judging how much the presence or absence of a warning on the bag should be used as a reliable guide is very ...
- 15.3k
3
votes
Food safety issues related to eating raw frozen vegetables
Listeria can be present and does not die when frozen.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/06/update-producer-others-recall-frozen-vegetables-for-listeria/#.V2ilB9UrLnB
- 31
3
votes
Why does my meat never thaw in the fridge?
If your fridge has a meat compartment, that often runs at very slightly above freezing - so slight it would take several days to thaw. In the rest of the fridge, meat frozen to -18C (typical) will ...
- 43.1k
3
votes
Do defrosting plates work in reverse?
Does heat transfer go both ways? Generally yes, the conductivity of a material is the same if you reverse it and you could use a defrosting plate to cool hot food. The plate would require good ...
- 341
3
votes
Accepted
How do you defrost frozen chili peppers without them turning soggy?
I'm afraid this is impossible. It's the freezing, not the thawing, that causes this. Remember, water expands when freezing, so the freezing process breaks the cell walls, so when the pepper thaws, it ...
- 2,976
3
votes
Accepted
Can defrosting chicken make it slimy?
Chicken naturally contains a lot of water, it also absorbs some more from the cleaning process (up to 8% reportedly). Some manufacturers also "tumble" the raw chicken with brine to increase flavour ...
- 96
3
votes
Should I microwave-defrost sandwiches?
I think it is worth looking at your sandwich making process to see if there are any things you can do to reduce the likelihood of this dampness.
You mentioned that you freshly bake the rolls, do you ...
- 3,204
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible