S/O How do you defrost meat & poultry POLL:

amother

OP ↓

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 8:03 pm

How do you defrost meat & poultry?

amother

Gray

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 8:07 pm

All of the above. Depends how much time I have.

amother

Amaranthus

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 8:08 pm

I voted on the counter, cos thats how I usually defrost it, but when I remember the night before I defrost it in the fridge - unless its winter and my kitchen is cold overnight. I try to take it out the fridge about an hour before I need to use it, so that it can finish defrosting. If it has been in the fridge all night it defrosts quickly on the counter.

hotpretzel

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 9:00 pm

amother Gray wrote:

All of the above. Depends how much time I have.

Same
Ideally in the fridge but often I forget

amother

Blue

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 9:04 pm

Sometimes in a bowl of water sometimes on the counter

amother

Ivory

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 9:18 pm

I guess people don’t care about food safety
…

amother

Lilac

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 9:23 pm

It takes more than a day to defrost in fridge.

amother

Razzmatazz

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 9:48 pm

Many people are unaware of food safety; many others assume that since they haven't yet killed their loved ones by thawing food at room temp, this practice is safe. And indeed most of the time, people who thaw food at room temp go on to cook it for a while and all is well. But it takes only one bout of food poisoning to make a person into a food-safety advocate. It's like crossing the street against the light: You can do it a million times and get away with it. That doesn't make it safe--it means you have more luck than brains. You risk disaster every time you engage in risky behavior, and it's the same risk every time. Does this mean that you WILL eventually get hit by a car, get pregnant when you don't want to, be stopped by police when you speed, or enjoy a hospital stay while you recover from food poisoning? Of course not--but why risk it? Venishmartem me'od lenafshotechem doesn't mean just your spiritual well-being.

You see, people think freezing kills spoilage germs. It doesn't. It just slows them down. When you thaw on the counter, the inside of the food is still frozen while the outside has reached room temp. That means that any microbes that were in the food when it was frozen are having a field day, reproducing and producing their toxins like a bunch of hooligans on a spree.

When you thaw food in the fridge, the outside stays at refrigerator temp even after it's thawed, while waiting for the inside to thaw. Food-spoilage germs don't do well in the cold, though of course if you give them enough time they will eventually multiply and do their thing anyway. But one hopes that you would have cooked the food long before then.

amother

Poinsettia

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 10:17 pm

Wow, I'm so surprised to see the results! I almost always defrost in the fridge overnight. Yes, sometimes it takes more than overnight, especially for a roast.
On rare occasions when I was desperate, I have let it sit on the counter for 2-3 hours and then in the fridge. But I felt guilty about it because I know it's not the safest method.

Queen Of Hearts ↓

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 10:44 pm

amother Razzmatazz wrote:

When I thaw on the counter the outside of the food is still very cold. I don't let it come to room temperature.
I have never had food that was still frozen on the inside be room temp on the outside.

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 11:11 pm

When I thaw on the counter it takes hours and I put it in the fridge while the outside feels cold…

amother

↑ OP

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 11:34 pm

Queen Of Hearts wrote:

When I thaw on the counter the outside of the food is still very cold. I don't let it come to room temperature.
I have never had food that was still frozen on the inside be room temp on the outside.

Same here.

amother

Denim

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 12:14 am

I leave it on the counter for a couple hours to give it a head start then in the fridge overnight.

CandyCrusher

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 12:55 am

Defrosting in a bowl of cold water is perfectly safe.

essie14

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 12:55 am

amother Gray wrote:

All of the above. Depends how much time I have.

Exactly this

ETA: why so many anonymous responses on this thread? Do you really think someone will recognize you based on how you defrost chicken??

↑ Queen Of Hearts

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 1:00 am

essie14 wrote:

Exactly this

ETA: why so many anonymous responses on this thread? Do you really think someone will recognize you based on how you defrost chicken??

They're too chicken to post under their SN 🐔

zehavag

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 1:55 am

I defrost in water since it’s faster than defrosting on the counter. It’s usually salmon, chicken cutlets, or ground meat, so it’s pretty quick.

amother

Eggplant

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 3:12 am

Okay so if I buy a roast Monday that I want to cook Thursday, I put in freezer Monday and then in fridge Tuesday? Doesn’t make sense.

amother

Ecru

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 10:17 am

Two days in fridge. Sometimes it's still a bit frozen. I sometimes leave out on the counter for an hour or two.

amother

White

Thu, Feb 01 2024, 10:30 am

Sorry for my ignorance, but is it safe to cook chicken when semi frozen