How long should meat be out to thaw?

Shermie

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Yesterday evening, my brother called me and told me that my friend had went online to do some research on how long meat should be out to thaw on the countertop.

The info found was then printed and placed on top of the package of hot dogs that my brother had out on the counter thawing out. it was a large package of them - larger than the normal package that usually has up to eight franks.

This raises my question as to how long meat and other foods can be left out to thaw, and the method used to do it.

The info obtained by me suggests 3 methods for thawing out foods for cooking or otherwise.

They are as follows;

1. Refrigerator thaw;

Which usually takes up to about 24 hours from start to finish for small 1 - 5-lb packages. Longer for things like turkeys, hams & roasts.

2. Cold water method;

This method is said to be shorter than thawing out things in the fridge. The frozen meat is said be able to absorb warmth in the cold water, thereby allowing a faster method, provided the water is changed every 30 seconds.

Also, the meat has to be in a water-tight bag, such as a FoodSaver bag that the meat was vacuum sealed in before freezing or a Ziploc bag.

3. Microwave method;

I NEVER use this method - simply because the meat tends to start cooking prematurely around the edges, so that one, I don't use. I'm not good at doing that anyway.

Which method do YOU use? Or is there another method that's safe?

One more thing; The recommended or suggested room temp for thawing is supposed to be about 40 degrees F.. Anything higher that that is supposed to be considered dangerous. And the kitchen DOES get hotter during the summer months, as opposed to room temps in the winter. :confused:



http://cooking.stackexchange.com/qu...a-problem-with-defrosting-meat-on-the-counter
 
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Shermie

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Oops sorry about that.

Can you merge the two together to make it one large thread?

Thanks if you can do it! :wow:
 

Leni

New member
You do not have to change the water every 30 seconds. I use this method to defrost things all the time. Usually I just fill the sink with tepid water and forget it.

Another method is to put the frozen product on a heavy aluminum item such as a platter. It acts as a heat sink.
 

Shermie

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Sorry.

Meant to say every 30 MINUTES.

I had one of those heat sinking plates. Lost it moving so much!!
 

Adillo303

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Leni I have heavy aluminum steak platters, yes, they work well and are my second choice.
 

Shermie

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I beg to differ with this theory, and I've debunked it with an exception. It might work for SOME things, but not others, depending on what you've taken from the freezer to thaw out.

Last night before going to bed, I took a completely frozen pot roast from the deep freezer that I plan to do for tomorrow's dinner. This was about 10:30pm last night.

This morning when I woke up at about 8:30am, I went to check on the roast, to see if it was completely thawed out. The outside of it still felt cold, but it was still frozen toward the middle!

This proves that the theory or the safety rules on thawing out meats does not always apply to larger pieces of meat, such as a roast, ham, pork shoulder or a turkey, because they DO take far longer to thaw out. Anyway, I put the roast in the fridge to finish thawing, for I might start the cooking process tonight and let it slow cook overnight. :smile:
 
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luvs

'lil Chef
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i was taught, in a pro setting, that meat can be let be fer 4 hours on a counter.

my Dad used to set meat on a counter overnight. i'm pretty sure i'm not dead. i would not take that as a pointer, tho. i'm simplistically sayin'.......
 

Shermie

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My parents did the same. Especially 2 days before Thanksgiving.

Dad's job gave him about a 25-pounder every year on Tuesday. He would bring it home, leave it out overnight. Wednesday morning, it would be pretty much thawed out. It would be put in the fridge to finish thawing, & then later in the evening, mom would start getting it ready to go in the oven.

But little did we know back then, that a turkey is not supposed to be stuffed until just before you are about to put it into the oven! She would stuff it, rub butter on it season it, put it in the roasting pan, cover it, and then put it back in the fridge until morning. Then she would put it in the oven.

But yeah, long before any of us left the nest, we always had meat out until it was completely thawed. But with all this hype going on today about health concerns, the Gov't has issued some stronger health reports concerning bacteria, pathogens, stephelacaucus and other forms of germs concerning food & consumption of it. :wink:
 
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ChowderMan

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diddy diddy diddy goes.........40 to 140 for 4 hours
bit like starting work at 4 am and work to 4 pm when you report for work.

but when I just went looking to double check on the aging brain cells, it's now apparently 2 hours...? dunno. perhaps FSIS went on double daylight savings time.

which is all nice good stuff, that I ignore.

time per pound for thawing - or cooking for that matter - does not work in the absolute. and there's a reason for that.

I do very little frozen meat. pork tenderloin and flat iron steak are the only two I willingly put in the freezer. I get jammed on ground beef sometimes; you need a pound and all they got in the case is four pound packages..... I hate thawed ground beef.

but I put them in the fridge for 24 hours, then on the counter, with salt / pepper / rub about two hours before cook.
 

Shermie

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I'm not afraid to freeze ground beef.

I usually buy it packed in a giant tube, quite similar to a bologna or a small sausage meat tube.

I then section it off into about 5 large chunks, put them in vacuum seal bags and pre-freeze them so that no blood or liquid gets sucked into the machine's pump, and ruin it.

Then I vacuum seal them to get an air-tight vacuum seal. When I want to make something that requires ground beef, I take out a chunk of it out of the freezer, and while still in it's vacuum sealed bag, I put it in luke warm water to thaw it out, which usually takes about 45 minutes. No water can get at the meat while in the bag. Done. :piesmiley1::eating2:
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
My parents did the same. Especially 2 days before Thanksgiving.

Dad's job gave him about a 25-pounder every year on Tuesday. He would bring it home, leave it out overnight. Wednesday morning, it would be pretty much thawed out. It would be put in the fridge to finish thawing, & then later in the evening, mom would start getting it ready to go in the oven.

But little did we know back then, that a turkey is not supposed to be stuffed until just before you are about to put it into the oven! She would stuff it, rub butter on it season it, put it in the roasting pan, cover it, and then put it back in the fridge until morning. Then she would put it in the oven.

But yeah, long before any of us left the nest, we always had meat out until it was completely thawed. But with all this hype going on today about health concerns, the Gov't has issued some stronger health reports concerning bacteria, pathogens, stephelacaucus and other forms of germs concerning food & consumption of it. :wink:

& yet, we're here, thriving & well.; right~

& my Pap def. woulda liked ya.'

......have I mentioned that I despise auto-correct~
 
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Shermie

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& yet, we're here, thriving & well.; right~

& my Pap def. woulda liked ya.'

......have I mentioned that I despise auto-correct~



That is true, we DID survive and stood the test of time!! Hah!!:biggrin:
 

Miniman

Mini man - maxi food
Gold Site Supporter
diddy diddy diddy goes.........40 to 140 for 4 hours
bit like starting work at 4 am and work to 4 pm when you report for work.

but when I just went looking to double check on the aging brain cells, it's now apparently 2 hours...? dunno. perhaps FSIS went on double daylight savings time.

which is all nice good stuff, that I ignore.

time per pound for thawing - or cooking for that matter - does not work in the absolute. and there's a reason for that.

I do very little frozen meat. pork tenderloin and flat iron steak are the only two I willingly put in the freezer. I get jammed on ground beef sometimes; you need a pound and all they got in the case is four pound packages..... I hate thawed ground beef.

but I put them in the fridge for 24 hours, then on the counter, with salt / pepper / rub about two hours before cook.

We're down to 90 minutes over here.
 
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