How to Thaw Frozen Beef in Water
By Contributing Author: Janeal Yancey, Ph.D., Academy of Arkansas
My meat is FROZEN! What is the best way to thaw it?
This is probably one of the most common questions I hear equally a meat scientist. If you lot Google 'thawing meat', the outset hit that comes up is a fact sheet from USDA cleverly named "The Big Thaw.". Information technology will tell you that there are three ways to properly thaw meat.
1. Refrigerator, 2. Cold water, 3. Microwave. Those will all work, but there are pros and cons to each. Here are my thoughts:
1. Refrigerator. Thawing meat in the fridge takes longer than the other two methods, just it requires the least work on your part. My biggest trouble is remembering to put the frozen meat in the refrigerator in the morning on my way out the door. Steaks, craven breasts, packages of ground beefiness, and things of that size volition probably be thawed by the time you lot get dwelling house in the evening, merely larger cuts like roasts or whole birds may need to be thawed overnight.
Information technology's best to thaw uncooked meat on the lesser shelf so that the meat juice won't leak down onto other things in the fridge. In my fridge, the bottom shelf is the hardest to get to and is usually the hardest to find a place to ready something new, so I ready my meat on a plate to catch anything that may seep out of the package. I find that a nice glass pie plate is all-time because the sides are taller than a dinner plate and information technology will hold in the leaking meat juice. (and, I never, ever brand an bodily pie, so information technology makes me feel skillful to get employ out of the pie plates my dad gave me.) Then you tin can just run the dirty pie plate through the dishwasher and its prepare to make more pies (yeah, right). One dainty thing about this method is that if you decide to become out to swallow after work rather than come home and cook, the thawing meat is fine to wait until tomorrow or even a couple of days. (I'm always looking for a good excuse to eat out).
2. Cold water. Getting all 3 of the states out the door, clothed and fed is actually more than we can handle virtually mornings, and then I usually don't remember to gear up something in the fridge to thaw for that night. So, the common cold water method is the 1 I utilize the nearly to thaw meat.
Why not hot water? Well, hot water would thaw the meat, only it would likewise starting time to melt information technology and it could cause parts of the meat to get above 40 degrees. That'southward the temperature where microbes can get-go to grow.
Cold water, correct out of the tap works great. I just plug up the sink and set in the meat until it'south covered with water. Heat is transferred faster through water than air, so information technology goes faster than on the counter. (That's why all those people that went in the water on 'Titanic' were screwed).
If your meat is in a vacuum packet (a sealed plastic bag with no air) you lot tin can just stick information technology directly in the water. If it's wrapped in paper or 1 of those foam packages with the overwrap from the grocery store, I would take information technology out and put it in a plastic baggie. The baggie will contain the meat juice and allow the heat from the water to thaw the meat.
If I'm really in a hurry, I will allow the meat set in the cold water for a while, then allow that h2o bleed, and run in another batch. The frozen meat cools the water (stick your hands in it, it's a lot colder than information technology was), and then the water from the tap will exist a little warmer and volition help the procedure get a trivial faster.
3. Microwave. Near microwaves take meat thawing settings, and I have been known to use them for ground beef or sausage. Usually those are packaged in chubs (little sacks) with clips and I am in a big hurry to get them cooked. I don't like the microwave method for steaks or roasts or anything 'intact' (that means non basis). I call up information technology thaws unevenly and part of your meat gets cooked, while function of it is still frozen. Always put your meat on a plate (some other great use for pie plates) when you thaw in the microwave. You don't want meat juice all over the rotating plate in the microwave.
Now remember, it's ok to cook from frozen. It just takes a little longer and it's hard to become spices on frozen meat.
Dr. Yancey is a mom of two fabulous fiddling girls and an advocate of the meat industry. She has a passion for providing education and information to anyone who has questions, follow her blogs to stay informed!
Source: https://meatscience.org/TheMeatWeEat/topics/meat-safety/article/2017/08/02/safe-methods-for-defrosting-meat
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