big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/d...r-thawing-meats-the-curious-cook.html?_r=2&hp
Interesting...what are your thoughts?
Interesting...what are your thoughts?
quick hot water bath for thawing meats??
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FarmerJamie
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We do it all the time with frozen chicken, hot dogs, and such for last-minute decisions. Works for us. 
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big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Someone else said they make it a brine hot water bath too...two birds with one stone kind of thing.
FarmerJamie
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We typically leave it in the freezer bag and fill the sink up with hot tap water a few times. No mess.
gettinaclue
Almost Self-Reliant
I try not to quick thaw, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
When I quick thaw, I have a tendency to get the water to hot and "cook" part of the meat.
It might work, but this isn't something I'd do on a regular basis.
I just try to keep a couple pounds of hamberger, some chops, a package of bacon and some sausage (home made) in the fridge at all times. This way, while they are thawing, it helps keep the fridge cool and we have an assortment (of sorts) of meat to choose what to eat.
Helps to keep us from getting burned out on one particular type of meat...and we eat meat at 99 percent of our meals cause DH can't seem to go without.
I cold thaw the chicken breasts. I'm not interested in eating them if they've been sitting in the fridge thawed for a couple of days. Ick.
When I quick thaw, I have a tendency to get the water to hot and "cook" part of the meat.
It might work, but this isn't something I'd do on a regular basis.
I just try to keep a couple pounds of hamberger, some chops, a package of bacon and some sausage (home made) in the fridge at all times. This way, while they are thawing, it helps keep the fridge cool and we have an assortment (of sorts) of meat to choose what to eat.
Helps to keep us from getting burned out on one particular type of meat...and we eat meat at 99 percent of our meals cause DH can't seem to go without.
I cold thaw the chicken breasts. I'm not interested in eating them if they've been sitting in the fridge thawed for a couple of days. Ick.
justusnak
Almost Self-Reliant
We have always done this....thawing in warm water. We are still kicking! 
abifae
Abinormal Butterfly
When working in a kitchen, we were told hot water baths have to be HOT!! Because all the germs grow at the room temp stage and you want to push past that as fast as you can.
So for frozen soup bags, there was a metal container that kept the water simmering all the time, so it stayed hot enough to thaw without worry of it going bad.
If you thaw it in hot water and the water cools and it sits out thawing, you can give time for bacteria to grow.
So it all depends on what type of meat, where you got it, and how fast it thaws.
It's a bigger no-no in restaurants because they have more rules than make sense. At home, I toss it in the sink, turn on the tap, and however hot it is is hot enough LOL. I've never gotten sick.
So for frozen soup bags, there was a metal container that kept the water simmering all the time, so it stayed hot enough to thaw without worry of it going bad.
If you thaw it in hot water and the water cools and it sits out thawing, you can give time for bacteria to grow.
So it all depends on what type of meat, where you got it, and how fast it thaws.
It's a bigger no-no in restaurants because they have more rules than make sense. At home, I toss it in the sink, turn on the tap, and however hot it is is hot enough LOL. I've never gotten sick.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Gee, musta been a slow news day
I do that frequently if the meat is thin enough. As gettinaclue says, you have to be careful the water isn't *so* hot that it cooks the outer layer of meat, although you can certainly still eat it that way, it's just a bit tougher IME.
The problem for me is that an awful lot of the meat I use is in thicker form -- roasts, parts of turkey anatomy, etc. With those I often "jump-start" the thawing with hot water (and with the thicker cuts, I've had no trouble with the outside starting to cook, although as noted on another recent thread we don't have our water heater set real high either), but then after an hour or two I promote it to a cool water bath or the fridge.
Pat
I do that frequently if the meat is thin enough. As gettinaclue says, you have to be careful the water isn't *so* hot that it cooks the outer layer of meat, although you can certainly still eat it that way, it's just a bit tougher IME.
The problem for me is that an awful lot of the meat I use is in thicker form -- roasts, parts of turkey anatomy, etc. With those I often "jump-start" the thawing with hot water (and with the thicker cuts, I've had no trouble with the outside starting to cook, although as noted on another recent thread we don't have our water heater set real high either), but then after an hour or two I promote it to a cool water bath or the fridge.
Pat
lwheelr
Lovin' The Homestead
We do this a lot. If it is wrapped in paper, you can toss it into a zip bag before thawing it.
Big stuff thaws just fine also, just takes a bit longer. As long as it thaws within an hour or so, it is perfectly safe - there is only ever a thin layer of meat that is at room temp, and not for very long.
We used to come home from somewhere, grab some frozen fish, chicken, or beef, toss it into a 1 gallon container full of hot water, and then dash off to change clothes. By the time we changed (5-10 minutes), the meat was thawed and ready to cook.
We found that if we used a small container of hot water, that the water cooled quickly, before it had time to cook the meat, so that by the time it was thawed, the meat was still cool, and so was the water.
I think it is kinda dumb that someone thought it worthwhile to spend an exhorbitant amount of money on three separate studies, just so that the government can tell us that we can safely do what we've been safely doing for decades.
Big stuff thaws just fine also, just takes a bit longer. As long as it thaws within an hour or so, it is perfectly safe - there is only ever a thin layer of meat that is at room temp, and not for very long.
We used to come home from somewhere, grab some frozen fish, chicken, or beef, toss it into a 1 gallon container full of hot water, and then dash off to change clothes. By the time we changed (5-10 minutes), the meat was thawed and ready to cook.
We found that if we used a small container of hot water, that the water cooled quickly, before it had time to cook the meat, so that by the time it was thawed, the meat was still cool, and so was the water.
I think it is kinda dumb that someone thought it worthwhile to spend an exhorbitant amount of money on three separate studies, just so that the government can tell us that we can safely do what we've been safely doing for decades.
We bathe defrost all the time. But I just submerge in COLD water, and let sit till thawed. We vacume pack all the venison, turkey and meats, so we just keep the meat in the bag and put it in a deep bowl. works well for us.
