Defrosting chicken

calleyw

I pulled a couple of chicken breasts out the freezer last night and left them in the fridge over night.

Needed two extra to cook at lunch time so have taken an extra two out and now both lots are sat out on the kitchen work top covered. As the ones that where in the fridge where still a bit hard in the middle.

Have I done the right thing or am I going to give myself food poisoning.

thanks in advance.


Yours

Calley

Curry_Queen

You can defrost chicken at room temperature as long as you intend to cook it immediately it's defrosted, so don't worry about it

If you're having it diced up in a dish, then cutting it up whilst semi-frozen will speed up the defrosting too

ben500

You should NOT be cooking any chicken which has not thawed out completely, if there is any sign of ice crystals then perhaps a trip to KFC might be a good idea, some people do defrost chicken in the microwave I personally wouldn't, if you are going to prepare the chicken in some way ie cut into strips or cubes for presenting before serving then you could do that now which will speed up the thawing process dramatically but always err on the side of caution with pork or poultry as they result in the most painful symptoms if contaminated and can result in death given the right circumstances, I would definately act with caution if your purchase was made from a supermarket!

ben500

Curry_Queen wrote:

You can defrost chicken at room temperature as long as you intend to cook it immediately it's defrosted, so don't worry about it

If you're having it diced up in a dish, then cutting it up whilst semi-frozen will speed up the defrosting too

Beat me to it there CQ, fancy popping around for dinner I've got nearly two gallons of lamb curry on the simmer!!

tiff

Sometimes I put chicken breasts in a bowl of water which speeds up the defrosting process.

calleyw

Yes the chicken will be cooked for lunch as long as it thawed in time.

If not we will have something else and cook the chicken once it has been thawed.

Yes it was bought from a supermarket. But after what I saw in my local butchers I will not be buying my chicken breasts from there. They where in the window packaged and they where defrosting which means I would have to cook them once they where finished defrosting. And not be re-frozen once I got them home.

Mind you if you have ever worked in a supermarket have you seen what they do with there chilled and frozens food it would make you go :eek:

Yours

Calley

Curry_Queen

ben500 wrote:

Beat me to it there CQ, fancy popping around for dinner I've got nearly two gallons of lamb curry on the simmer!!

Oh yes please!!! :j

:drool:

ben500

You can get a brief idea from this site.

http://www.foodlink.org.uk/factfile_c.asp?file=1&chapter=10

And a factfile download for safe food prep here

http://www.foodlink.org.uk/factfile.asp?file=4

domestic_goddess

Can I defrost chicken using my microwaves defrost program.

I have been told by one person that its fine to do and another says its unsafe!!!!

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linda32

I wouldn't but then again I'm a complete wuss on food safety.
Nor have I got a microwave either :rotfl:

lipidicman

Nope, I find that the bit that defrosts first then starts to cook. It usually goes horribly wrong.

The best way is overnight in the fridge. At room temperature, put it in a frying pan rather than on a plate as the metal will dissipate the heat better and speed the process. You can buy defrosting plates, but a pan will do the same!