Defrosting chicken

chatta

I do it in a bowl of cold water, I agree microwaving isn't a good idea, it always looks horrible. I have lamb right now in cold water, its still in the wrapping and I will leave it in there for about 2 hours or so, but chicken needs longer and depends on the size as well.

domestic_goddess

oh well

I guess we wont be having chicken for tea then!!!!

Thanks for your quick replies
x

mookybargirl

My mum always defrosts chicken in the microwave - but using the defrost setting, never done us any harm......

rchddap1

Don't like to defrost chicken in the microwave as it seems to start to cook. I always let it defrost itself.

whistler-alison

I have when I have been desperate, though it makes the chicken really rubbery (with thighs anyway. I'm told better with breasts but haven't tried). I haven't defrosted it all the way, just given it a quick burst of a few minutes to get it going, then left it to defrost as normal. Test the chicken every minute and turn it. If any sport starts to get warm you know it is definately time to stop. definately do not do it with a whole chicken. personally I wouldn't bother.

lipidicman

If you want chicken for tea, which is a while off then you could combine the 'defrost at room temperature on a metal surface' with 'give it very short blasts in the microwave' ideas. 30 seconds on defrost every so often will prevent localised cooking and might just help

Edit: remember there is nothing special about the defrost setting, it is just a lower power

MATH

You can defrost chicken in the micro perfectly well. My prefered method is to nuke on defrost for 5 mins or so for a whole bird and then leave to rest for an hour and blast again if necessary. I find this cuts out the risk of cooking the extremities while the innerds stay icy. HTH

janeawej

i occasionaly use the microwqave to defrost chicken but only if i am using it immediately as i dont like to get some of it hot, then cool it down then reheat as i feel this is dangerous

Queenie

Defrosting *anything* in the microwave needs to be done in fits and starts. Then it will be successful.

As MATH says, nuke it for a few minutes, but leave it for a while before the next burst. Don't know that it *needs* to be left quite as long as 1hr between zaps, in my experience 15-20mins between times is more than adequate.

If I'm defrosting something such as mince I zap for 3mins, leave for 5, zap for 2.

Also, if it's taking longer to defrost and you're still thinking in terms of roasting time (if that's what you are doing with your whole chicken) it might be worth turning it into spatchc0ck chicken because it roasts/grills/bbq's faster.

To spatchc0ck, turn the bird so the breast is down, using scissors (or secateurs even!) cut from parsons nose end along one side of the backbone through to the opposite end - do the same the other side of the backbone so the backbone is now completely cut free. You can now open out your chicken so it is flat with the breasts uppermost and the legs/thighs/wings splayed out alongside. Don't waste that backbone, use it to make stock

skintchick

I have successfully left a frozen chicken ont eh counter to defrost for a few hours, then cooked it in the oven still a bit frozen. Just add extra time and start it at a lower temp to begin with, then increase it after 45 mins or so. I;m not dead!