help will my lamb defrost in time??

furrypig

I hope someone here can help me in a crisis!!:eek:

Hullo to you all bought 900g half leg of lamb yesterday and put in fridge to defrost (it is an old one that is seldom used) anyway checked it just now and it is still frozen ARGHHH!!!!:mad:

I was going to do Jamie Oliver's 5 hour slow cooked lamb for friends that are coming over tonight for dinner.

Will it defrost in 5 hours which is how long I have before I start to cook??

Or do I need to go and buy some fresh lamb now which will cost more and not be money saving as I have aslightly defrosted bit of lamb that I will have to use but will be tricky as hubby away during the week!!??!:o

Someone please help me!!!

Thank you all in advance!

gwinnie

I would change to plan C. Continue defrosting and follow another recipe. To speed up the thawing, take it out of the fridge immediately, put it in a plastic food bag and put in a bowl of water at room temperature. Make sure no water can get into the bag. I would just roast it, but make it a bit special by having a marinade. DH does a nice one. He rubs in olive oil and seasoning, cuts slits into the meat and inserts whole peeled garlic cloves. Another one I did ages ago, and I'd have to look it up, was middle eastern style with saffron and yoghurt coating. If it's not defrosted enough about an hour before you want to start cooking, I'd start filleting off the meat, to speed up the defrosting process, and change my recipe again to a tagine (casserole with saffron or turmeric, dried apricots, etc), served with couscous.

If you do decide to buy a new joint, I would carry on defrosting this leg in the fridge, and roast it tomorrow. Then carve off slices for sandwiches/curries/ casseroles during the week, and freeze the remainder of the cooked.

Gingernutmeg

The quickest way to defrost meat (and the way that I was advised to use by an EHO) is to place the meat under cold running water until it's thawed. It's obviously better to do this with small pieces of meat though, and not large joints.

squeaky

You could defrost part way using a microwave if you have one. Give it twenty minute bursts and then let it rest for twenty.

But the page in the link has it all!

http://missvickie.com/howto/meat/thawing.htm

furrypig

unfortunately microwave out of action!

Actually I feel more optimistic now as it seems to have defrosted a lot since I first posted!

Thanks everyone for all the yips!

gwinnie

So did it defrost ok in the end?

Louise1521

So glad I read this post, it's just reminded me to take the lamb out of the freezer for tomorrow.

bargain_babe

I thought lamb could be cooked from frozen - or have I lost the plot - I hope I was right cos I was gonna have lamb today - I thought it was on adverts for lamb last year - any ideas? please.

gwinnie

Very risky, bargain babe. The problem is that food poisoning is caused by bacteria that are all around us. When they land on food they start to multiply and the produce toxins that makes us sick. At 0-5degC their growth is substantially slowed down which is why food can be refrigerated for up to three days. Below freezing, growth effectively stops, which is how deep freezing is safe. At high temperatures above 70deg they are killed. But at room temperature and up to about 70degC growth is accelerated. The danger in cooking from frozen is that not all the meat goes above the 70degC that is needed to kill the bacteria and the parts that stay below 70degC effectively become bacteria-factories.

gwinnie

PS also, the toxins the bacteria produce are not destroyed by cooking, which is why it is important that food is either eaten immediately or cooled rapidly and refrigerated. It's also why I don't like all-day buffets after getting food poisoning. And it was a vegetarian restaurant, so it's not just meat that needs to be handled with care.

Penny-Pincher!!

Ive cooked lamb from frozen with no problems before. Most packs of lamb recomend cooking from frozen. I have also asked the butcher this and although he prefers cooking fresh lamb, there is no problem cooking from frozen.

PP
xx