Quickly defrosting food?

dekaspace

Sometimes I forget to take food out of freezer and/or want something at short notice so what I currently tend to do is try and wait for a small while so it defrosts a little, or put it in microwave for a few minutes to partly defrost but not cook so I can leave it another 30-60 minutes so it defrosts fully.

Its just I hate the idea of partly cooking the meat in case it gets bacteria but seen mixed views on defrosting in microwave and saying things like leaving meat in cold water on tabletop (which I tend to do if I plan to have it a few hours later) atracts bacteria.

With that in mind whats the best compromise for speed and health?

Apple_Crumble

I put it, packaging an all, in a Ziploc bag and put it in a sink filled with cold water. As the bag is sealed, nothing touches the meat and water can't get in. I've been doing that for years and I have never had any problem.

maman

I have done the same as you occasionally. My microwave has a defrost facility that just thaws the food without cooking but what you do is much the same.

A better idea is to make some home made ready meals like chilli, Bolognese or curry which you could defrost in the microwave with confidence as they're already cooked. I keep these as a standby for busy days.

flea72

Dont defrost, just cook from frozen

dekaspace

flea72 wrote: »

Dont defrost, just cook from frozen

I can't cook things like mince or burgers from frozen, at very least it would make it hard to work out when they are cooked.

As for microwave what I tend to notice is even on defrost setting its hard to guess the exact time it needs, either I do it and its still frozen in middle even just a tiny bit, or the edges are cooked (such as with chicken it goes white at edges so I tend to leave it out when its half or 2/3 defrosted in microwave.

JIL

Burgers are fine cooked from frozen. Stick a knife in when they look cooked and feel how hot it is, you will know if it's cooked as you won't be able to touch the metal.
Mince can be cooked from frozen, just keep scraping the sides of the cooked bits in the pan as you fry it.
Chicken is ok to cook from frozen, we are advised not to cook whole birds, but breasts will be fine, they cut better when a little frozen as well.

melanzana

I make my own cottage pies/shepherds pies/ and lasagnes. Then freeze.

I will give a few minutes blast in the micro, and then into the oven.

Works great for me!

Raw meat I would defrost as completely as possible, and then cook thoroughly, but I generally cook fresh meat first, then freeze.

Each to their own.

suki1964

dekaspace wrote: »

I can't cook things like mince or burgers from frozen, at very least it would make it hard to work out when they are cooked.

As for microwave what I tend to notice is even on defrost setting its hard to guess the exact time it needs, either I do it and its still frozen in middle even just a tiny bit, or the edges are cooked (such as with chicken it goes white at edges so I tend to leave it out when its half or 2/3 defrosted in microwave.

Dekaspace, I think from reading another post of yours about mince, that you are confusing browning off and cooking mince

Browning off, is just that, turning the red meat brown. This is easily done from frozen. It's the browning off that separates the mince and releases the fat. Browning only takes a few minutes

Once browned its usual to drain off the fat, then add whatever flavours you want along with some liquid - IE tinned tomatoes when making bolognaise, then allow the meat to simmer for at least 30 mins, more if at all possible. The longer the low simmer, the better the depth of flavour and the more tender the meat

It's perfectly possible to eat just browned mince, but the texture and taste isn't the best, hence why in your post a while back you thought the mince dry and tasteless

Burgers are perfectly safe to cook from frozen. Birdseye have sold enough of them over the years . If they are thick quarter pounders, just cook at a lower heat so the middles cook before the outside burns

I've even cooked turkey and chicken crown roasts from frozen with no problem.

jackieblack

My grannie often used to defrost meat, including things like pork chops and chicken breasts, by leaving them on top of her radiator :eek: How she didn't poison herself was a mystery to us all!
She was a few weeks short of her 96th birthday when she passed away last year, so it obviously never did her any harm

dekaspace

suki1964 wrote: »

Dekaspace, I think from reading another post of yours about mince, that you are confusing browning off and cooking mince

Browning off, is just that, turning the red meat brown. This is easily done from frozen. It's the browning off that separates the mince and releases the fat. Browning only takes a few minutes

Once browned its usual to drain off the fat, then add whatever flavours you want along with some liquid - IE tinned tomatoes when making bolognaise, then allow the meat to simmer for at least 30 mins, more if at all possible. The longer the low simmer, the better the depth of flavour and the more tender the meat

It's perfectly possible to eat just browned mince, but the texture and taste isn't the best, hence why in your post a while back you thought the mince dry and tasteless

Burgers are perfectly safe to cook from frozen. Birdseye have sold enough of them over the years . If they are thick quarter pounders, just cook at a lower heat so the middles cook before the outside burns

I've even cooked turkey and chicken crown roasts from frozen with no problem.

I only really buy butchers meat so little to no fat comes off it, and when I do buy supermarket stuff its brown in colour anyway so I cook it longer so I know its cooked.

Last time I made chilli I used one of those pre made powders for it and it tasted amazing when first in but after I simmered it for 30 minute (basically put on lowest setteing and put lid on) I stirred only a few times during that the taste vanished and the base layer seemed to be a little burned I think its just due to the lid being on made it too hot.

I don't want to undecook meat.

rach_k

Go to Iceland and look at the cooking instructions on the packs of raw frozen meat. I avoided cooking raw chicken from frozen for years because most supermarket packs say to defrost it first, but then we shopped at Iceland for a while and most things are cook from frozen there, even raw meat. I now buy things from Tesco that are the same as Iceland packs and just use the Iceland cooking instructions!