struggling with defrosting food

badmemory

I wouldn't keep defrosted meat even 24 hours before using it, but I think the most important part about defrosting meat is that you should make sure it is throughly cooked. I wouldn't defrost meat & then serve it rare, I'd buy it fresh & cook & eat it the same day. As for the defrosting method, well any as long as it doesn't take too long.

calleyw

suki1964 wrote: »

Call, either your kitchen is freezing, or you are buying huge joints

I will get a chicken out Saturday night and its defrosted by Sunday lunch no bother, and I rarely heat the kitchen

Suki,

I must just have a cold kitchen. I do put it in water to try and speed it up.

Defrosting in the fridge never seems to work for me. Well it might if I want it in a weeks time!!!!

There are only two of us so never buy massive joints say 1.5 kgs and up to a 2KG chicken. My partner is like its fine. But I am just very anxious about giving some one food poisoning. Might why I over cook stuff as well :rotfl:I will make sure its cooked properly :rotfl:

Its a reason why I like the cook from frozen ranges no defrosting.

Yours

Calley x

suki1964

Cally, a chicken will be fine, as will the joint at that size

Put your hand in the cavity , if its not crunchy with ice - its defrosted and a joint off the bone will give

If your kitchen is really that cold, then stick the joint in the roasting tin and move to somewhere warmer to defrost. I don't have the heating on over night so I have no qualms about leaving meat out. Its going to be cooked that day, not sat around waiting for any bacteria to multiply to dangerous levels

Im also more then happy to cook previously frozen meat rare

I have never made anyone sick, and I have cooked for loads of people over the years, elderly and infirm as well as the fit and healthy

Slinky

I think modern fridges work a lot better than older ones and the advice to 'defrost overnight in the fridge' doesn't work as well as a result.

I'm one for taking out what I need in the morning, leaving it on the side to defrost, when it looks like it's defrosted either cook it, or put it in the fridge to keep fresh for cooking later that day.

pigpen

I chuck stuff in the fridge to defrost and use it when it is defrosted.. more often than not.. I hoik frozen meat into the slow cooker and cook it.. pork, chicken, beef.. everything! The only thing I am a bit twitchy about is takeaway rice.. it made me ill once but it was my own fault.. 3 day old takeaway rice in the microwave tastes ok but it isn!!!8217;t!!

In ye olden days freezers were warmer than they are now so stuff was less frozen than it is now so it takes longer to defrost.

There is waaaay to much paranoia bandied about around food storage and prep.. just chill!! (Pun intended) .. you are all intelligent enough to know when meat is off.. it smells like death! You cannot mistake it! If you have stored it in a clean area it is unlikely to have picked up bugs of any sort and will be fine...

However... covering with a fly net thing does not keep germs off unwrapped meat and that is more likely to make you ill!!

Trust your senses that is what they are there for!! And cook to a high enough core temp to kill bugs!! A meat thermometer is an idea if you struggle to know if it is adequately hot.

buildersdaughter

I think it helps to get a broad rule of thumb. My own 'rule' is greatly helped by a meat thermometer.
The best way to defrost is fairly slowly and steadily. Think like this - the higher the temperature, the faster the bacteria are multiplying. So you mainly want to avoid a fast defrost, then leave it hanging around.
Anything thinnish / smallish I defrost for about 12 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge + 3-4 hours at room temp.
Joints etc. are 24 hours in the fridge (a slow defrost helps texture as well). Then, if very frozen, it comes out to room temperature for 6-12 hours. if almost defrosted then I keep checking it, and it comes out to room temp when unfrozen but cold.
Most meat is fine for 24 hours at room temp. chicken & fish 12. I don't tend to leave them for that long, but say so that you get an idea of how long it would be 'safe' for.
I don't keep using a meat thermometer (wouldn't be good for the meat) but I have one for cooking, and will occasionally use it when defrosting.
Something else which I think helps food safety is a vacuum packer (though they are expensive and only worthwhile if you are going to make good use of them otherwise. I vacpack almost all meat & fish that goes into my freezer, and I don't break the vacuum until ready to cook / marinade. A lot of meat bought from farmers' markets is vacpacked, and independent butchers will vacpack meat for you.

purpleivy

Cali, I used to over cook things quite often, as you say, bettter than under done.
But now I have a temperature probe which can be used. I also use it for cold as well as hot....to see if the turkey was defrosted all the way through. Quite reassuring!

I use it for all kinds of things.... is the lemon curd thick enough ? Is the milk hot enougn/cool enough for yogurt? Other things too.

calleyw wrote: »

Suki,

I must just have a cold kitchen. I do put it in water to try and speed it up.

Defrosting in the fridge never seems to work for me. Well it might if I want it in a weeks time!!!!

There are only two of us so never buy massive joints say 1.5 kgs and up to a 2KG chicken. My partner is like its fine. But I am just very anxious about giving some one food poisoning. Might why I over cook stuff as well :rotfl:I will make sure its cooked properly :rotfl:

Its a reason why I like the cook from frozen ranges no defrosting.

Yours

Calley x

calleyw

Thanks guys you have been helpful. I can see I am not the only person to have anxiety over defrosting food.

The only person I am really happy cooking for is my partner. I cooked for his parents at christmas and was very anxious about it but it was fine.

I am 45 years old so you would have though by now I would be able to manage stuff like this. But I think my confidence gets less and less as each year passes.

Yours

Calley x

Wizzbang

pigpen wrote: »

I chuck stuff in the fridge to defrost and use it when it is defrosted.. more often than not.. I hoik frozen meat into the slow cooker and cook it.. pork, chicken, beef.. everything! The only thing I am a bit twitchy about is takeaway rice.. it made me ill once but it was my own fault.. 3 day old takeaway rice in the microwave tastes ok but it isn!!!8217;t!!

In ye olden days freezers were warmer than they are now so stuff was less frozen than it is now so it takes longer to defrost.

There is waaaay to much paranoia bandied about around food storage and prep.. just chill!! (Pun intended) .. you are all intelligent enough to know when meat is off.. it smells like death! You cannot mistake it! If you have stored it in a clean area it is unlikely to have picked up bugs of any sort and will be fine...

However... covering with a fly net thing does not keep germs off unwrapped meat and that is more likely to make you ill!!

Trust your senses that is what they are there for!! And cook to a high enough core temp to kill bugs!! A meat thermometer is an idea if you struggle to know if it is adequately hot.

Here we go again with some 'great' advice.....

Freezing anything, meat included does not kill any bacteria it merely makes it dormant. As soon as you start the defrosting process then those bugs will wake up again and start multiplying. It has nothing to do with whether you have stored it in a clean area - other than the obvious.

Therefore, particularly putting frozen meat into a slow cooker is dangerous because it doesn't get up to high enough temperatures to kill bugs and it also won't keep it there for long enough, it will hover in the warm danger zone. You also cannot ensure using any cooking method that a frozen meat product has reached an even and high enough temperature all the way through.

The reason you shouldn't re-heat takeaways, particularly rice as it's the most risky of all foods - is because you don't know how they were cooked and stored before you purchased them. They could already have been frozen and thawed, or reheated. You should never reheat food more than once and I personally don't even take the risk of ever reheating rice. It contains spores of one of the most deadly food poisoning bacteria which cannot be killed by heating.

Also, by the point that meat smells awful - it should be in the bin anyway. You cannot tell from looking at a food item or a surface, whether it is contaminated with food poisoning bacteria. So that advice it just rubbish! Best before dates are different- but please don't play around with high risk foods (and your life).

https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/fsw11presentation.pdf

Plus who would ever leave unwrapped meat out - it would oxidise and discolour, plus it would dry out. You should use a fly net to keep flies off your food because they carry some nasty germs.

Dark_Star

I put frozen stuff in a large plastic tray or bowl to catch the defrosted water & then the tray/bowl goes in the microwave or normal oven (depends on size of thing being defrosted) overnight.


It has to be shut away to prevent the cat chomping on it mid-defrost...


Stuff has usually defrosted over night & then gets put in the fridge until it needs to be cooked...