“You want to defrost foods the secure way,” claims Shauna Henley, a household and customer sciences educator at the College of Maryland Extension who has a PhD in biology with a emphasis on shopper food safety problems. “It’s fundamentally to avert potential foodborne ailment or foodstuff poisoning.”
So how do you ensure your defrosted foods is safe and sound and gratifying? Read through on.
Meat. This is the just one to really spend consideration to and the group with the biggest potential for foodborne sickness if not taken care of adequately. Pathogens prosper at temperatures in between 40 and 140 degrees, so your objective is to retain the foodstuff out of what is typically referred to as “the risk zone.” That’s specifically why leaving your meat to thaw on the counter is under no circumstances, ever a very good strategy, no make any difference the temperature of your dwelling or how chilly the food feels to the touch. Equally, you need to by no means depart meals on your porch or other areas outside the house to thaw. Period of time.
The most straightforward, most secure and most forgiving spot to defrost meat, Henley suggests, is the refrigerator. Verify with an equipment thermometer that the fridge is amongst 32 to 40 degrees, and familiarize you plenty of with your refrigerator to know the place the particularly chilly places are that could slow down the thawing process, such as in close proximity to a admirer. Continue to keep the thawing meat in a clean up bowl or plate to capture any leaks. The time will vary depending on the sizing of the meat and your fridge, but the U.S. Agriculture Department says to rely on at the very least 24 several hours for every 5 kilos of a massive slice, these as a turkey, and at the very least a working day for smaller merchandise, this sort of as ground meat or chicken breasts. Prepare dinner thawed crimson meat in 3 to 5 days and ground meat, poultry and seafood inside of 1 to 2 times. Fridge thawing is the only defrosting method right after which you can safely and securely refreeze the uncooked foodstuff, although you may possibly experience a reduction of high-quality.
As Harold McGee explains in “On Foods and Cooking,” drinking water is a a lot more productive medium for transferring heat to meat than air (20 instances more quickly, to be exact), though nevertheless keeping the surface area of the meat out of warmer, microbe-welcoming temperatures. Which is why a cold-drinking water bathtub, in a bowl on the counter or the sink, is one more advised method for thawing meat. Henley suggests utilizing water that is colder than 70 degrees. Be guaranteed the meat is in a leak-proof bag or packaging. Irrespective of whether you place a plate or bowl on best to preserve the foodstuff submerged is up to you, although accomplishing so may perhaps velocity up the approach a tiny. No matter, transform the water each individual 30 minutes and wash your arms each individual time as well. Henley says to depend on about 1 hour of the water tub for every pound of food items, however timing can change. Food items thawed by this technique must be cooked correct away and cannot be refrozen when uncooked. You can, on the other hand, refreeze the cooked food items, if sought after.
If you’re definitely in a pinch, you can thaw meat in the microwave. There are a couple of pitfalls right here, together with that you may well begin to prepare dinner/overcook or dry out the meat before you even start out to put together the dish. Also, warming the meat in the microwave usually means “there’s a large amount of very good issues going on” for opportunity pathogens, Henley says. That’s why microwave-thawed food stuff also needs to be cooked appropriate absent and are not able to be refrozen right until it is thoroughly cooked. Defrosting in the microwave can be a bit of “trial by fireplace,” as Henley suggests, as they vary in toughness. Be certain to read the manual for encouraged periods. Covering the food stuff even though defrosting can assist retain moisture, although from time to time flipping or rotating can assistance be certain even thawing.
You can cook dinner meat and poultry from frozen. McGee says this works properly “with rather gradual procedures these as oven roasting, which give the heat time to penetrate to the middle without the need of considerably overcooking the outer portions of the meat.” He suggests to assume cook occasions that are 30 to 50 p.c a lot more than people with refreshing cuts. For a primary case in point, see our recipe for Desperation Turkey (From Frozen).
Whichever method you pick out (and regardless of whether you commenced with frozen food or not), be sure to have a thermometer useful to ensure the food stuff has attained a secure bare minimum inside temperature.
Soups, sauces and broths. If you have more than enough time, go forward and permit these thaw in the refrigerator. This can choose several days depending on how much you froze and its condition — a flatter layer (Henley likes 4 inches or much less), for example, will thaw more rapidly than a tall cylinder. Henley normally employs a two-prong approach for thawing soups and stews, making use of the microwave to loosen the food from the container ahead of transferring to a pot to finish heating all the way by. (The govt endorses bringing soups and sauces back to a rolling boil to guarantee safety.) You can also run your container briefly less than tap water just sufficient to loosen it from the sides before heating on the stove prime.
Bread. This one’s easy and, hey, no danger of food stuff poisoning. The most affordable carry is to let a frozen loaf thaw, nonetheless wrapped, on the counter for a handful of several hours or right away, and then crisp it in a 350- to 400-degree oven for a couple minutes. Or wrap the nonetheless-frozen bread in foil and warmth for 15 to 30 minutes, based on dimension and regardless of whether you want to just quickly thaw or also warm it. If you’ve frozen specific slices, individuals will thaw pretty rapidly on the counter or can go straight into the toaster or toaster oven.
Pizza dough is primarily useful to continue to keep in the freezer. For that or other yeasted doughs, permit thaw at minimum overnight in the fridge.
Slices of baked pizza — a lifesaver in my home — can go from freezer to oven. I ordinarily bake them on a sheet pan at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Or use a pizza stone if you have a person. Timing will fluctuate based on how thick the crust is.
Other baked merchandise. Any baked treats, this sort of as cookies, brownies, etc., are good to defrost on the counter. A short stint in the oven at 350 levels can convey them close to freshly baked perfection. I’ve also effectively thawed cookies in the microwave. Attempt starting with 30 seconds at 50-p.c energy. Incorporate a minimal extra time as necessary. If it is near, I could possibly do a brief blast (10 seconds or a lot less) at whole electrical power. This is effective primarily effectively with points like chocolate chip cookies.
If you’ve stashed particular person parts of cookie dough, these can be popped straight into the oven for baking. Based on the cookie, it could call for very little to no more bake time. Thaw frozen discs of pie dough in the refrigerator right away.