How do you thaw out meat?

[ChristusG]

I've always taken my meat out in the morning and sat it on my counter to thaw it out. It's always worked fine for me.....and for my mom. But I always read that you should not thaw meat out this way. Why not? How am I supposed to do it?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I put it in the sink with something under it for the drips but basically I do it your way - unless I forget - then I defrost it in the microwave. The only time I've read not to do it this way is for something really big like a turkey because it takes too long to thaw and might start to grow stuff.

[Pretty in Pink]

I place it in a covered dish in the fridge 24-48 hours before I plan to cook it. My mom, however, thaws hers on a plate on the countertop or in a basin of cool water. I've even known her to thaw it on a plate placed in the sun, as in, place it out on the deck when she leaves for work and bring it in when she gets home that afternoon. Yuck.

[GWOB]

I usually put mine in a sink of hot water. If it is something bigger like a roast I will leave it out most of the day. Or, if I wait until the last minute, I'll use the microwave defrost setting. I haven't died of E. coli yet.

[Audrey]

I've always taken my meat out in the morning and sat it on my counter to thaw it out. It's always worked fine for me.....and for my mom. But I always read that you should not thaw meat out this way. Why not? How am I supposed to do it?

 

 

I put it in the fridge the night before and if it isn't thawed by a couple of hours before time to cook, then I use the defrost feature of the microwave. I don't like to do that too much because it seems to go from thawing to cooking very quickly on me.

[Mergath]

I throw it on the counter and let it sit until it's squishy. We aren't overly cautious about our food prep around my house, and none of us ever seem to get sick, food-related or not. I think a lot of the hype over stuff like this has to do with the cleaning supplies industry trying to sell more disinfectant.

[Caitilin]

The meat I buy is vacuum packed, but I put the package in a bowl of hot water, and then cook it immediately when thawed. I agree with Mergath about the not-a-big-deal-ness aspect too. :)

[3littlekeets]

I throw it on the counter and let it sit until it's squishy. We aren't overly cautious about our food prep around my house, and none of us ever seem to get sick, food-related or not. I think a lot of the hype over stuff like this has to do with the cleaning supplies industry trying to sell more disinfectant.

 

 

:iagree:. We are all just fine.

[Dandelion]

Microwave on "defrost" setting (I'm not much of a planner when it comes to meals, so that's the only last minute option available to me :D)...

[Gwenhwyfar]

I usually plan to put it in the fridge the night before, forget, put it in there sometime the next day, end up microwaving on defrost. :)

[katemary63]

I've even known her to thaw it on a plate placed in the sun, as in, place it out on the deck when she leaves for work and bring it in when she gets home that afternoon. Yuck.

 

:ack2: (I've always wanted to use this guy!) Anyway, I thaw mine on the counter all day long. I've always read you should do it in the fridge, but after traveling in Mexico and Guatemala on missions trips and seeing the meat THEY eat every day...that's been hanging in the sun, and covered with flies, is a pale pasty grey color and smells like death....I'm good with mine on the counter at room temperature a few hours. :D We've never had a problem and I don't plan to stop doing it.

 

(THEY in my post simply means the people of the moutain villages I visited. Nothing more! :D)

[AngieW in Texas]

Sometimes I set it on the counter (like steaks that I'm going to marinade).

 

Sometimes I put it in water (sealed in a bag first).

 

Sometimes I defrost in the microwave.

 

Sometimes I even partially defrost in the microwave and then set on the counter to finish.

 

None of us have had food poisoning from food at my house yet. We did all get food poisoning (and it was AWFUL) from a meal at my dh's grandmother's house. We all started throwing up a few hours after we got home and it went on for about 24 hours. I had to take care of all of us (dh, 4.5yo, and 2yo) and I was sick too and was 4 months pregnant.

[ktgrok]

I used to do that, but it really is a good way to grow bacteria. And I like my meat fairly rare, so I don't want to encourage bacterial growth. I thaw mine in cool water...that way it only takes a short while. If it is a roast I thaw it overnight in the fridge. My dad says that is silly, that he always grew up on meat that was thawed at room temperature. I had to point out to him that meat was much less contaminated then, in fact salmonella didn't even really exist then.

[Melinda S in TX]

We go through a lot of meat for our large family. The bottom two shelves of my refrigerator have large cookie sheets on them. They are always full of meat in various stage of thawing.

 

Blessings,

Melinda

[Chris in VA]

Microwave or fridge. I have a great thaw cycle on the mic--it asks for the type of meat, and the weight. It's always perfectly ready to cook at the end.

[melissel]

Fridge when I remember in time, or cool water bath when I don't (assuming the meat is packaged correctly). I grew up on meat thawed on the counter too, and I won't throw away perfectly good meat that I accidentally let thaw that way, but I'm just a little too paranoid to make it my regular method! (Which is funny, because I'm not a germophobe at all! But I don't want to deal with puking, and DD7 is emetophobic, so don't like to take extra chances)