5 ms·

I defrost my fish in the package by putting it in hot tap water. You, sire, drastically reduced my chance of dying. Thank you very much.

seszett 5y ago
Put it in cold tap water in the fridge and it will also defrost much faster than in the air, while staying at a safe temperature the whole time and it also won't be partly cooked already.
bambax 5y ago
Do not do that. Defrosting should be done slowly in the fridge. Or you can cook frozen food directly. But do not defrost at or about room temperature, this will breed bacteria like crazy.
- baobabKoodaa 5y ago
  Wouldn't the food need to warm up to room temperature before bacteria would breed like crazy? If you defrost it from frozen to cold-but-defrosted, shouldn't you be ok, even if the surrounding air is room temperature?
  - dustintrex 5y ago
    The issue is the timing. If you defrost in the fridge, it will eventually reach ambient temperature, but that's still safe. If you defrost on the counter, it will briefly be cold-but-defrosted, but rapidly progress to room-temperature-petri-dish.
  - bambax 5y ago
    > If you defrost it from frozen to cold-but-defrosted, shouldn't you be ok, even if the surrounding air is room temperature Yes, that's my point. If you defrost in the fridge it's ok. If you defrost at room temperature then it's dangerous. It's not extremely dangerous. Many people do it every day and don't die. But it's better not to.
    - baobabKoodaa 5y ago
      No, what I meant was, if you defrost it at room temperature, it will not instantly warm up to room temperature - it will slowly warm up. You're not forced to leave it on the counter until it reaches room temperature, you can choose to use it before that point (even though it is surrounded by room-temperature air). It's possible to have a less-than-room-temperature fish inside a room that is in room temperature.
  - sbierwagen 5y ago
    The bacteria on the surface of the meat will hit room temperature in a few minutes, long before the entire piece is thawed all the way through. So it gets an hour head start.
    - nelgaard 5y ago
      No, it will not. But it depends on the shape of the meat. So if you are not monitoring the surface temperature, go with cold water or the fridge.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - gambiting 5y ago
      By that logic no one could ever safely eat steak tartare, which obviously you can without any issue. There will be bacteria growing in the surface, but unless someone fucked up somewhere along the way, they won't be harmful.
- Lhiw 5y ago
  Ya'll never heard of a microwave?
- namdnay 5y ago
  defrosting under warm water takes about 5 minutes, if you cook it immediately it's perfectly safe
  - bambax 5y ago
    Very much depends on what you're defrosting. A piece of meat frozeon at -20C will not defrost in 5 minutes under warm water.
    - mnw21cam 5y ago
      It mostly depends on how large (or rather how thick) the chunk is. If you're talking about wafer-thin slices of salmon, then it'll defrost in about 30 seconds in cold water, even if it was frozen at -20C. If you're talking about a whole large turkey, then it'll probably take more than a day.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  eep, my girlfriend insists on leaving meat out on the counter top for most of the day to defrost. I mean it feels cold to the touch still when we're ready to cook, and everything is cooked thoroughly, and we've never gotten sick yet but. Still dubious. Putting it in the fridge to defrost takes 24 hours or so though.
  - hamstercat 5y ago
    Put it in cold water in the fridge, it goes pretty fast that way. It has saved my bacon a few times (both literally and figuratively).
- 2-718-281-828 5y ago
  defrosting in cold tap water also works just fine. I noticed that this keeps the fibres and cells intact which is advantageous for frying afterwards as the filet won't fall apart so easily.
lm28469 5y ago
> drastically If it was that dangerous you'd have heard of dozens of deaths and it would have been banned a while ago. People don't read instructions

seszett 5y ago

Put it in cold tap water in the fridge and it will also defrost much faster than in the air, while staying at a safe temperature the whole time and it also won't be partly cooked already.

bambax 5y ago

Do not do that. Defrosting should be done slowly in the fridge. Or you can cook frozen food directly. But do not defrost at or about room temperature, this will breed bacteria like crazy.

baobabKoodaa 5y ago
Wouldn't the food need to warm up to room temperature before bacteria would breed like crazy? If you defrost it from frozen to cold-but-defrosted, shouldn't you be ok, even if the surrounding air is room temperature?
- dustintrex 5y ago
  The issue is the timing. If you defrost in the fridge, it will eventually reach ambient temperature, but that's still safe. If you defrost on the counter, it will briefly be cold-but-defrosted, but rapidly progress to room-temperature-petri-dish.
- bambax 5y ago
  > If you defrost it from frozen to cold-but-defrosted, shouldn't you be ok, even if the surrounding air is room temperature Yes, that's my point. If you defrost in the fridge it's ok. If you defrost at room temperature then it's dangerous. It's not extremely dangerous. Many people do it every day and don't die. But it's better not to.
  - baobabKoodaa 5y ago
    No, what I meant was, if you defrost it at room temperature, it will not instantly warm up to room temperature - it will slowly warm up. You're not forced to leave it on the counter until it reaches room temperature, you can choose to use it before that point (even though it is surrounded by room-temperature air). It's possible to have a less-than-room-temperature fish inside a room that is in room temperature.
- sbierwagen 5y ago
  The bacteria on the surface of the meat will hit room temperature in a few minutes, long before the entire piece is thawed all the way through. So it gets an hour head start.
  - nelgaard 5y ago
    No, it will not. But it depends on the shape of the meat. So if you are not monitoring the surface temperature, go with cold water or the fridge.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - gambiting 5y ago
    By that logic no one could ever safely eat steak tartare, which obviously you can without any issue. There will be bacteria growing in the surface, but unless someone fucked up somewhere along the way, they won't be harmful.
Lhiw 5y ago
Ya'll never heard of a microwave?
namdnay 5y ago
defrosting under warm water takes about 5 minutes, if you cook it immediately it's perfectly safe
- bambax 5y ago
  Very much depends on what you're defrosting. A piece of meat frozeon at -20C will not defrost in 5 minutes under warm water.
  - mnw21cam 5y ago
    It mostly depends on how large (or rather how thick) the chunk is. If you're talking about wafer-thin slices of salmon, then it'll defrost in about 30 seconds in cold water, even if it was frozen at -20C. If you're talking about a whole large turkey, then it'll probably take more than a day.
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
eep, my girlfriend insists on leaving meat out on the counter top for most of the day to defrost. I mean it feels cold to the touch still when we're ready to cook, and everything is cooked thoroughly, and we've never gotten sick yet but. Still dubious. Putting it in the fridge to defrost takes 24 hours or so though.
- hamstercat 5y ago
  Put it in cold water in the fridge, it goes pretty fast that way. It has saved my bacon a few times (both literally and figuratively).
2-718-281-828 5y ago
defrosting in cold tap water also works just fine. I noticed that this keeps the fibres and cells intact which is advantageous for frying afterwards as the filet won't fall apart so easily.

lm28469 5y ago

> drastically If it was that dangerous you'd have heard of dozens of deaths and it would have been banned a while ago. People don't read instructions