How to Safely Thaw Frozen Food

Frozen products brings many conveniences and practicality for many families. Many of the meats accessible today comes from the frozen section, therefore it is best to know the proper way to thaw your frozen food before proceeding to cook them.

There are three primary ways of thawing food, and in this article we will outline the different ways of thawing food and which one we recommend.

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Refrigerator thawing

This method preserves the most quality of the meat but requires the longest time to thaw. Large frozen meats like a turkey or chicken typically takes at least 24 hours to thaw for every 2 kg of weight.

Even smaller frozen goods such as chicken breasts or fillets will still require up to a whole day to thaw, so it is best to plan your thawing process in advance if you choose to use thaw in the refrigerator.

The advantages of thawing in the refrigerator is that they will be safe to process for up to 5 days, and they can be refrozen again without cooking albeit with some loss in quality of the meat. If you have the time, this is the option that we recommend for thawing your frozen.

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Cold-water thawing

This method of thawing is much quicker than the refrigerator method. Just as the name suggests, this requires the meat to be submerged in cold water while sealed in a leak-proof plastic bag.

This is important as any type of leak will introduce water into the meat softening the texture, and potentially any bacteria that may come from the water. On average you can thaw most frozen products such as small packages of seafood, meat or poultry in about an hour or less.

If thawed using the cold water method, it is best to cook the meat immediately upon being thawed. And refreezing the meat is not recommended, but possible if it has been cooked prior to refreezing.

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Microwave thawing

Using the microwave to thaw your meat is perhaps the quickest way to thaw the meat, but can also potentially “cook” parts of the meat in the thawing process. This can be dangerous as parts of the meat can get warm enough for bacteria to start growing and also leaves the meat thawed unevenly.

Regardless, microwave thawing should only be done if you plan to cook the meat immediately after thawing either by grilling or using a conventional oven. Foods thawed in the microwave can be refrozen, but should be cooked before being frozen again.

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Not thawing

If you are in absolute hurry to cook the food, or have no time to thaw the frozen products, it is possible to cook without thawing. It is safe to cook the meat, but keep in mind to cook the food gradually and evenly. It will also take up to 50% longer to cook than if you’ve fully thawed the meat.

As the premier and trusted food distributor in Bali, Puri Pangan Utama is committed to provide you with the best quality products available. View from our selection of high quality frozen products to suit your cooking needs.