Warming up on correct thawing of frozen foods

To bring the temperature of the food down and making it ready for consumption is called as thawing. It is best to bring frozen foods to room temperature before cooking them.

Thawing the foods in the refrigerator

The frozen food from the freezer is brought down in the refrigerator to bring the temperature down and making it available for cooking or direct consumption. Planning well in advance is a key since longer thawing time is involved in this method. A few points have to be taken into consideration while following this method.

The time of thawing will depend upon the size of food item. A large piece of meat will be required to thaw longer as compared to a small chunk of meat.

The food kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator will take longer time to thaw.

Make sure you keep the food item properly covered and use a dish underneath or thick paper towels so that the water will not drop down and will not spoil other products in the refrigerator.

Using cold water for thawing

This method is faster than refrigerator thawing but requires more attention. The bag should be submerged in cold tap water, changing the water every 30 minutes so it continues to thaw. Following points have to be taken into consideration while following this method 

The food must be in a leak-proof package or plastic bag. If the bag leaks, bacteria from the air or surrounding environment could be introduced into the food. Also, meat tissue can also absorb water like a sponge, resulting in a watery product.

If thawed completely, the food must be cooked immediately.

Using the microwave for thawing

Microwave thawing is the easiest way of thawing food since in the microwave the distribution of heat is uniform throughout the product and hence the core of the product takes equal time to thaw as the outer surface. Microwave defrosting, just before cooking, virtually eliminates the risk of food poisoning from bacteria that can grow and contaminate meat, chicken, fish and other foods thawed on a countertop.

Always remove food from the store packaging and place it in a microwave-safe dish.

For individual pieces of food that are frozen together, stop the power a few times and pull the pieces apart.

When thawing a larger item, such as a whole chicken, place it upside down at first, then turn it over half way through the thawing time.