8 replies to this topic

[thatguy47]

Is it safe to put frozen chicken in a plastic bag, submerge this bag in cold tap water, and then leave it in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours to defrost? 

 

USDA mentions the refrigerator thawing and cold water thawing but doesn't say if its safe to combine these: http://www.fsis.usda...s-for-consumers

Edited by Simon, 11 October 2015 - 02:20 PM.
Link Fixed

[Charles.C]

Is it safe to put frozen chicken in a plastic bag, submerge this bag in cold tap water, and then leave it in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours to defrost? 

 

USDA mentions the refrigerator thawing and cold water thawing but doesn't say if its safe to combine these.

 

Hi that guy,

 

The link is dead for me ?

 

Do you mean remove the existing polywrap from frozen meat, submerge meat in water (eg 1sec?), transfer meat to new plastic bag, close the bag and transfer to refrigerator.

 

Why ? Adds one more step of potential contamination and won't reduce the refrigerator thawing time ?

 

PS - Welcome to the Forum !

[SQFconsultant]

It would be the same thawing temperature. Why bother with the extra steps. Just put the chicken in the refrigerator to thaw.

[thatguy47]

Sorry, not sure why the link isn't working.. Hopefully it works now. If not you can just google "thawing frozen meat" and it will be the first link from the USDA website. 

 

I should've said 1-24 hours instead of 12-24 hours. I would like to put a piece of frozen chicken breast in a ziploc bag, submerge this ziploc bag in a container with cold tap water, and then keep this container in the refrigerator for 1-24 hours to defrost. 

 

The reason I'm asking is because you must change the water every 30 minutes for the "Cold Water Thawing" method. If you just use the "Refrigerator Thawing" method alone then this can take at least 12 hours to fully thaw. I would like to speed this process up by combining the two methods. That way the frozen chicken breast can defrost in the refrigerator faster but will then be able to stay in the refrigerator for probably 1-2 days before I must cook it. 

 

Is this safe to do?

[Charles.C]

Hi TG,

 

Thks for link.

 

I’m unclear whether you still intend to change the water after placing container in refrigerator. If do not, the thawing will slow right down. If yes, it sounds like a headache.

 

But from your last sentence you have no need to fast thaw anyway. ??

 

PS - I hope the weight of chicken is sufficient to make this analysis meaningful ?

[thatguy47]

Hi TG,

 

Thks for link.

 

I’m unclear whether you still intend to change the water after placing container in refrigerator. If do not, the thawing will slow right down. If yes, it sounds like a headache.

 

But from your last sentence you have no need to fast thaw anyway. ??

 

PS - I hope the weight of chicken is sufficient to make this analysis meaningful ?

 

I don't intend to change the water after placing container in refrigerator. It would be 1-2 frozen chicken breasts. I would also like to know how long this would take to thaw.

 

I'm asking because I would like to place the frozen chicken around 12pm in the refrigerator to thaw and then sous vide it for 1 hour starting at ~5pm (vacuum sealing in a new bag at 5pm - the chicken vacuum seals better for sous vide after its already been thawed). I think 5 hours would be sufficient thawing time but I would also like to know:

1. Is this safe?
2. Min time to completely thaw.
3. Max time - How long can I safely keep the chicken submerged like this (1-2 days?)

If I sous vide from frozen I usually do it for 2 hours at 145 F. If I sous vide after its been thawed then I can sous vide for only 1 hour instead. 

[Charles.C]

Hi TG,

 

Sorry i'm no expert on chicken breasts.

 

The times quoted in yr link look reasonable based on my (non-poultry) experience as a minimum time guess for glazed seafood blocks in  a  normal environment (ie using cold water method). You might try extrapolating on a weight basis for a crude estimate of shortest time possible. I predict a refrigerator without changing water will be slower, how much slower unknown.

 

Viewpoints on thawing safety  seem to vary with age and source, eg

 

http://www.hi-tm.com...aw-counter.html

 

https://www.reddit.c...chicken_in_hot/

 

 NFSMI - thawing foods.pdf   246.19KB   40 downloads

 

Unfortunately no experience on sous-vide. i prefer to stay away from C.botulinum as far as possible. Definitely need an expert in this area IMO for safety predictions.

[Simon]

You can easily do a trial with one chicken breast to find out how long it takes and to see if it is any quicker.  Personally I can't see it being any quicker than putting the chicken breasts directly in the fridge to thaw, logically the chicken will cause the cold water to become colder prolonging the thaw.  Like I said give it a go.

[annastassia]

Very interesting discussion. But since I had no time to much thaw the frozen chicken while my guests were about to dang my door, I needed a shortcut. So I found this article very helpful. Hope it helps you too. :) 

https://substituteea...frozen-chicken/