Learn about defrosting steaks,easy steak recipes,grilled steak recipes and steak dinner recipes !

Experts say food safety risk isn't in freezing but in thawing, freezing food is one of the safest way to preserve food at home.If you are freezing something that has been cooked- becareful you should cool it before putting food directly into a freezer, do not let the food sit around at room temperature for too long either.

Bacteria's won't reproduce in freezer- but freezer wont kill them either, We thaw meat on kitchen counter overnight where the surface of meat is thawed at room temperature before its core is thawed. Bacteria's if any on the surface of meat grows at room temperature.People make mistake when putting large meat in water and do not replace water when it gets warm.

Frozen meat effectively arrests bacterial growth, thawing process when done incorrectly allows bacteria to grow and it is important to only following methods recommended by USDA to defrost meat/chicken, as these methods are less likely to harbor pathogens that could make you ill.Here are some methods to defrost any meat safely.


Metal Thawing
We defrost meat on the counter top of kitchen or use microwave hoping it is thawed correctly.Here I'm going to reveal another defrosting technique, all you need is 2 metal pots and water.

Turn 1 pot upside down and place steak or chicken on top, fill another pot with some water just to give it some weight and place on the top of 1 pot, sandwich steak/ chicken between them.

After 5 minutes 1 cm thick steak will be defrosted.

Refrigerator Thawing - slowest but safest method to defrost 
Defrost any meat slowly over the next 24 hours by moving it from freezer to fridge, it is very simple and best method for defrosting because fridge is still cold enough to minimize microbial activity.

If you have thawed meat in refrigerator and you realized you need need it, you could put it back in freezer. Anything that was thawed outside a fridge is not advisable to refreeze.

Cold water
Cold water - is much like refrigerator and this method is safe as well.

To execute this method ;

Place your chicken/meat in a sealed and waterproof bag, make sure you get as much air out of plastic bag as you can.

Place it in a bowl,plug the sink and fill it half with cold water.

Put some weight on it to keep it submerged, stir occasionally.

Note : water should be cold and replaced when gets warmed up.

Microwave
The above mentioned methods are slow processes- time consuming, which is not ideal if you want to cook right away and you should plan to use the chicken immediately as quick warming process can invite bacteria.

Use a low power to thaw quickly any meat.

If defrosting for 5-10 minutes microwave is safe enough, microwave defrost quickly but unevenly and you should cook the meat immediately.

Use hot water
This method should only be used for small meat steaks like chops, studies showed that defrosting meat at 100 degree is absolutely safe.

So get around 120 degrees water in a big stock pot, seal meat in an airtight bag and immerse the bag in it. Put weight on it so that it get submerged, stir every couple minutes to displace the cool spot.

Meat should be ready in 15 minutes.

Defrosting time depend on following factors:
Thickness.
Packing.
Volume and movement of water.
Thawing food and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables may be thawed in fridge with in 2-3 hours.

Steam veggies to defrost, If you cook vegetables the wrong way , they turn tasteless.