What is the Best Way to Thaw Frozen Meat?

It is not just the moms who are asking the question, what is the best way to thaw frozen meat? At some point in our lives, we all get to experience some serious dilemma because we need to cook a chunk of almost rock-hard meat which has been sitting in the freezer for a long time. What is the best way to deal with this concern?

Precautions

The question, what is the best way to thaw frozen meat, should not be undermined. Thawing frozen meat is an integral step in preserving the texture and flavor of the meat. Far too many people commit some major mistakes when defrosting meat. Hence, the end taste of their recipe is also affected.

Aside from stripping off the flavor of the meat, the wrong thawing process can also ruin its texture. The meat strands might end up a bit soggy. When this happens, the dish might not be too palatable.

What Should Not be Done

Sometimes, in our effort to speed things up, we venture into the not so ideal way of thawing meat. Yes, this will make the procedure much faster but take note that quick processes might make you feel disappointed in the end.

photo credit: flickr.com/SteakEat

Thawing meat using the microwave is not exactly a good thing to do. Yes, meat defrosting is a feature that is very common for microwave ovens these days. But do you know what happens to the meat when subjected to this procedure?

Microwave ovens heat up food from the inside towards the surface. Hence, when you use this for thawing meat, the inner part would already be partially cooked. Since frozen meat is extremely cold, the tendency is that the core of it is more cooked than the rest. Because of that, once you start preparing the meat according to what the recipe says, the inner part of the meat might end up more cooked. In some cases, the core of the meat becomes less tender than the rest.

Another method which is often used is immersing the meat into water. This is a big no no! Meat tends to absorb water when it is soaked in it for a long time. You surely would not want it to become extra watery, especially if this is not ideal for the recipe that you want to prepare, right? Aside from that, immersing it in water would strip off the flavor and the meat would become bland.

The most appropriate way to thaw meat

Ideally, if you want to defrost frozen meat, you have to do it a few hours before cooking. Simply putting it out of the freezer an exposing it to room temperature will do the job. Problem is, this will take a few hours.

If you plan to prepare the meat the following day, pulling it out of the freezer and placing it inside the refrigerator part is a good trick. This will thaw the meat without making it too warm which will cause it to spoil.

For a much faster process, it is okay to immerse it in water too. Just make sure to use a tightly locked and sealed bag, place the meat inside and then put it in a basin of water. That way, the meat will defrost but the water would not seep into it.