Today we will talk about how to defrost chicken fast? With microwave, in cold water, with patience or quickly. There are only 4 ways to defrost chicken, do you want to know them?
Chicken meat is one of the most consumed in the world. Regardless of culture, countries or culinary customs, chicken is used in all cuisines of the world, and a lot. And in all of them, surely you have ever asked yourself the question of how to defrost it to later cook it … right?
Before I tell you how to do it, I am going to tell you how NOT TO DO IT
Chicken has many bacteria and when it reaches a certain temperature (between 4ºC – 60ºC), it allows these bacteria to grow. For this reason, it is FORBIDDEN to put a chicken in water before cooking it or leave it at room temperature. There are simple steps you can follow to defrost chicken fast.
Let it thaw quietly in the fridge
This is the most reliable and safest mode of all, especially if it is a whole chicken. Although it is true that it does not need your practical attention. It must be taken into account when you are going to prepare it since you need to take it out of the freezer with some anticipation.
Imagine, a pound of cut chicken can take 1 day to thaw, and a whole chicken weighing about 3 pounds can take up to two days.
The good thing about this practice is that once it is defrosted, you can leave it for a couple of days in the fridge, with the certainty that it will not spoil.
Thaw with water ALWAYS in a sealed bag (faster)
As we have said before, we cannot defrost chicken directly by putting it under the tap. Since all the bacteria they have would start to grow and would have dire consequences for your health.
Instead, we’re going to put the chicken in a plastic bag (either in vacuum-sealed bags or in resistant, leak-proof, zippered bags) in a container of cold water.
NEVER with hot water. In addition to helping batteries grow, the outermost layer could cook before the center thaws. If you are going to defrost chicken piece by piece, maybe in an hour it will be ready. If you are going to defrost more, it will take a little longer. Patience.
- Warning: Change the water every 30-40 minutes to make sure the water is still cold.
- Warning 2: If you are thawing multiple pieces of chicken in one bag, as the pieces are thawing enough to separate, open the bag, separate the pieces, reseal the bag, and return to the water. Continue the same process until the meat is completely thawed.
- Warning 3: Once this process is done, the chicken must be consumed immediately
Defrost in the microwave
The most modern microwaves have different programs to defrost safely. So I advise you to take the instruction book and take note of how to defrost the chicken in particular. If your microwave is older and lacks the special program, you can do it but pay attention.
By putting the microwave on the defrost program, you should check every few minutes that the chicken is defrosting correctly. You have to constantly move and reposition it, and still, there may be areas where it starts cooking, while others are still frozen.
So obviously it’s not the best method of defrosting, but it can save you from a pinch. Once thawed with this method, you should cook the chicken immediately.
Cook the frozen chicken
For certain types of cooking, you can introduce the chicken directly. Even if it is frozen chicken, such as the braised chicken, or if you are going to cook it in the pot with a slow cooker, for some soup or stews. You should only add 50% more time than you put in the recipe.
If you want to make the chicken sautéed or baked, it would not be advisable to use this method. Since it would produce uneven results.
With the outside of the chicken more cooked than the inside or with a texture that would not be correct. For example, if you want a crispy or caramelized exterior, you would never get it with a frozen chicken, since at the same time it cooks it would release the moisture.
