Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [thawing]

56 questions
31
votes
2 answers

How does a Miracle Thaw work?

Miracle Thaws are utensils for rapidly thawing foods. Put an ice cube on one and it melts before your eyes, yet the whole thing stays cool to the touch. How do they work? (Inspired by this question: Utensil to thaw meat)
pabo
  • 751
  • 1
  • 6
  • 12
20
votes
7 answers

Can meat freeze from the inside out?

We received a turkey recently which was meant to be 'fresh'. When it arrived it was frozen on the inside. We are told that the fridge was probably set a bit low so the turkey froze on the inside. I'm not rocket surgeon, but I would have thought…
Mr. Flibble
  • 301
  • 2
  • 3
19
votes
5 answers

Can I thaw salmon directly in water?

Some websites suggest putting salmon in a bag before thawing in cold water. Is it safe to omit the bagging, and instead thaw directly in water? (If not, why?)
Asker
  • 433
  • 1
  • 4
  • 9
13
votes
4 answers

Why would IQF shrimp say "do not force thaw under running water"?

I recently made a recipe that called for thawing frozen shrimp by running them under cold water. However, I noticed that the IQF tail-on shrimp I buy from Costco state, "DO NOT FORCE THAW UNDER RUNNING WATER". Why might they add this capitalized…
Jeff Axelrod
  • 4,940
  • 29
  • 60
  • 81
11
votes
3 answers

What is it in frozen food that makes chefs so mad?

Gordon Ramsay's number two complaint (we know the first...) is that the food was frozen. But I am confused about the specifics. Does he mean the meat was not thawed before cooking? Does he mean that after being placed in a freezer meat cannot be…
Bar Akiva
  • 5,835
  • 23
  • 74
  • 116
10
votes
4 answers

Utensil to thaw meat

A very long time ago, I was at a friend's house where her father took out this piece of ribbed metal from the cupboard. It was a dark piece of metal about the size of an adult hand. It had grooves on one side, and was smooth/flat on the other. He…
Burhan Khalid
  • 223
  • 2
  • 8
9
votes
2 answers

Am I thawing this London Broil safely?

I started thawing a thick cut of London Broil (maybe 1.5 lbs) in cold water and then I realized I didn’t want to start cooking it yet. I’ve moved it to the fridge. While thawing in cold water, I had not sealed the meat completely in a zipper bag, …
dgo
  • 217
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8
9
votes
1 answer

Why does vacuum-sealed fish caution against thawing in the package, but vacuum-sealed meat doesn't?

Whenever I buy frozen vacuum-sealed fish, the package clearly instructs me not to thaw the fish without removing it from the vacuum seal. This makes sense in a hazy intuitive way if I think about anaerobic bacteria like botulinum. However, the…
Barbot
  • 191
  • 3
8
votes
3 answers

How do I separate two fish fillets that have been frozen together?

Sometimes when I get frozen fish, it comes with several pieces frozen together (specifically, Trader Joe's does this with all of their frozen fish). Is there any good way of separating them without fully thawing? This could also apply to other…
TJ Ellis
  • 2,972
  • 11
  • 32
  • 39
5
votes
5 answers

Why does my meat never thaw in the fridge?

Everyone on the internet says you should never thaw meat outside of the fridge. My fridge is about 40f cold, and meat NEVER thaws in it. Its always at least -4f even after sitting in fridge overnight. The only way I can thaw meat is by letting it…
Bar Akiva
  • 5,835
  • 23
  • 74
  • 116
4
votes
1 answer

Is rapid cooling and thawing worth it?

I have researched a bit about the topic of "large crystal prevention" when freezing and thawing food. So far I have learned, that in order to prevent the formation of large crystals, which is what damages the texture of food, you need to minimize…
user1721135
  • 1,469
  • 2
  • 19
  • 32
4
votes
3 answers

What are the effects of thawing food at low temperatures?

Context: I am a member of staff at a supermarket where customers within supermarkets frequently "dump" refrigerated/fresh items into freezers. As far as I am aware, the options I have to me for dealing with these dumped items are as…
kwah
  • 141
  • 3
4
votes
2 answers

How does repeatetly moving food from freezer to fridge and back every day affect it?

My fridge and freezer makes noise to the point that it is hard for me to sleep (even with earplugs) so I have began to shut off the power to the fridge and freezer during the night. My fridge is set to 1 degree celsius and my freezer is set to -18…
user810259
  • 43
  • 3
3
votes
2 answers

Thaw / Brine partially frozen turkey at the same time

I’ve found sites that say it’s ok to start a brine for a partially frozen turkey. My question is, when you thaw a turkey using the cold water method, they say to change the water every 30 minutes. If you’re brining a partially frozen turkey, do you…
user1974226
  • 31
  • 2
2
votes
1 answer

How can I use bitter or hard water for cooking and specially in soaking beans?

How can I use hard water (with a bitter taste) for cooking and especially to soak dry beans. Normally beans do not soak well in hard (bitter) water. In that case, what should I do?
Marosh Fatima
  • 311
  • 1
  • 5
  • 9
1
2 3 4