How to quickly defrost chicken at home. Quick defrosting with running water

Answers to one question: how to defrost chicken? You can give a few. It all depends on what you are now more interested in - speed or quality. One is usually achieved at the expense of the other.

Method one - classic

Classical cooking claims that the slower a frozen product thaws, the more it retains its taste qualities And nutritional value. Based on the foregoing, if you have enough time to spare, best advice how to defrost a chicken will be like this: take the chicken out of the freezer a day before cooking, make a few small holes in the bag, on top, so that the chicken “breathes”. And from below, so that meat juice and melt water flow down. Put the chicken in a bowl and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, where the temperature is above zero. This best way defrosting, which allows you to get chicken in a day, practically no different from fresh.

Method two - accelerated

If you took your chicken out of the freezer late in the evening, and you only have a night left, then in the morning, a couple of hours before cooking, remove the thawed chicken from the refrigerator. Next, free from packaging, wash and leave on the table, covered with a napkin, until completely defrosted. The next method will be even faster than this.

The third way - defrost quickly

Go ahead. Let's say the chicken needs to be cooked in a few hours. You are faced with the usual question: how to quickly defrost chicken? There are two options here. First - take the chicken out of the freezer, unwrap it, put it on a plate and defrost at room temperature. At the same time, try to quickly remove the ice, which is usually located inside the chicken carcass, so the process will go much faster. The second option is to place the chicken in the sink under a stream of cold running water. In the second method, in no case do we unwrap the chicken, because we want to defrost it, and not completely soak it!

Method four - instant defrosting

Well, the last, not the best option from a culinary point of view, is how to defrost chicken very quickly. In this case, you will have to use the microwave. Load the chicken into it, set the “defrost” mode and turn on the timer. How much to defrost a chicken is usually indicated in the instructions for each oven model. But it’s better not to risk it and turn on the oven for two minutes. Then open the door, check the degree of defrosting, turn the chicken over and turn on the microwave for another two minutes. If necessary, repeat this several times.

Nowadays, chicken is considered a real lifesaver if you urgently need to cook something quickly. But sometimes the process of defrosting a bird takes much longer than the cooking process itself. How to quickly defrost a chicken carcass while maintaining the quality of meat and its beneficial properties - you will learn about this and much more from our article.

Ways

Often we buy in the store whole frozen chicken carcasses. They have several advantages over fresh meat, which can include more than long-term storage. But often you have to buy fresh chickens. They are good if you cook them right there, within a couple of hours from the date of purchase. But if cooking is postponed until later, then the chicken should be stored in the freezer.

Exist various ways freezing chickens.

Shock freezing. It is possible if there is such a function in the refrigerator. In progress quick freezing chicken freezes completely and quickly. In this case, it must first be placed in foil or a special bag. If this is not done, the carcass will get a cold burn, which will subsequently affect the taste of the meat in a bad way: its structure will become slimy and loose. Temperature shock freezing- up to -20 degrees Celsius.

Deep professional freezing produced only on special equipment of manufacturers. The process starts in chambers with air circulation at a temperature of -32 degrees Celsius. Thus, everything is preserved in the meat. important substances and elements.
Freezing in ice glaze often used by stores selling this type of product. They freeze fresh chickens or parts of them after soaking them in water so that they are properly soaked with it. Ice crystals quickly "seize" the structure, creating a protective barrier against the penetration of bacteria and microorganisms.

You should know that chicken meat does not need a fermentation process, as is the case with beef or pork. It does not contain bacteria that can “prepare” tissue fibers for further assimilation, so chickens can be frozen immediately.

Bird deep freeze It takes longer to defrost than with shock. Dry chicken carcass is preferable to wet, so before placing it in the freezer, it must be thoroughly dried with a paper towel.

Butchered poultry is easier and more convenient to defrost. Therefore, it is recommended to partially cut it before placing it in the freezer. If a whole carcass is required for cooking according to the recipe, it is simply placed in a bag, and then in the freezer. Whole poultry takes an average of 17 hours to defrost.

In order for the chicken carcass from the freezer to retain its properties, it must be properly defrosted.

To preserve the structure and properties of meat, it is necessary to carry out the thawing process gradually, since sharp temperature fluctuations have a bad effect on the muscle fibers of the tissue, which lose their structure and elasticity. That's why The best way correct defrosting is to place the frozen chicken carcass on the bottom section of the refrigerator. There the chicken will thaw for about a day.

To make the chicken tasty and juicy, you need to cook from meat optimum temperature. Therefore, the defrosted carcass from the refrigerator should be held in the kitchen for a while before being sent to the pan, oven or slow cooker.

There are several ways to quickly defrost chicken at home: in the refrigerator, at room temperature, in water, in a slow cooker, in the oven, in a double boiler, and even in an air grill. Each of the methods has its own subtleties, with which every hostess must get acquainted.

On the fridge shelf

The ice carcass is taken out of the freezer and placed in a container, after which it is placed on one of the lower shelves of the refrigerator. It is better not to remove the cellophane from the chicken so that the meat does not “breathe” and does not absorb unnecessary aromas from neighboring products.

At room temperature

If you want to defrost the bird a little faster, you should remove it from the freezer and place it on the table in a special cup. So it will defrost several times faster than in the previous case: it will take five hours to thaw. For speedy process the carcass can be cut in several places. However, if you need it whole, then it is better not to break the cover, since the cuts prevent the whole chicken from roasting.

If time is rushing and guests are on the doorstep, you can resort to more emergency methods of defrosting.

In cold water

An ice bird is placed in a deep container with water. It is denser than air, so the chicken will thaw faster. If necessary, you can add heated water to the dishes and constantly change it to a new one as it cools. It is better not to remove the packaging: this way the chicken will retain its taste and juiciness.

Do not pour strongly heated water for defrosting, otherwise the meat fibers may lose their turgor and shape, which will adversely affect the quality of the product.

Using a multicooker

To defrost a bird in a multicooker, you need to put it on a stand, pour water into a special section of the multicooker and turn on the steam mode. For a medium sized hen, 12 minutes is usually sufficient.

in the microwave

The most common way to defrost poultry is the microwave oven. The carcass without packaging is placed in it and programmed for the appropriate mode. After a few minutes, the carcass must be turned over for uniform heating. The degree of readiness is determined as follows: the chicken is taken out and examined for the presence of frozen areas inside. If there are any, then the product should be placed back in the microwave to completely thaw.

You need to make sure that the chicken is thawed and warmed, and not baked. Usually 25 minutes is enough on the minimum mode.

In the oven

The bird is also defrosted in the oven. To do this, it is taken out of the package (if any) and laid out on a baking sheet, turning on the minimum fire. This method is suitable if in the future the carcass will be baked in the same place. The process takes 25 minutes. Then the chicken is taken out, stuffed and sent back, preheating the oven for cooking.

You can also defrost the chicken carcass in the oven by placing it on a vertical or horizontal skewer.

In a double boiler

In a double boiler, you can defrost a bird in this way: first, remove the cellophane and put the carcass on the upper compartment of the double boiler so as not to scald, namely, let the meat thaw, then pour a small amount of water and defrost in the automatic heating mode. With this function, the product warms up for two minutes with periodic stops. Everything will take 15 minutes.

Can you defrost in an air fryer?

Defrost a bird in an air grill in a special sleeve for baking. So she won't boil. Sleeve holds desired temperature and keeps meat proteins from drying out. The chicken is placed in the convection oven, the lowest temperature is set and the fan is turned on. You need to set the timer for a few minutes and keep the grill lid slightly open. Ten minutes - and the bird is defrosted.

In hot water

Defrost carcass in hot water Not recommended. However, in particularly extreme cases, when you need to act quickly, this method is considered quite acceptable. In this case, there is a risk that the proteins will curl up and the dish will lose its benefits. So that the meat is not saturated with water, it is better not to remove the packaging from the carcass. You can add water several times as it cools. The entire defrosting process will take approximately 15 minutes.

Combined method

This method involves the preparation of a frozen product, during which the carcass will be defrosted and cooked at the same time. Thus, two processes are combined in one. Before freezing, the bird can be rubbed with spices and marinated. The frozen product in foil is sent to the oven directly from the freezer. First, turn on the defrosting mode, and then (after eight minutes) add fire and bring to readiness. This chicken will be ready in an hour.

Also in a combined way sequential defrosting of the carcass is considered: first - in the compartment of the refrigerator, and then - in cold water. The first stage will take three hours, and the "water procedures" - no more than an hour and a half.

The whole process should be done without removing the chicken from the package.

Defrosting at room temperature

Of course, defrosting chicken at room temperature is considered the most the right option. So she keeps all her beneficial features. In this case, the defrosting time is calculated from the mass of the bird:

large five-kilogram carcasses are thawed during the day;
defrosting the average carcass of a broiler chicken will take no more than 12 hours;
Butchered chicken thaws much faster - about an hour at room temperature.

You should know: often boiled poultry thaws much better, since its meat does not contain as much water as raw. Some manufacturers additionally pump chicken carcasses with water so that they freeze faster and better.

How long to store?

After defrosting, the chicken is stored in the refrigerator for an average of no more than 48 hours. Then it is not recommended to use it. After defrosting, it is first placed in a special container or bag, and only then in the refrigerator. At a temperature of +7 degrees Celsius, the chicken is stored for no more than two days, at zero degrees the product can be stored for up to three days.

If the chicken has taken on a grayish tint with yellow elements immediately after defrosting, most likely it has already been spoiled. Perhaps it has already been thawed and frozen again several times, which is a violation of storage conditions. Due to the wrong attitude to the product, microorganisms multiply in the chicken.

Blue carcasses with greenish spots also indicate spoilage. A sticky surface and a "cotton" texture are considered to be the main signs of a stale product, and the characteristic smell confirms this. Moldy chicken should never be eaten! It happens that the carcass is stored in freezer more than ten months, and when defrosted, it turns out that it has deteriorated. Do not hope that washing off the mold will make it edible again. In fact, the spores of the fungus have already penetrated deep into the structure of the meat and managed to spoil it. The spoiled product is disposed of like all food waste.

Mistakes

There are a number of mistakes that housewives make in their desire to quickly defrost a bird's carcass.

Place the frozen carcass in boiling water or very hot water without a protective bag. In this case, the proteins coagulate and lose their properties, and only calories remain from the chicken.
When placing the carcass in the microwave, turn on strong heat. As a result, the chicken is boiled in places, covered with a crust, microorganisms begin to multiply in it. It also happens when the bird is thawed many times. In these cases, soil is formed that is very favorable for the emergence of various bacteria.
Place the bird in the double boiler on the lower compartment. Outside, it is boiled, but inside it remains icy. Violation of the technology of uniform defrosting also entails the appearance of microorganisms.
Defrost the chicken in an air grill without a fan. It turns out fried crust outside and raw flesh with blood inside.

The main thing is to remember and follow one rule: the defrosting process must be uniform, then you will subsequently get tasty and healthy culinary masterpieces.

For how to quickly defrost chicken, see the video below.

To defrost, it is necessary to remove the carcass from the packaging, put it in a dish suitable for use in a microwave oven, and select the automatic defrosting mode on the device. The process time depends on the given chicken weight and is determined automatically by the device. In this case, the carcass during defrosting will need to be turned over several times, since the microwave oven defrosts it unevenly.

If you do not turn the carcass over, there is a possibility that its lower part, lying in the cup, will begin to boil in the water released during defrosting

Quickly defrost minced meat: effective ways

How to defrost chicken in water

With this method of defrosting, the chicken must be placed in an airtight bag, otherwise all the juices from the bird will go into cold water in which she lies. The duration of the process is also quite long, the chicken will thaw for at least an hour. If the weight of the broiler is over a kilogram, then it will take even longer. The use of hot water for defrosting is simply unacceptable, since the meat from such a procedure will lose its taste and become tough.

You can speed up the process if after upper layer the carcass thaws, cut it with a hatchet into several parts and further defrost in pieces. Naturally, such a method is suitable only for those cases when it is planned to cook broth from poultry and the shape of the pieces is not of fundamental importance, because it is not very convenient to work with incompletely defrosted meat.

Thawing Chicken Naturally

Ideally, it is best to defrost the bird at room temperature, then it will retain all its juices and the taste of the meat will not change during cooking. If you take the carcass out of the freezer at night and put it in the sink, then in the morning you can safely start cutting it. If such a process raises concerns about the safety of meat, then the easiest way is to transfer the chicken from the freezer to the refrigerator, where it is guaranteed to defrost and not deteriorate. This method cannot be called fast, but it is the most reliable.

It is one of the most sought after protein foods. You can cook anything from poultry, from the most ordinary broth to the most complex pies.

Nowadays, on the shelves of stores you can find both frozen meat and a chilled product. Various parts available for sale allow you not to buy the whole carcass, but to take only what is required in your dish. If with chilled meat everything is easy and clear, then what about freezing? Before cooking it, it must be brought to room temperature. How to defrost the chicken in this case?

Defrosting in the refrigerator

Perhaps the most correct option for preparing a frozen carcass for cooking is its gradual defrosting. In this case, the meat will turn out juicy and fragrant, melting in your mouth.

In order to do everything right, you need to unpack the purchased bird and put it in a deep bowl. This is necessary in order to have a place to collect the liquid that the carcass will release during the heating process.

Place the chicken in the refrigerator, preferably on the top shelf. According to the laws of physics, warm air mainly collects at the top, everyone knows this. The refrigerator in this case is no exception.

Due to the fact that poultry meat will be defrosted gradually, you will achieve the desired result in cooking. It is worth saying that this process can take from ten hours or more. It all depends on the size and weight of the bird. It would be wiser to defrost it overnight in order to get a chilled carcass in the morning.

Defrosting in the microwave

The hostess does not always have time to wait half a day for the meat to defrost in the refrigerator. Rather, that time never comes. What to do in this case? How to quickly defrost chicken? There are several ways to reduce the time it takes to bring a bird to required temperature. IN this case it will be about microwave oven. Every woman should know how to defrost chicken in the microwave.

Take the ice carcass and unpack it. Put the bird in a special dish for the microwave oven and put the latter on the defrost mode. After 10 minutes, remove the meat and turn over to the other side. Load the carcass back and continue until completely defrosted.

Many modern models of microwaves have a special sound signal that it is necessary to turn the product over for further defrosting. If your oven does not have this function, then just watch the time and do not let the bird start to bake.

Defrosting in cold water

Another popular way to quickly defrost chicken is to use water. The prerequisite is low temperature liquids. Pour water into the bowl. Pack the frozen bird in a bag and lower it into the liquid. On average, this defrosting option takes from one to five hours, depending on the size and weight of the carcass.

In this way, you can either defrost the chicken fillet, or bring the drumstick, thighs and other parts of the chicken to the desired state, depending on which part you have chosen for cooking.

If you need to speed up this process, you can put the bird under a stream of running water at a low temperature. In this case, things will go much faster.

Defrosting in hot water

The worst way to quickly defrost a chicken is to immerse it in boiling water. Of course, after a couple of minutes you will get warm soft meat, but after cooking it will become dry and tough.

This method is only suitable for the subsequent preparation of the broth. If you are not interested in ready-made meat, but only need rich broth, then this method is just what you need.

Unpack the chicken carcass and place in a bowl with hot water. After some time, it will cool down. You will need to drain it and collect boiling water again. Thus, you will get the desired result quite quickly.

For faster results, place the carcass under a stream of hot water.

Conclusion

Now you know several ways to quickly defrost chicken. It is worth recalling that a carcass that has room temperature is considered completely thawed. It is soft to the touch, and its limbs rotate easily relative to the body. You can easily cut meat with a knife blade without any additional physical effort.

In order for your chicken dish turned out to be as tasty and juicy as possible, defrost the bird correctly and in advance. However, don't overdo it. If the meat is stored at room temperature for too long, it will simply spoil. That is why it is so important to plan ahead for the preparation of frozen foods.

Cook with pleasure, and then your culinary skills will be appreciated.

Sooner or later, every housewife faces the question: how to quickly defrost a chicken in order to reduce the resistance time of the intended dish. There are right ways and there are wrong ways. Our site will tell you what is needed in order to do everything as expected, while maintaining all the taste and useful material product.

How to quickly defrost chicken at home

by the most the right way how to properly defrost chicken is defrosting in the refrigerator. The carcass will thaw gradually, the meat will remain juicy and tender. But this way to defrost chicken is suitable when there is time. It's better to do it in the evening. The carcass must be removed from the package and placed in a deep bowl. Defrost is best done on the first shelf.

How to defrost chicken in the microwave

An option for the case when time is tight. It is necessary to put the carcass in a suitable microwave dish. Then put the dishes in the microwave in the "Defrost" mode. After ten minutes, the carcass must be removed and turned over to the other side. Put it back and turn on the "Defrost" mode again. The defrost time will depend on the power of your stove.

How to defrost chicken without a microwave

old, everyone known way- defrosting of the product in water. The main thing is the low temperature of the liquid in which the carcass will be placed. Pour water into a suitable container. Put the carcass in a bag. Tie him up. Place in water. This option takes no more than five hours.

Important! Do not defrost the product in hot water. Meat in ready-made will be hard and dry.

How to defrost chicken in a slow cooker

To do this, place the carcass on a stand for steaming or in a basket. All models of multicookers have different adaptations. Pour water into the multicooker bowl. Turn on the "Steam" mode. The defrost time does not take more than a quarter of an hour. This will already depend on the power of the device.

How to defrost chicken in the oven

The carcass must be removed from the package. Pour into glass bottle water. It is necessary to put a wooden board on the frying sheet and put a bottle on it. Put a carcass on the neck of the bottle and place in the oven. Defrost is carried out for 10 minutes at a temperature of 180°Ϲ. The main thing is not to overexpose the product, otherwise the chicken will cook inside and dry out on the outside.

These are the most popular ways to quickly defrost chicken at home. Now, you won't have a problem with how to cook frozen chicken. You just need to follow all the steps exactly and not violate the sequence of actions. Then everything will work out great.