Is it possible to defrost chicken under hot water. Thawing chicken at room temperature

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Chicken has become a complete replacement for expensive red meat. The variety of dishes prepared from poultry strikes the imagination of any hostess.

The only difficulty that you have to face before preparing dinner is defrosting a whole chicken carcass. This process takes a lot of time, so there are various methods of thawing among the people.

A quick defrosting of a chicken carcass, alas, is not as useful as the natural thawing of white meat.

Of the various methods for obtaining thawed poultry, preference should be given to the one that preserves the fibers and the “natural flavor” of the meat as much as possible.

Extreme methods of defrosting a bird can lead to a disastrous result:

• loss of a significant part of the meat juice, and, consequently, the meat will be dry and tough;
• deformation of the carcass and meat fibers;
• winding a chicken outdoors.

Excessive exposure to high temperature on a chicken carcass leads to uneven thawing of the bird, as well as to the “cooking” of individual sections of the defrosted meat.

The need to defrost chicken before cooking

When a chicken carcass needs to be subsequently boiled or baked, it is not at all necessary to completely defrost it. Please note that the cooking process will take longer than usual. Before placing the meat in a pot of water, the bird must be washed, and during the boil, remove the foam.

Roasting chicken should begin with the oven set to a low temperature. After thorough “defrosting”, the carcass will be cooked juicy and tasty.

Ways to quickly defrost chicken

The preparation of a hearty meal can be accelerated thanks to several ways to defrost a chicken carcass. When choosing a particular method, it is worth considering the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Water

Thawing chicken with ordinary water will not take much time from the hostess. If the carcass has a sealed polyethylene package, then it is not necessary to remove the package. This will protect tender meat from loss of taste.

For defrosting, a deep bowl is taken into which the carcass is placed. Next, cold water is poured into the bowl. The water needs to be changed every 30 minutes.

If half a carcass or a small chicken is defrosted, then after about an hour you can start preparing dinner. A larger carcass will take 2-3 hours.

Microwave

The microwave oven, despite its many-sided capabilities, is an emergency method of defrosting. This is due to uneven heating of the meat, partial cooking of the carcass and the need for constant turning. However, white meat can thaw fairly quickly in a microwave oven.

The chicken is taken out of the package and placed in the microwave oven. Almost every model has a special mode called "Defrost". Therefore, by clicking on the button and setting the necessary parameters, the program will do its job.

If the microwave oven does not have a “magic” button, defrosting is performed at the lowest power of the device. A kilogram chicken carcass can be thawed in 1 hour.

Multicooker

To defrost a chicken in a multicooker, it is enough to place the carcass on a special grill inside the appliance and set the “Steam” program. If necessary, the meat is periodically turned. The disadvantage of this method is the uneven thawing of the chicken.

Brine

Thawing a whole bird in salted water is suitable for later roasting chicken in the oven. As a result, the meat will not lose its juiciness and become more tender. To defrost a carcass weighing 1.5 kilograms, you need at least 3 liters of water and 0.75 cups of table salt. The chicken is placed in the prepared solution for 1 hour, and then subjected to heat treatment.

Water bath

The most gentle method of defrosting poultry is to thaw the carcass in a water bath. To do this, you need two pans - one small, the other larger. A smaller dish with chicken is placed inside a large one half filled with hot water. The container with meat will begin to heat up, and the carcass will melt. The method is ideal for defrosting medium-sized chickens.

Double boiler

Another method of defrosting chicken is in a double boiler. Household appliances not only prepare exclusively the right food, but are also able to defrost a small carcass with the help of steam. During the operation of the device, you need to monitor the meat and turn it over in time.

Oven

An unusual way to defrost chicken meat is to place the carcass in the oven.

This method can only be implemented if the oven has the “Defrost” function or the ability to set the temperature to 30 ° C.

Moreover, during thawing, it is necessary to monitor the meat: when the temperature rises in the cabinet, the carcass will be covered with a crust, and inside it will remain raw.

Hair dryer

An ordinary household appliance will help to quickly defrost the carcass by directing a stream of warm air in the direction of the chicken. The flow must be exactly warm - the cold air of the hair dryer will only wind the bird. By the way, such a responsible mission as thawing a chicken can also be entrusted to a fan heater.

Bottom shelf of refrigerator

Natural thawing of the chicken carcass preserves the taste and smell of cooked white meat. The process of defrosting the chicken in the conditions of the refrigerator shelf will take about a day, so it is recommended to plan all actions in advance.

For a gala dinner, the carcass must be removed from the freezer the night before. The meat is cleaned, if possible, of packaging and ice crusts, and placed on a large plate.

The advantage of classic defrosting chicken on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator is minimal damage to muscle fibers. Due to this, the defrosted piece of white meat looks fresh and beautiful. No wonder true gourmets talk about the need for quick freezing and long defrosting.

Prohibited actions during defrosting

In order not to get a spoiled piece of chicken meat after defrosting, you should follow some tricks:

1. Never defrost a carcass with boiling water or hot water. In extreme cases, you must use warm.
2. You should not leave the chicken carcass on the kitchen table and, moreover, in the fresh air. At room temperature, there is a high probability of bacteria and other dangerous microorganisms on the meat.
3. During defrosting, do not subject chicken meat to mechanical shock or piercing with a knife. Tender meat will lose its elastic shape as soon as it melts, and the result will not be juicy meat, but tasteless minced meat.

How long can thawed poultry be stored?

When the chicken fillet is completely defrosted, the bird can be stored in the refrigerator for some time. At a temperature of 4°C to 10°C, white meat will lie for no more than 2 days, so it is advisable to cook a dish from it as soon as possible.

The canons of proper and healthy nutrition state that the heat treatment of chicken meat should be carried out immediately after purchasing a thawed carcass or defrosting.

Is re-freezing of fillets allowed?

Thawed poultry should generally not be refrozen. This is fraught with spoilage of the product due to the multiplication of harmful bacteria on the surface of the carcass. It is also important that repeated freezing will completely deprive white meat of nutritional value and taste properties.

If there is an urgent need to freeze thawed chicken, then laying the carcass in the freezer should be done after the heat treatment of the meat.

Proper defrosting of chicken allows you to cook from white meat not only tasty, but also healthy dishes. Therefore, only prolonged thawing of the carcass guarantees the best result. Express methods should be used only in extreme cases.

For many housewives, chicken is a real lifesaver. She saves the day if unexpected guests appear on the doorstep or there simply isn’t enough time to cook dinner for the family. Chicken cooks quickly, and dishes from it always turn out tasty, satisfying and healthy. The only problem that can be encountered in the process of emergency cooking of chicken meat is solving the question of how to quickly defrost the chicken. Almost every housewife has her own "proprietary" way to defrost chickens. And we must admit that not all of them are harmless.

How to quickly defrost chicken
The fastest way to defrost chicken is to use the microwave. Most modern microwave ovens are equipped with food defrosting functions. To do this, just place the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 1-2 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken). After the time has elapsed, pull out the carcass, turn it over, and place it in the oven again for the same period. All! The chicken is ready and you can start cooking the planned dish.

The opinion that chicken thawed in the microwave loses its taste is nothing more than a myth. Only the most sophisticated gourmet will be able to distinguish the taste of meat thawed in it from meat thawed in the usual way. Such gourmets are extremely rare!

But, nevertheless, one should not assume that such a method of defrosting is harmless. The microwave "kills" any food, makes it "dead". This happens at any stage - defrosting, cooking or heating. So in the question of using this unsafe in many respects kitchen appliances, you need to look at the root of the problem: whether to use it at all or not.

This method of defrosting is categorically unacceptable in families where they care about the health of the household and do not eat food cooked in microwave ovens. The task of quickly defrosting chicken in this case is somewhat more complicated. It will not be possible to defrost a bird in a few minutes, at best - in one to two hours. And you can't do without improvised means.

The easiest way to quickly defrost a chicken is to take it out of the bag and place it in a deep, wide pot filled with room temperature water. It is desirable that the water was not only around the chicken, but also penetrated into it. Change the water every 10-15 minutes. At the most, after 1-1.5 hours, the chicken can be butchered and cooked.

Often, to quickly defrost a chicken, it is placed under a stream of cold or warm water right in the bag. In this case, it will be defrosted for at least 2-2.5 hours.

Well, the last, not the most useful, but, nevertheless, used method is to place the chicken in a saucepan filled with warm, almost hot water, which needs to be changed as it cools. This method allows you to defrost the chicken for an hour or less, but some of the nutrients are irretrievably lost.

The easiest way is natural defrosting. If you are going to cook the chicken in the morning, move it from the freezer to one of the refrigerator shelves the evening before. If you are going to cook during the day, it is enough to pull out the chicken in the morning and leave it at room temperature. In 4-5 hours, it will completely defrost.

The longer it takes to defrost, the more nutrients are retained in chicken meat. And vice versa, the sooner the bird carcass is defrosted, the less they remain in the chicken.

Every hostess strives to ensure that her refrigerator always has stocks of products that can help her out at the most unexpected moment. One of these products is chicken carcass. Chicken is an indispensable way to feed the family quickly, tasty and satisfying. However, the chicken has one drawback - it takes a long time to defrost. Of course, there are methods that can defrost a chicken in a few minutes, but the quality of the meat suffers from this. So, let's try to figure out all the ways to defrost chicken meat.

How to properly defrost a chicken

In order for the chicken to be juicy, tasty and healthy, it needs to be thawed as long as possible. A sharp temperature drop kills the fibers of the fabric, and the meat becomes soft, like porridge. Therefore, the most correct way to defrost chicken is a refrigerator. This usually takes about a day, depending on the size of the carcass. A large chicken can be defrosted for 30 hours. If you plan to cook chicken dinner tomorrow, don't forget to transfer the chicken from the freezer to one of the refrigerator shelves tonight.

The frozen carcass must be taken out, pulled out of the packaging film and transferred to a cup. The container should be deep and wide enough so that the melting water does not flow out. You can cover the chicken bowl with cling film or a lid to keep the chicken smell from spreading throughout the refrigerator. In addition, it protects the meat itself from foreign odors.

If you do not have that much time to defrost, you can speed up the process by leaving the chicken not in the refrigerator, but simply at room temperature. To do this, take the carcass out of the freezer, remove the packaging, put it in a cup and leave it on the table. Thus, the chicken will be defrosted for about 4-5 hours. The chicken will defrost even faster if you make a few cuts on the chicken. However, this will only be relevant if, in the future, the chicken will be butchered and not baked. Cuts on a whole carcass will spoil the appearance of the dish.

If the guests suddenly appeared suddenly, there are several ways to quickly defrost chicken meat.

1. Fill the chicken with water. This is the most optimal way to defrost chicken meat, in a time-quality ratio. The fact is that water melts ice better than air. Dip the frozen chicken carcass in a container of cold water, and the ice will thaw in a couple of hours. To make the process go faster, you can lower the meat into warm water, and then periodically change the liquid as it cools. There is a lot of debate about whether or not to remove the bag when defrosting chicken in water. Still, you don’t need to remove the packaging, so the chicken will not lose its taste and after cooking it will be more juicy and tasty. It is not recommended to fill frozen meat with hot water, otherwise the fibers will simply weld and lose their structure. In addition, the meat will become tasteless and useless.
2. The most popular way to defrost chicken carcasses is a microwave. All modern models of microwave ovens have a defrost function. Just put the chicken on a plate and turn on the microwave for 3-4 minutes. After the specified time, the carcass must be turned over and defrosted again for 3 minutes. Then the carcass must be removed and checked to see if the meat has completely defrosted. To do this, put your hand in the belly of the chicken - where the tripe was. If you find pieces of ice there, repeat the procedure. However, this method of defrosting should be resorted to as rarely as possible, while the chicken loses the lion's share of its beneficial properties.
3. You can also defrost chicken in a slow cooker. To do this, place the carcass on a special stand, which is designed for cooking manti and steam cutlets. Then pour water into the multicooker bowl and set the cooking mode to steam. To defrost a medium-sized chicken, 10 minutes is usually enough.
4. You can also defrost chicken in the oven. This method is usually used if you plan to bake chicken in the future. Remove the frozen chicken from the freezer, unpack it and place it on a baking sheet. The fire should be minimal so that the carcass is thawed, and not baked. Usually, even the largest carcass is thawed for no longer than 20 minutes. After that, you can get the chicken and do everything that was previously planned. Marinate the meat or stuff it with vegetables and fruits, and then send it back to the oven, setting the desired temperature.

Remember, chicken is much tastier and juicier if it is at room temperature before cooking. If the chicken was thawed in the refrigerator, let the meat warm on the kitchen counter before cooking.

This question worries many housewives, especially when guests are on the doorstep. And you need to do not only the main course, but also salads and even dessert. You can also bake frozen chicken. However, you need to follow some sequence. First, the temperature in the oven should be minimal, at least 10-15 minutes. After that, take out the chicken, rinse it from ice with blood, grease it with spices, add fire and send the carcass back to the oven. Putting the chicken directly into a hot oven will cause it to cook unevenly.

Some housewives prefer to marinate the chicken in advance. If you bought a fresh chicken, rinse and marinate it before freezing - brush with salt and spices before sending the carcass to the freezer. Then, when an emergency comes up and ready and tasty food is needed in an hour, you can wrap the chicken carcass in foil and send it to the oven. First, keep the meat on low heat until the chicken is thawed, then just open the foil and add fire. Delicious and ready dish will be ready in 40 minutes.

How to defrost minced chicken

Minced chicken is a universal remedy against hungry households. Add a little boiled oatmeal, a raw egg, a little beef or pork fat to the minced meat for juiciness and fry the cutlets in a pan. You will get a lot of tasty, juicy and low-cost cutlets. For greater benefit, you can not fry the cutlets, but bake in the oven or steam.

If there is minced chicken in the refrigerator, you don’t have to worry about a sudden dinner. However, to keep it always at hand, it must also be quickly thawed. When preparing minced chicken, it is better to divide it into small portions before freezing, so as not to defrost the excess if necessary. It is better to defrost minced chicken in the refrigerator or at room temperature. If you don't have time for this, put a piece of minced meat in a waterproof bag and fill it with warm water. Or put the minced meat in the microwave for 5 minutes.

Chicken is an excellent product, not only tasty and easily digestible, but also easy to prepare. But in order to preserve its taste and benefits, the carcass must be properly defrosted. Shock defrosting in the form of a microwave and warm water is highly undesirable and should only be used in an emergency. The rest of the time, try to defrost the chicken for a long time, while maintaining the taste and useful qualities of white meat.

Video: how to butcher a chicken

Chicken meat is a dietary and very healthy product. It is commonly found in the diet of many people because it is quick and easy to prepare. At the same time, chicken is cheaper than pork or beef. It is best to use fresh meat, but when buying for the future or on your own farm, freezing is indispensable. Follow all the rules for defrosting so as not to harm your health and preserve the taste and beneficial properties of poultry fillets.

In a refrigerator

Remove chicken from freezer and place in refrigerator. Place it in a saucepan or deep bowl so that the juice from the meat does not spill onto other foods. If the factory vacuum packaging remains on the chicken, do not remove it, if not, then wrap the bird in paper towels or place it in an airtight bag. Do not allow the surface of the carcass to come into contact with warm air. Because of this, bacteria dangerous to health can develop. How long the chicken will be thawed in the refrigerator depends on its weight. At temperatures from 0 to +4 ° C, this can take a day or even more. The standard time is 5 hours for every half kilogram of poultry fillet. After the time has elapsed, check the condition of the meat. It must be completely soft. You can reliably verify this by looking into the cavity of the chicken. If there is some ice left, it will take more time to defrost it. Store thawed chicken in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.

in the sink

To defrost in this way, do not remove the original packaging from the chicken, and if it is not, place the carcass in an airtight bag. Choose a container that will fit the entire bird, or use a sink. Put the chicken in there and run cold running water. You can simply fill it with water for 20-30 minutes, then drain and add a new one. So the meat will quickly heat up to the temperature of the water. Thus, the chicken will thaw faster than in the refrigerator. For every 500 g it will take an hour. Use warm water instead of cold water (but not higher than +25 ° C), this will significantly speed up the defrosting process. Refresh the liquid as soon as it cools down.

In the microwave, slow cooker or oven

For defrosting in the microwave, a whole chicken of a small size or individual parts of it is suitable. Place the meat in a glass container and place in the device. Turn on the defrost mode for 3 minutes, then let the bird stand for a while without exposure to temperature, turn it over and repeat the procedure. Do this until the meat is tender. Make sure it doesn't dry out. If this happens, you have selected the wrong temperature setting. Defrosting in the microwave will take no more than 10 minutes.

When defrosting chicken in the microwave and oven, do not forget to turn the carcass from time to time.

You can also defrost a small chicken in a slow cooker. Put it on the grill of the device and start it in the "steam" mode. The bird will thaw within 10 minutes. If there are some ice crystals left, turn it over and run the same mode for 5 minutes.

Chicken can be thawed without a microwave and a slow cooker. Preheat the oven to +30 °C and place the bird in it for 15-20 minutes. For best results, turn the chicken over after 7-10 minutes.

Now you know the basic rules for defrosting chicken and you can calculate how long it will take. The most suitable way is in the refrigerator, because the lower the defrosting temperature, the better the taste of the product. If you need the chicken to thaw quickly, then you can do this using a microwave or oven. When using any of the methods, remember that the ice that has formed on top must be removed.

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 and nutritional value. Based on the above, if you have enough time to spare, the best advice on how to defrost chicken would be this: take the chicken out of the freezer a day before cooking, poke 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 is the best way to defrost, allowing you to get a 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.