Defrosting Chicken

Fannymcslap

Hey all, just curious. If I need to defrost a chicken fillet fast can I just drop it into boiling water from frozen? Don't fancy getting food poisoning again!

The Hill Billy

No is the simple answer. If you do that the outside will be cooked, but the inside still raw.

Let it defrost in its own good time in the fridge is the best way.

emilyjmc

If I'm gonna be chopping up the fillet into smaller pieces (and so can have a feel and be sure there are no still frozen bits) then I often defrost in a bowl of warm water before cooking. Sure it's not reccomended on any health sites but been doing it for the last fifteen years with no ill effects!

Acoshla

I defrost them in the microwave before cooking if I have to, generally they'll have been out of freezer for a few hours anyway and I need to speed up the process, have done it since I was in school and still alive!

Honey-ec

The Hill Billy wrote: »

No is the simple answer. If you do that the outside will be cooked, but the inside still raw.

I know raw chicken is a very touchy subject on this forum, but if the OP is going to be cooking it thoroughly afterwards, then this isn't an issue.

Faith

Honey-ec wrote: »

I know raw chicken is a very touchy subject on this forum, but if the OP is going to be cooking it thoroughly afterwards, then this isn't an issue.

The issue will be that the outside will end up being inedible with all the cooking by the time that inside is cooked.

Honey-ec

Faith wrote: »

The issue will be that the outside will end up being inedible with all the cooking by the time that inside is cooked.

Depends on the cooking method. If they're being poached or steamed, they'll be fine. Likewise if they're being diced for use in a curry or something. If they're being fried or grilled whole, yeah, it's not ideal. I was just making the point that the outside being cooked before the middle isn't a big deal if the chicken is going to be cooked through anyway. All meat cooks from the outside in.

No1J

The Hill Billy wrote: »

No is the simple answer. If you do that the outside will be cooked, but the inside still raw.

Let it defrost in its own good time in the fridge is the best way.

When my daughter ask's "whats for dinner" at lunch time and she want's a chicken curry I can't tell her to wait until tomorrow or the next day. defrost the chicken in the micro, most of us have the usual cheep stuff in the freezer so what the hell. if you had a special bird, that would be different and steeps would have been taken.

Faith

No1J wrote: »

When my daughter ask's "whats for dinner" at lunch time and she want's a chicken curry I can't tell her to wait until tomorrow or the next day.

Wow, my mum just told me what was for dinner, and I ate it or went hungry. There's have been no last-minute defrosting of chicken just because I demanded it!

Honey-ec, yeah, some cooking methods are better than others. But in my experience from when I've defrosted in a microwave and parts of it have cooked, those parts have been manky in the final meal .

Acoshla

Faith wrote: »

Honey-ec, yeah, some cooking methods are better than others. But in my experience from when I've defrosted in a microwave and parts of it have cooked, those parts have been manky in the final meal .

If tiny bits cook on the edges in the microwave I just cut them off, I'd imagine they would be gross after being cooked but if you just don't leave it in that long you'll avoid them. I normally take it out of microwave when it's still a bit frozen and cut it up, then cook it, no gross cooked bits that way.

tonto2010

I just stick in a pyrex and run water from the the tap over it for about half an hour. Learnt this from working in Chinese restaurants when I was younger and never been poisoned yet.

S.R.F.C.

tonto2010 wrote: »

I just stick in a pyrex and run water from the the tap over it for about half an hour. Learnt this from working in Chinese restaurants when I was younger and never been poisoned yet.

Done a lot for frozen foods, grand if you have a bit of time, microwave if you're in a bigger rush/not arsed waiting.

The Hill Billy

The OP did not specify a cooking method other than boil frozen chicken in order to defrost it. It is not safe to assume that any subsequent method would be used to safely finish cooking the meat.

The last thing we need is for someone to come back & say "Well on boards.ie they said it was fine to do it this way & now I got food poisoning because of their advice."

Closed.

tHB