Cooking Tips - How Long To Defrost Different Frozen Meats

It’s dinnertime and there’s nothing defrosted…again. Or some surprise visitors drop in and you need to feed them, but everything’s frozen. What do you do to get the meat thawed properly, safely, and in a timely manner to make your meal? There is a right way and a wrong way to defrost meat properly. Let’s look at how long to defrost different kinds of frozen meat and the best methods.

Tossing frozen meat on the counter to defrost all day isn’t the best way to get the task done. There are bacteria already present on any raw meat surface that can germinate if the meat isn’t thawed properly. Smaller cuts of meat can defrost in twenty minutes or so and up to two hours for larger cuts.

Ideally, it’s best to plan ahead when you need to defrost frozen meat. Thawing in the refrigerator is the best and safest defrosting method. However, defrosting in the microwave and in cold water are also viable options.

When looking at the time it takes to thaw different frozen meats, you need to take into account the size of the item. A large frozen turkey is going to take at least twenty-four hours for every five pound of original weight. Something like frozen chicken breasts (boneless) or a pound of ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken, will need a day to defrost fully as well. Cuts of red meat like chops, steaks, and roasts need a day to thaw, as well.

Once you’ve thawed these items, you can store them safely in your refrigerator for another three to five days before cooking. Any defrosted meat item that isn’t cooked can easily be refrozen, although you will lose some of the quality and taste of the meat in doing this.

If you’re looking to defrost frozen meat a bit faster, you can put the item(s) in cold water to thaw. This is faster than the refrigerator, but you need to be careful about putting the frozen item in a water-proof plastic bag to keep airborne and other bacterias that could escape. Also, you want to make sure that as your frozen meat defrosts in the cold water that no extra water is absorbed into the defrosting meat.

To do this properly, submerge the frozen meat in a plastic bag in cold tap water. You’ll want to check the process every fifteen to twenty minutes and change out the water. For something like frozen ground meat, chicken pieces or even seafood, these items will thaw in an hour, or even less. If you’re looking at defrosting frozen meat that ranges from three to five pound, that could take up to three hours in a cold water bath. Defrosting a frozen whole turkey in cold water will take approximately thirty minutes per pound. If you chose this method to defrost your frozen meat, it’s best to cook immediately after thawing and not refreezing.

Finally, you can use your microwave defrost setting to thaw frozen meat. Follow the directions on your microwave as they vary, and be sure to cook any microwave thawed meats immediately.

If you can’t wait for something to defrost fully, you can cook things like frozen steaks, frozen burger patties, and frozen chicken breasts on very hot pans. You’ll want to add additional cooking time, though, to account for the lack of thawing.

Keep all of this in mind the next time you’re hosting a dinner party or are getting ready to throw a bridal shower or family reunion. By planning ahead, your meal will make your event.




Misha Anatolia writes about party planning and has prepared food for many bridal showers. If you are a meat lover, be sure to check out this article on cooking meat for parties and these delicious pork appetizer recipes.


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