lol. Well that's Christmas ruined.

[meatmadness]

I've been with my side of the family all day and at around 10am I thought "must text DP to get the Christmas beef out of the freezer" and then nothing. Been home a few hours and DP just said remind me to take the Christmas beef out before we go to bed". It's a massive lump of beef. Christmas beef no less. It will never be defrosted in time. In an attempt to save Christmas, I have also taken out a small one in the hopes that will be ok. Oh dear!

You need something bigger than a slow cooker crock. The bath will be good for overnight, just fill it with cold water and weight down the joint.

Just put it on the side overnight. You're overthinking it.

Don't put it on the side overnight! That's a good way to get food poisoning.

For now, do the food submerged in water trick. You want it to be cold but not close to freezing. Put it in the fridge overnight. Then, in the morning, see if it's able to be cut in half. If so, put each half in a large plastic resealable bag, and submerge again.

It usually takes about about 2.5 hours to thaw a 3-4 pound piece of meat in cold water.

For chicken, yes, do the cold water trick.

The key is that none of the meat should get anywhere close to room temperature; bacteria starts to grow at about 4-5º and will grow faster in warmer rooms. No meat should be left for more than two hours out of an artificially cooled environment, if you want to be really food safe.

Defrost in microwave will take about 30 mins

Don't put it on the side overnight! That's a good way to get food poisoning.

It'll be fine. It's how we defrost stuff all the time and we've never poisoned ourselves.

I leave meat to defrost on the side all the time. I'm still here.

Me too, wouldn't leave chicken out in the summer but otherwise yes to leaving meat out

Like myself, it's squidgy on the outside already.

I'm going to bed drooling over my delicious Christmas beef.

Thank you and Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄

Do you have a slow cooker? Stick in there over night. We've just done exactly this in the garage so I don't wake up to the small of beef! Failing that, leave it on the side overnight, it will be fine, it's not like leaving chicken out.

I would do it overnight, put it in as much cold water as you can. Should be ready in the morning.

You can check if it is defrosted by looking in the hole (ewww) for ice crystals, but I'm sure it will be okay by the morning.

Exactly.

Cooking a joint from frozen isn't exactly unsafe. It's just impractical & will likely result in an over-cooked / burnt outside, while the inside remains frozen.

It's hard to time & work out when cooked.

Defrosting on the counter is absolutely fine for a) the type of meat and b) the time of year. The issue with defrosting out of the fridge is the rapid increase in temperature if in a warm environment that might increase the risk of bacteria growing. Yes, the absolute correct advice is to defrost in the fridge, that's to protect against the variable conditions that will be in some kitchens.

But as long as you are sensible it's fine - OP's beef will be fully defrosted & fine by the time she goes to cook it.