To ask How the hell do you defrost food in the fridge!

[queenofthelamas]

I'm fed up! Recently we've taken to meal prepping due to going back to work and having a toddler. All guidelines state to defrost in fridge overnight to reheat the next day. How the hell does this work! We've tried it 5 times now and each time it's still frozen by the next days dinner time!
My mum always defrosted on the side either overnight then put in fridge or got
It our first thing in the morning and left on the side but this isn't recommended.
Please tell me where I'm going wrong before I pull my hair out! My latest defrosting has been in the fridge for 2 days and is still frozen in the middle!

A fridge should be 5°c or below. If it doesn't show the actual temperature and had a dial with numbers buy a fridge thermometer. You shouldn't really keep changing the temperature off something, ie defrosting, then room temperature then into the fridge. Could you store the food in smaller portions so easier to defrost ie 2 person portion and 2 x 1 persons. Some people, depending on what it is, rather than store in tubs, do in zip lock bags, like chilli etc. Easier to stack in freezer and quicker to defrost

I thought everyone left it on the counter to defrost. Unless your kitchen is boiling hot or the meat is in direct sunlight you'll be fine.

You can speed up defrosting by setting the food on a metal baking tray or tin rather than a plate. Ditto setting it on a stainless steel drainer/sink.

Kitchen counter here, or inside the microwave overnight in case the doggos get hungry! Or my oven has a fast defrost setting if I forget the night before - super handy!

I always take it out the night before, leave it on the side then in the fridge til its needed. Or, like this morning having completely forgotten to do it last night, it's on the side now till I cook later

Defrosting in the fridge is much safer than on the counter, if stuff is still frozen the following day just try taking it out 2 days before, also check what temperature your fridge is at -of its 0 or 1 degree you might need to adjust it up slightly so it’s around 2-3 degrees.

@Ifailed

off topic, but I wonder why people talk about leaving things on 'the side', when they mean the top? If I tried to leave anything on the side of my kitchen I'd have to nail it on.

I think it comes from 'sideboard' when people didnt have proper fitted kitchens

The sideboard would be used to store kitchen crockery and double up as another surface

I think it's regional as well. I say side, OH says bench

If you have a large dish to defrost I would put in the fridge to defrost overnight Monday and Tuesday and eat Wednesday. I defrost meat overnight and there has never been an issue. That said if I forget I just defrost on the side, my kitchen is cool anyway.

If the food is in waterproof packaging that does not contain too much air, then the package can be left immersed in a container of COLD water on the day when it’ll be used. This works with packaged foods from shops or with home cooked food in sealed containers or even ziploc bags, as long as the bag does not have a leak! So long as the cold water container is not in a sunny spot or near a radiator, and so long as the water container is reasonably sized for the food package, by after 1/2 day to 1 day you’ll have a package of defrosted food sitting in cold water, so the food will be defrosted without ever having gotten warm, which is ideal from a food hygiene point of view. In case it’s very warm in the room or in case it’s a small food package that would need to sit out all day, then this method might even work with the water container in the fridge, although I have not needed to try that what with lockdown and being at home..

Here is why this works better than just leaving it out on the counter: water has a higher specific heat than air, so water that is cold but above freezing can transmit more heat and defrost food faster than air that is at that same temperature. At the same time, assuming the food has a reasonably high water content, as it changes state from solid to liquid, it absorbs heat, keeping that surrounding water cold or making it even colder than when you started, much as when an ice cube melts In your drink except that here the ice is being kept separate from the drink so it won’t dissolve into it. As the food melts/defrosts, it creates its own very cold water bath that will then keep the food cold, but not frozen, for longer than if the food package were sitting out in the open air.

@HelpFlattenTheCurve

If the food is in waterproof packaging that does not contain too much air, then the package can be left immersed in a container of COLD water on the day when it’ll be used. This works with packaged foods from shops or with home cooked food in sealed containers or even ziploc bags, as long as the bag does not have a leak! So long as the cold water container is not in a sunny spot or near a radiator, and so long as the water container is reasonably sized for the food package, by after 1/2 day to 1 day you’ll have a package of defrosted food sitting in cold water, so the food will be defrosted without ever having gotten warm, which is ideal from a food hygiene point of view. In case it’s very warm in the room or in case it’s a small food package that would need to sit out all day, then this method might even work with the water container in the fridge, although I have not needed to try that what with lockdown and being at home..

Here is why this works better than just leaving it out on the counter: water has a higher specific heat than air, so water that is cold but above freezing can transmit more heat and defrost food faster than air that is at that same temperature. At the same time, assuming the food has a reasonably high water content, as it changes state from solid to liquid, it absorbs heat, keeping that surrounding water cold or making it even colder than when you started, much as when an ice cube melts In your drink except that here the ice is being kept separate from the drink so it won’t dissolve into it. As the food melts/defrosts, it creates its own very cold water bath that will then keep the food cold, but not frozen, for longer than if the food package were sitting out in the open air.

I do this too. Can defrost a 500g of beef mince in a couple of hours.

I just fill up the sink bowl with cold water and it works a treat.

I once caught my dad defrosting meat on the dashboard of his car in the summer as "it was nice and hot in there" I told my mum on him, before he killed us all