Thawing a chicken faster

7 replies

Saracen · 23/04/2011 00:02

I moved the massive homegrown bird (15 pounds!!) from freezer to fridge Friday morning, to thaw in time for Sunday. By evening it was still hard as a rock.

Have I left it too late, and is there any safe way to hurry things along?

OP posts:

madhattershouse · 23/04/2011 00:03

Err take it out of the fridge ine the morning..it will be well defrosted by Sunday!

madhattershouse · 23/04/2011 00:05

In this heat it will defrost quite quickly.

Chil1234 · 23/04/2011 08:01

Agree... leave it at ambient/room temperature although obviously not somewhere extremely hot. The coolest room in your house, out of direct sunlight. It should be fine by Sunday.

mandoo · 23/04/2011 08:04

Yes I agree. I defrosted a medium chicken overnight last night on the side in the kitchen. I put it back in the fridge first thing this morning. I always do it that way plus it's cooler at night so don't worry about leaving it unrefridgerated.

washnomore · 23/04/2011 08:21

I have a fan oven which has a fan-only setting. It just circulates the air so helps to defrost stuff quickly. You could see if yours has this setting - or yes, just take it out of the fridge. Make sure you stretch out the legs as soon as it's soft enough and open the neck cavity if you can.

Original poster

Saracen · 23/04/2011 08:35

Thanks for the advice! I was just worried I might give everyone food poisoning because people always say you should thaw meat in the fridge.

On madhatter's advice I took it out last night and this morning there is a tiny bit of "give" to the flesh so it is beginning to thaw. It is such an enormous bird - I've had turkeys smaller than this chicken!

OP posts:

Chil1234 · 23/04/2011 13:35

Just don't do what Denise and David Royle did in their Christmas Special and thaw the thing in the bath whilst having a shave. Carrot Crush anyone?

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