Freezing meat is one of the best ways to keep it from spoiling while preserving nutritional value. It protects the meat against quality and flavor loss as well as bacterial growth, increasing the shelf life. Which drives us to our next question, how do you defrost your meat?
We use various techniques to defrost meat, but do we really know which ones are safe? Some of these methods can be harmful, putting us and our loved ones at risk. For instance, letting your meat thaw at room temperature increases the rate at which bacteria grows, and if the food isn’t properly cooked, there’s a bigger risk of you getting sick.
Another scenario is putting your frozen meat into hot oil before clearing off the ice or thawing too fast. To avoid some of these mistakes, we’ll look at how to defrost your meat safely and correctly, but first, here are some tips you should know about freezing meat.
How to store your meat safely
Storing meat in the freezer reduces the temperatures to the point that it inhibits most bacterial growth, meaning you extend the shelf life of your meat. However, this can only be achieved if done safely.
Preparing meat for freezing
Ensure that your meat is in an airtight package and thoroughly check for any holes or breaks.
Ensure that your freezer has a temperature of 0 °F (-18 °C) or below before placing any meat into the freezer. This is the recommended temperature as it stops the growth of bacteria and shuts down microbes such as yeast, preserving your steak for anywhere from 1–12 months.
How to defrost meat safely
One of the major benefits of buying meat in bulk is that you are always sure there’s some available, and you can quickly throw a meal together. However, sometimes it can be frustrating as you try to thaw the meat, and it feels like it’s taking forever.
Four methods to defrost your food safely and correctly
1. Defrosting food in the refrigerator
This is one of the most popular techniques since the food doesn’t have to pass through the temperature danger zone. This means if you do not end up using the whole piece of meat or change your meal plan, you can still refreeze it.
How to go about it:
Remove your meat from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator. Ensure that it’s on a plate or flat bowl to catch any drippings that sneak out as the meat defrosts.
Leave for a few hours to allow it to defrost. It’s important to note that different factors affect the total time it takes to thaw meat. This includes temperature, type of meat, and size of the cuttings.
For the temperature, we recommend a temperature of 4 °C (40 °F) or below. It’s also best to place the meat on the lowest shelf to avoid splashing and dripping.
2. Using the microwave
Microwave thawing is one of the fastest methods to defrost your meat. Unlike refrigeration, where defrosting is done at extremely low temperatures, using the microwave to thaw your food is quicker. It’ also cooks the meat a bit.
However, when defrosting your meat using a microwave, you should ensure your timing is perfect by closely monitoring it, making sure it doesn’t heat up very high, and starting to cook. Another pointer to note is that meat thawed using a microwave cannot be refrozen and needs to be cooked immediately after.
3. Coldwater thawing
How it works: Put cold water in a bowl or pan and submerge your meat in the water until it’s thawed. It’s important to ensure that the packaging is leakproof and that the container you will be using is big enough to completely submerge your beef.
To make sure the water stays cold (a temperature of 20 °C-68 °F or lower) throughout the process, you can place the bowl where cold water will continue to trickle in as the beef thaws. You can also change the water every now and again (preferably every 30 minutes).
4. Defrosting as part of the cooking process
While the cooking process will be much longer, you can smoke your meat without thawing. This is especially true when you forget to take your steak out of the freezer, are in a rush, or don’t have any other options.
However, this method is not ideal to achieve a crispy or crunchy bark.
It’s important to note that the amount of time it takes to defrost meat varies with each method. The type of meat cut, its size, and the period you stored it equally affect the thawing process.
Final thoughts
When done correctly and safely, defrosting is very easy, and you also get great results. To achieve your targeted results, you should avoid defrosting at room temperature, among other wrong thawing techniques, as it can make increase bacterial growth, putting you at risk.
Interested in learning more about freezing and defrosting meat? Check out the articles below:
How to Freeze and Reheat Meat Correctly
Can You Freeze Smoked Ribs?
For more great ideas on how to get the most of your Bradley Smoker, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Food Smoking Blog for more tips & tricks.
