Hello dear readers. Many delicious culinary dishes are prepared from chicken, but if the chicken is not taken out of the freezer in time, the preparation will take an indefinite period of time or even be postponed until the next day. How to quickly defrost chicken so that the meat does not lose its beneficial properties and taste?
Is it possible to boil or bake frozen chicken?
In the daily hustle and bustle, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and forget to take the bird out of the freezer in advance so that it can thaw calmly. Then the housewife is left alone with the frozen carcass and the question: is it possible to cook frozen chicken?
The answer will be yes, but you need to take into account that the whole process will take more time, and you will have to comply with a number of technological features:
- Thawed or simply chilled meat is dipped into boiling water, but a frozen carcass, on the contrary, is poured with cold water and sent to the fire.
- After the water boils, the first broth must be drained. The second time, the chicken is poured with warm water and cooked, removing the foam that appears with a slotted spoon.
- To make both the meat and the broth more aromatic and rich, be sure to put a few peas of allspice, a small onion and a carrot into the pan during cooking.
Nowadays, many ovens are equipped with a built-in defrost function, so it will not be difficult to bake frozen chicken. But even those housewives who have the most ordinary oven should not be upset - they just need to keep in mind that the carcass will be ready no earlier than in 2.5 - 3 hours.
In this case, the frozen chicken should be rinsed in cold water, rubbed with spices, wrapped in foil or a baking sleeve and continued to cook for the above-mentioned time as usual. Some housewives even claim that frozen poultry turns out even juicier.
What determines (or doesn’t depend on) the correct methods for defrosting chicken
You can prepare a lot of delicious dishes from chicken, and it doesn’t take much time. However, if you do not first remove the meat from the freezer, the cooking will take quite a long time. Therefore, every housewife should know approximately how long it will take to defrost a product and what affects this process.
From the size and shape of the piece
Defrosting time directly depends on the weight of the bird and whether you are defrosting part of the chicken or the whole carcass. For comparison: a whole chicken weighing up to 2 kg takes about a day to defrost, but its parts (fillets, legs, thighs) take from 3 to 9 hours. And this is subject to compliance with all defrosting rules. Of course, there are faster ways, but they can affect the quality of the meat and its nutritional value.
A whole chicken can take at least 24 hours to defrost under the right conditions.
The defrosting time for chicken meat does not depend on whether it was cooked or left raw. Another thing is that the taste of defrosted chicken may greatly disappoint you. Many housewives complain that the meat becomes almost tasteless, and its fibers disintegrate, which makes the dish not very appetizing.
From the type of freezing
There are several types of freezing:
- homemade - the meat is simply put in the freezer;
- fast homemade - use a special mode for freezing;
- deep industrial freezing.
The speed of defrosting chicken is practically independent of the type of freezing. Meat frozen at home (in a regular freezer and using blast freezing) takes the same amount of time to defrost. In this case, only the amount of useful substances preserved in it differs - with quick freezing, 90% of the entire microelement composition is preserved. Industrial freezing also preserves all the beneficial qualities of the product, while glazing with ice, if available, can slow down the defrosting process.
Thanks to industrial freezing, all the benefits of chicken meat are preserved
A method for quickly defrosting poultry in the microwave
The easiest and fastest way to defrost chicken is in the microwave, especially since devices in every price category are equipped with a defrosting function.
Microwave ovens often have an “Automatic Defrost” option, which is already optimized for a specific type of product in terms of power and time. The hostess can only launch the desired program and wait for the sound signal about its completion.
Microwave ovens may also have a quick defrosting option (“Turbo defrosting”, “Accelerated defrosting”), but it is only suitable for product portions of no more than 200 g.
To defrost a chicken carcass in the microwave, you need to remove it from film or other packaging, transfer it to a large container, put it in the oven and start the defrosting program. In the middle of the cycle, be sure to pause and turn the chicken over to the other side so that the bottom does not start to cook in the water that is released during thawing.
In accelerated mode
It is not always possible to wait 8-10 hours. Often the picture is as follows. Early in the morning, the housewife remembers that she needs to prepare dinner from chicken, which has not yet left the freezer. That is, there is not night ahead, but literally several hours. In this case, the technology remains the same, but instead of the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, you need to choose a kitchen table.
If you want to speed up the defrosting process further, make several cuts across the entire surface of the carcass. The more there are and the longer they are, the more warm air will have access to the chicken meat. If you are looking for a simple, but not the fastest way, then pay attention to it. The only downside is that the cuts can ruin the appearance of the bird if you are preparing it for baking.
Thaw chicken using running water
There are several ways to quickly defrost chicken without a microwave. The most common of them is aquatic. Since the liquid has a greater heat capacity, the process of thawing a frozen carcass will end faster.
In cold water, a whole bird will defrost in 2-3 hours, and in hot water - literally in 20-30 minutes, but, as a rule, the meat becomes tough and loses most of its taste.
How to avoid this:
- Pack the frozen carcass in a tightly tied plastic bag, which will prevent the juice from leaching out of the meat fibers.
- Place the chicken in the sink and turn on the faucet. The water temperature should be cool (about 15 degrees) and in no case hot or icy.
Depending on the weight of the carcass, the meat will become tender in about an hour or a little more.
Details
How to properly defrost chicken at home
In order for the carcass to be tasty, juicy and healthy, it needs to be defrosted for a long time. If a chicken is exposed to a sharp temperature change, it will kill the fibers of the tissue and the meat will become soft, like porridge. Therefore, the most correct way to defrost is to transfer the chicken from the freezer to the refrigerator.
How long does it take to defrost chicken in the refrigerator? Most often, this takes about a day or more if the chicken is very large. If you are going to cook the chicken tomorrow night, you need to take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator today.
Frozen chicken must be removed from the packaging bag or film and placed in a container. The bowl should be wide and deep so that the chicken fits completely and the melting water does not leak out. To prevent the chicken smell from spreading throughout the refrigerator, it is better to cover the bowl with a lid or film. In addition, using this method you can protect the meat itself from absorbing foreign odors.
If you don’t have that much time to defrost, then you can take the chicken out of the freezer not into the refrigerator, but simply in the kitchen, at room temperature. To do this, you need to take the meat out of the freezer, remove the packaging from it and put it in a bowl. The container just needs to be placed on the sink or table and left to defrost. Using this method, the chicken will defrost within 4-5 hours.
REFERENCE! Defrosting will happen even faster if you cut the chicken in several places. But this option is suitable only when the chicken subsequently needs to be cut, and not baked whole. If you make cuts on a whole carcass, this will spoil the appearance of the finished dish.
Defrosting chicken quickly and easily
If guests come unexpectedly, there are ways to defrost chicken faster.
- Without a microwave, you can cover the chicken with water. This method is more suitable for quick defrosting. This is explained by the fact that water melts ice faster than air. How to defrost chicken quickly with water? To do this, place the frozen chicken in a bowl of cold water. Now all that remains is to wait for the water to melt the ice. This should happen in a couple of hours. To speed up the process, the meat can be immersed in warm water, but then it will need to be periodically replaced with new water, as it will cool. With this method, it is better not to remove the packaging from the chicken so that the meat does not lose its taste. In this case, after cooking the chicken will be tasty and juicy. You cannot use hot water for such defrosting, because in this case the fibers will be cooked and their structure will be damaged. As a result, the meat will become useless and tasteless.
- In the microwave
The microwave is by far the most popular way to defrost chicken.
Almost all microwave oven models today have a defrost function. To do this, you just need to put the chicken on a plate and turn on the microwave. How long does it take to defrost chicken in the microwave? This usually takes 3-4 minutes. After this time, the carcass should be turned over and then defrosted again for 3 minutes. Now take the chicken out and see if it is completely defrosted. To do this, you need to lower your hand into the belly of the chicken, where its entrails were. If there are pieces of ice inside, the procedure must be repeated.
REFERENCE! However, it is better not to use this method of defrosting, since in this case the chicken loses most of its beneficial properties.
- A slow cooker can also be a way to defrost chicken. To do this, you need to place the carcass on a special stand, which is needed for steaming. You need to pour water into the multicooker bowl itself and set the cooking mode to steam. Ten minutes is usually enough to defrost a medium chicken.
- In the oven
The oven can also be used to defrost chicken. This option can be used if you later want to bake the carcass. To do this, you need to remove the chicken from the freezer, remove it from the packaging and place it on a baking sheet. The oven must be turned on to the minimum setting so that the chicken does not bake, but defrosts. This method usually defrosts chicken in about 20 minutes. After this time, the chicken is removed and further prepared in the desired way. For example, you can marinate meat or stuff it with vegetables, and then put it in the oven again, setting the required temperature.
When choosing one of these methods, you need to understand that the chicken will be juicier and tastier if it is at room temperature before cooking. If you defrosted the chicken in the refrigerator, then before heat treatment it needs to be warmed at room temperature.
Defrosting minced chicken
To quickly defrost minced meat, you can use the same methods as for a whole chicken carcass, but you should place the semi-finished product in a container or sealed bag that will not allow the meat juices to leak out.
Along with methods that involve exposing meat to heat, you can defrost minced meat without heating.
To do this you need:
- Chop the workpiece with a knife or break it into small pieces with a hammer. The smaller they are, the faster they will defrost.
- Sprinkle the top of the minced meat with regular table salt. One teaspoon is enough for a kilogram of minced meat. Salt prevents moisture from freezing, so meat juices will melt faster. This method will help you get a completely defrosted product in 20 - 30 minutes.
The oven helps out
Almost every housewife has this unit. Defrosting chicken is the least it can do. But there are some nuances here. If you are preparing a carcass for subsequent deboning, you should handle it as gently and carefully as possible. Keep it in the oven and it will cook on the inside and dry out on the outside.
- Place a wooden board on a baking sheet and place a bottle on it.
- Place the chicken on top of the bottle and place the structure in the oven.
- At a temperature of 180 degrees, you need to keep the carcass for about 5-10 minutes.
The bird is perfectly treated with heat from all sides and does not burn. But you need to watch the time. That is, check the bird every two minutes, and as soon as it becomes tender, immediately stop heating and start cutting the carcass.
How to defrost chicken in a slow cooker or oven
In addition to the microwave, you can use other kitchen devices to defrost a chicken carcass - an oven and a slow cooker.
To defrost a bird in the oven, place it in a mold with deep sides and place it in a preheated oven. An important point: the heating temperature should be 30 - 50 degrees, no more. Otherwise, the meat will be covered with a beautiful golden brown crust on top, but the inside will remain raw. After 15-20 minutes, the carcass can be turned on the other side and defrosted for the same amount of time.
In a multicooker, chicken is defrosted using the “Steam” program. A little water is poured into the multi-pan, a steamer basket is placed on top, the carcass is placed on it and the desired option is started. Under the influence of steam, the meat will begin to soften literally before your eyes.
Which chicken is not recommended to be defrosted?
It is very dangerous to eat re-frozen poultry. The fact is that you cannot know what bacteria have already appeared in it when it was defrosted before. For the same reason, it is risky to buy frozen meat on a spontaneous market (as well as non-frozen meat). The appearance of such chicken will not give away its poor quality, but when defrosted, you will see that the muscle fibers in the carcass have a brownish color, and when cut, water and blood flow out of the meat. In addition, do not forget that poultry can be stored in the freezer for no more than a year, but after 8 months of freezing it loses its taste and benefits .
Easy defrosting in a warm place
Defrosting chicken in a warm environment will be much faster. So, on the kitchen table at room temperature, the carcass will thaw in 4 - 6 hours. To do this, you need to remove it from the packaging, put it in a deep bowl and leave.
If you use a container with heated water as a “warm place”, the defrosting process will take only 1 - 3 hours, but so that the meat does not lose its taste, it should be packed in a vacuum bag.
Accelerated defrosting under the tap
Thawing chicken can be done under running water. Place the carcass in a plastic bag, tie it tightly, place the product in a bowl of cold water.
Place the dishes in the sink under the tap and turn it on. The meat will defrost much faster than if it were simply placed in liquid.
You can speed up the process by turning on warm water, but in this case the chicken will lose most of its nutritional properties. It is better if the liquid temperature does not exceed +15 degrees.
Tips and tricks
The main rule when it comes to storing poultry and other meat products is rapid freezing and slow thawing. The best way to defrost a whole chicken carcass is on the top shelf of the refrigerator compartment - positive temperature; at low temperatures it will lead to slow thawing of the meat. At a temperature set to 2-4°C, the duration of defrosting reaches 1 day. To avoid difficulties with the product, it is better to adhere to the following tips:
- If the bird was defrosted quickly, then it needs to be cooked immediately, because some of the proteins have already coagulated and provide a good environment for the activity of bacteria and molds.
- Once defrosted, the chicken should not be re-frozen. Therefore, when using partial meat (breast, legs, fillets), it is better to chop off part of it with a hatchet or cut the carcass into pieces before freezing.
- To speed up the defrosting process, the bird can be left at room temperature for a period limited to 2 hours, and then moved to the lower part of the refrigerator compartment.
Attention! Repeated alternating exposure to low and high temperatures leads to disruption of all protein structures. Such meat is edible only as calories. The taste of such meat will be low, and there will be no practical benefit from the protein composition.
Defrosting in the refrigerator
Perhaps the most correct option for preparing a frozen carcass for cooking is to gradually defrost it. In this case, the meat will turn out juicy and aromatic, melting in your mouth.
In order to do everything correctly, you need to unpack the purchased bird and put it in a deep bowl. This is necessary so that there is a place to collect the liquid that the carcass will release during the heating process.
Place the chicken in the refrigerator, preferably on the top shelf. According to the laws of physics, warm air predominantly collects at the top, everyone knows this. The refrigerator in this case is no exception.
Due to the fact that the poultry meat will defrost gradually, you will achieve the desired result in preparing the dish. It is worth saying that this process can take ten hours or more. It all depends on the size and weight of the bird. It would be wiser to defrost it overnight so that you get a chilled carcass in the morning.
What can you cook from chicken?
Recipes with chicken are in every housewife's cookbook. Tender meat cooks very quickly and goes well with cheese and vegetables, rice and any other cereal. The most popular options are:
- Noodle soup.
- Chicken baked whole on a baking sheet.
- Chicken breast or thigh rolls with cheese or other filling.
- Fried chicken legs in a frying pan.
- Breast baked in sour cream.
The list goes on and on. But for all these dishes to turn out perfect, you need to know how to defrost chicken correctly. This is where the failures of novice housewives grow. They gain in time, but lose in quality. Today we have looked at quite a few methods, each of which is good in its own way. You can choose the one that will be more convenient in a particular situation.
Defrost at room temperature
To reduce the thawing time for a whole carcass or fillet, you can leave the chicken at room temperature.
How to do it:
- Remove the packaging and plastic wrap and place the chicken in a deep dish. Leave it on the kitchen table.
- The process will speed up if you make several longitudinal cuts on the carcass.
The bird will be ready for further processing in 5-6 hours. If the room is very warm, this period will be reduced to 3-4 hours.
