And not just ground beef – anything frozen that you can’t wait for to thaw more slowly in the fridge. There are a number of methods in common use – some much safer than others. Here’s the best way to quick-thaw ground beef…
Go from ‘chunk’ to chuck in 1.5 hours flat: It’s more than just sitting in cold water…
Food & Wine contributor Adam Doge tested 5 common methods of ‘quick-thawing’ ground beef. And he came to same conclusions as the pros. But more on that in a bit…
The Uber-Staple
Since the Second World War, at least, ground beef gas been the supper chef’s go-to ‘save’ for times when other options are severely limited. And as a predictable result, there are probably more ground beef recipes in circulation than there are applications for any other basic food.
But there’s another side to ground beef’s ‘go-to’ identity. Many times, when you need to use it as the basis for supper, it’s still in the freezer. How do you thaw it fast, without risking unsafe food handling methods?
‘Power-thawing’ is totally out
The most obvious being thunking the frozen lump of ground round into a hot pan and ‘power thaw-ing’ it – scraping softened, seared layers off the chunk until it’s all gone. That works, But it takes a lot of work, and causes a great deal of frustration. Because it’s anything but fast. And it severely degrad-es the meat for most applications. After all, by the time you’re done, it’s already cooked, scrambled.
The power-thawing method works acceptably only if you’re making meat sauce, or something like Chili or Sloppy Joes. Even so, it’s far from ideal. Any hope you had of retaining scramble texture in your creation is gone. The meat is too finely divided.
Microwaving is almost as bad
Doge used the exact instructions that came with his microwave oven. And it took about 15 minutes to thaw his standard 1 lb / 454 g ‘brick’ of frozen meat.
However… Doge reports: “Thawing in the microwave was by far the worst method on this list, produc-ing areas of almost thawed beef and other areas of almost cooked beef. […] Parts of the beef turned slightly gray and much of the [moisture] leaked out…”
Other methods tempt fate
Doge tested three other common methods of thawing frozen ground beef:
Submerge in cold water in the Fridge
Works, but not the best way to thaw frozen ground beef. But it took nearly 16 hours for Doge’s test brick to completely thaw. And it takes up valuable space in the fridge.
Under running cold water
Might be the best way to thaw frozen ground beef. Took under 1.25 hours to thaw the test brick. But wastes water. Got a tropical fish tank pump? You could recirculate the same water over and over again. But the water would warm up…
Soak in cold water
Just like thawing under cold, running water. But you change the water every 30 minutes, rather than running it continuously. Because it increases in temperature just sitting on the counter. Takes a little longer than cold running water (2.5 hr) but much less time than other ‘germ-safe’ methods.
The overall best way…
… Is still to let the beef brick thaw ‘naturally’ in the fridge. Put it in a bowl or glass baking dish to catch any runoff. Doge says to just unwrap it. But I prefer to cover the thawing vessel with some sort of lid. Takes 24 hours, but it’s foolproof…
My take
it’s clear that the ‘soaking’ method wins the thawing sweepstakes hands down. Though before Doge’s test, I would have put my money on the running-cold-water method.
But it’s great to know – even after all my years in the kitchen – that there’s a way to ‘quick-thaw’ ground beef that’s both fast and safe!
~ Maggie J.