A large frozen turkey will take at least 24 hours for every five pounds while smaller amounts like a pound of ground meat or boneless chicken breasts will take a full day to thaw.
Thawing frozen meat at room temperature.
When you utilize this method you will need to cook the meat immediately.
Never thaw food at room temperature or in warm water.
Put the raw meat on a plate in the microwave and utilize the defrost setting on the microwave to thaw.
There are three safe ways to defrost food.
Food must be kept at a safe temperature during thawing.
Once you ve thawed frozen meat you can t refreeze it unless it s in a stock soup or liquid.
According to the usda you should never thaw meat at room temperature or in hot water.
For safety reasons meat should never be thawed on the counter at room temperature or in a bowl of warm or hot water anything over 105 degrees f.
Some people may say that their families would thaw meat at room temperature and never get sick.
That means leaving any raw poultry raw beef or any other food you wouldn t leave sitting out on the counter is a bad idea.
When defrosting frozen foods it s best to plan ahead and thaw food in the refrigerator where food will remain at a safe constant temperature 40 f 4 c or below.
If you only have a few hours to thaw your chicken you can use the cold water method for same day defrosting.
When frozen food gets warmer than 40 degrees or is at room temperature for more than 2.
Meat provides the ideal environment for bacteria to breed so the u s.
In fact raw meat should never sit out in temperatures above 40 f for extended periods of time and never longer than two hours for any reason.
Any foods that can go bad like raw or cooked meat poultry and eggs must thaw at safe temperatures.
However as soon as food begins to defrost and become warmer than 40 f any bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to multiply.
Foods are safe indefinitely while frozen.
In the refrigerator in cold water and in the microwave.
After thawing in the refrigerator ground meat stew meat poultry and seafood should remain safe and good quality for an additional day or two before cooking.
Cooking frozen meat the same day.
Never keep meat at room temperature for more than two hours.
Department of agriculture cautions consumers against thawing raw meat at room temperature.