How do you defrost chicken?

[Randomguy]

?

I have 4 pounds of chicken in the freezer that I want to eat no later than 6:00.  How would I best defrost it in time to start cooking or prepping by 4:00 at the earliest?

[Longjohn ★]

Microwave

[Airehead]

I do not cook chicken.  You could do it on defrost in the microwave

[Dirtyhip]

microwave on defrost mode.  I think there is a water bath way, but you must keep replacing the water.  It wastes a ton of water.  

Old schoolpeople may just put it on the counter and risk poisoning.

[jsharr ★]

just leave it on the counter for a day 

[dinneR ★]

I put mine in the fridge for two days. To quickly defrost one I would put it in a bath of cold water and change the water periodically.

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, denniS said:

I put mine in the fridge for two days. To quickly defrost one I would put it in a bath of cold water and change the water periodically.

Every 30 minutes, or so I read.  

[ChrisL]

I generally leave any meat that I intend to cook for dinner in the sink that morning before I leave for work.  Sometimes the night before if I’m going to crock it.

[dinneR ★]

12 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Every 30 minutes, or so I read.  

That sounds right. 

You can put it in an instapot frozen and cook it that way.

[MickinMD ★]

Either microwave at defrost power or, preferably, put it in a large bowl of room temperature water, changing the water as it gets cold every so often.

If using defrost in the microwave, do it for several minutes at a time and let it rest a couple minutes in between to distribute the heat or parts of it will get cooked and rubbery before it's all defrosted.

Personally, I'd do the water defrost first - you should have plenty of time with a 4 lb bird - and if it's not quite thawed when you need it, finish the thawing at 5 to 3 (defrost) microwave power.

[Randomguy]

19 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

microwave on defrost mode.  I think there is a water bath way, but you must keep replacing the water.  It wastes a ton of water.  

Old schoolpeople may just put it on the counter and risk poisoning.

That is where it is now.  Will it be defrosted in a few more hours?

[goldendesign]

19 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Old schoolpeople may just put it on the counter and risk poisoning.

That's my approach. Once it's lost it's crunchy frozen feeling then I move it to the fridge.

[Zephyr]

21 minutes ago, Airehead said:

I do not cook chicken.

I am concerned.  Raw chicken is bad for you

[maddmaxx ★]

22 minutes ago, Airehead said:

I do not cook chicken.  You could do it on defrost in the microwave

Chances are it will partially cook even on the defrost cycle unless you don't do a full defrost.  I'd try to put it in cold water which will soak the cold out of it faster than air defrosting.  It's pretty late to get it defrosted in time now.

[ChrisL]

29 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Old schoolpeople may just put it on the counter and risk poisoning.

My son went through a year of culinary school & got the food safety certification.  He gives me crap all the time about my food storage & defrost habits.

I tell him he can thank me for his robust immune system then since I served him bad food all these years. 

[Razors Edge ★]

I don't defrost chicken!

But I would think on a plate in the refrigerator overnight?  Or in a water bath on the counter for quicker results?

[dinneR ★]

8 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I don't defrost chicken!

But I would think on a plate in the refrigerator overnight?  Or in a water bath on the counter for quicker results?

You eat it frozen like a chicken popsicle? 

I buy a dozen frozen chickens every year from a local chicken rancher. It's his kid's 4-H project. 

[Razors Edge ★]

47 minutes ago, denniS said:

You eat it frozen like a chicken popsicle?

I don't think it makes sense to just freeze and unfreeze chicken for the heck of it!  And I am certainly not gonna buy some chicken just for that sort of nuttiness.

[dinneR ★]

9 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I don't think it makes sense to just freeze and unfreeze chicken for the heck of it!  And I am certainly not gonna buy some chicken just for that sort of nuttiness.

It does not give the chicken a nutty flavor.  It prevents it from spoiling.

[Dirtyhip]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

My son went through a year of culinary school & got the food safety certification.  He gives me crap all the time about my food storage & defrost habits.

I tell him he can thank me for his robust immune system then since I served him bad food all these years. 

I used to do this when I was in my twenties.  Before we "learned."

<I'm not dead, yet.>

[maddmaxx ★]

14 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I used to do this when I was in my twenties.  Before we "learned."

<I'm not dead, yet.>

I still do it and I'm not dead yet either............at this moment.

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

Is the chicken whole or cut up into sensible parts? If whole, I’d do the water bath method but it will still be frozen in the middle. Parts, I would defrost on the counter on an aluminum baking pan or skillet. Aluminum conducts heat well and speeds up defrosting. Flip the parts every 30 minutes to get even exposure to the aluminum. 

[Razors Edge ★]

33 minutes ago, denniS said:

It does not give the chicken a nutty flavor.  It prevents it from spoiling.

Regardless, I ain't buying chicken - frozen or unfrozen - just to answer a RG question! The guy wouldn't listen anyway.

[Randomguy]

13 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

Is the chicken whole or cut up into sensible parts? If whole, I’d do the water bath method but it will still be frozen in the middle. Parts, I would defrost on the counter on an aluminum baking pan or skillet. Aluminum conducts heat well and speeds up defrosting. Flip the parts every 30 minutes to get even exposure to the aluminum. 

Two breasts, four legs, just like they come in nature.

I gave up on the room temperature thawing 20 minutes ago and put it in the sink.  I am leery of putting anything into a sink that I will eat later, though, I don't think sinks are ever clean, even after you clean them.

[dinneR ★]

12 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Regardless, I ain't buying chicken - frozen or unfrozen - just to answer a RG question! The guy wouldn't listen anyway.

You don't eat chicken?  I would not have guessed that. 

I eat one a month. 

[Dirtyhip]

24 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Two breasts, four legs, just like they come in nature.

I gave up on the room temperature thawing 20 minutes ago and put it in the sink.  I am leery of putting anything into a sink that I will eat later, though, I don't think sinks are ever clean, even after you clean them.

When I have done the sinkmethod, Iput it in a stew pot.  

[Razors Edge ★]

25 minutes ago, denniS said:

You don't eat chicken?

I don't buy chicken to cook.  I consume it on occasion - probably a half dozen times a year?  So, no chicken in the house to play RG games with.

30 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I gave up on the room temperature thawing 20 minutes ago and put it in the sink.  I am leery of putting anything into a sink that I will eat later, though, I don't think sinks are ever clean, even after you clean them.

No bowl to use? Like you, the sink is not my "go to" place for putting stuff to be germ free. We have large bowls, pots, or similar we could use to hold the water and chicken as it thaws and it is easy to clean those afterwards.

[Kirby]

I need to call the gas station and get back to you on that.

[Randomguy]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

I don't buy chicken to cook.  I consume it on occasion - probably a half dozen times a year?  So, no chicken in the house to play RG games with.

No bowl to use? Like you, the sink is not my "go to" place for putting stuff to be germ free. We have large bowls, pots, or similar we could use to hold the water and chicken as it thaws and it is easy to clean those afterwards.

I am gonna cook the hell out of it, it'll be fine.