Posted: 10/6/2007 7:18:19 AM EDT
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SAFE DEFROSTING FSIS recommends three ways to defrost chicken: in the refrigerator, in cold water and in the microwave. Never defrost chicken on the counter or in other locations. It's best to plan ahead for slow, safe thawing in the refrigerator. Boneless chicken breasts will usually defrost overnight. Bone-in parts and whole chickens may take 1 to 2 days or longer. Once the raw chicken defrosts, it can be kept in the refrigerator an additional day or two before cooking. During this time, if chicken defrosted in the refrigerator is not used, it can safely be refrozen without cooking first. Why? ETA: t is not safe to thaw meat on the countertop at room temperature as this allows dangerous bacteria to grow in just two hours, or 1 hour in high summer heat (90°F and above). hmmmm so I just wasted some chicken then 
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There is a grand total of 4 hours in which food may be outside the safe temp zone before teh rapid growth of food borne pathogens begins. Outside of refrigeration defrosting puts the bird out of this zone. Chicken is particularly sensitive due to salmonella. Cooking food does NOT remove or kill all pathogens, it merely reduces them to "safe" levels. |
Just cook the fucking chicken. |
They were frozen blocks so I took them out last night and wife put them in fridge around 5am. About 7 hours out I'd say. More than I would normally do it. I was just trying to be ready. Then she hits me up on how thats not a good way. I am all bamboozled now 
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Were they room temp and nasty for 7 hours? Likely not. Cook the chicken. |
not quite. it's closer to pasteurizing and will kill off all the bacteria. maybe i should have said 150-160. you can stew it at 200 but lower than that it won't cook. if the outside turns white you are cooking it. |
| Cold running water over the chicken. Bacteria won't develop, it'll thaw faster than sitting it out on the counter. By the way, the counter is a horrible way to thaw chicken. They carry so much stuff, there's a reason they're always on the bottom shelf in restaurant refrigerators. It's to prevent cross-contamination. |
you're not alone. I thought it was going to be a frozen embryo thread. But for chicken, I just throw the fozen bird-blocks on the grill on the upper step for 20 min, then down to the main surface to cook. If germs can survive that, they deserve to win. |
The danger zone is from 41 degress F to 135 degrees F. It is even worse from 70 to 125. Next time, put it in a pot, put pot in sink and run water into the pot and over the chicken. It will defrost faster and not allow bacteria to grow. I usually put the chicken parts in a ziplock before freezing, that makes it easier to handle and easier to use the water trick to thaw. |
Also, campylobacter. |