Your Personal Cheat to Thawing Meat!
Have you ever disappointedly starred into the open freezer full of frozen meat and wished you would have planned ahead to thaw meat out? Thinking to yourself that you are going to have to resort to take out AGAIN instead of being the mom you want to be and making your family a healthy homecooked meal?
Sound familiar?
Well, I am here to tell you, you CAN still get a healthy dinner on the table for your family in less than 2 hrs!
Here is how!
· Ok so first you can either use your kitchen sink just bare for this or a plastic tub that fits inside your sink. For me, I use a plastic tub as you will see pictured below.
· Fill the tub or your sink with COLD water from the tap. Be sure to leave enough room for the displaced water once you place your meat in it!
· Whatever cut of meat or quantity you are trying to thaw, you will need to ensure that it is covered with water in its ENTIRETY!
· It is important that the packaging is airtight and that there are no leaks. Vacuum packaging, as we use at Snyder Family Farm is ideal for this!
· You will know if the packaging is not air tight or sealed completely if your meat floats as opposed to stays on the bottom or your sink or tote. OR you can visibly see air around packaging or water that has become trapped in packaging after setting in water (as pictured below).
· If the packaging has a hole or air (as when dealing with meat with bones this sometimes does happen) you will want to remove the meat from the packaging and place in a Zip Lock while ensuring to remove as much of the air as possible.
So, how long will this take to thaw?
On average, it will take approx. 1 hour per pound of meat.
With that being said, there are some exceptions. Such as with sausage links or thinner steaks- the displacement of meat is different so the time to thaw may actually be less than mentioned above.
As far as having a healthy dinner on the table for your family in less than 2 hrs? Well choose one of our ground beef recipes we have sent in past emails and throw 1 lb of ground beef in the sink to thaw and you can! You got this MAMA!
If you are not a part of our email Farm Family yet, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on recipes and other helpful tips as mentioned above!
Happy thawing and cooking!