Okay so you are relaxing on a Saturday and you suddenly received a call. Your uncle is telling you that he would be at your place in two hours. He wishes to have a dinner of beef, which is his favorite. But you have nothing prepared and all the things are in the freezer, chicken, beef, pork, etc. Knowing his favorites, you cannot go for an alternative. In such a situation, knowing how to defrost beef quickly is helpful.
What to Do Before Storing Beef Into the Freezer :
Just a quick tip on how to store beef to help you ease your preparing beef meals every time :
- Put meat in resealable packets before freezing them.
- Try to get all the air out as much as possible and then put it in the freezer. It eliminates extra air so defrosting the meat would become a much easier task when defrosting them.
How To Defrost Beef Safely :
Health comes first. So how to defrost beef quickly and putting health safety first should be our top priority. The best thing you can do, especially if you have time is to take it out from the fridge. Then let it defrost on its own. In cases that you have limited time to prepare and cook, here are a few things you can do:
- First is to put it in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes. By doing that, the meat would start defrosting at its own good pace.
- For a small packet, it would usually take 30 minutes to defrost. So if you have larger packets of meat, that might take 1 to 2 hours.
- The best thing is to cut the meat when you had freshly bought it. This makes it much easier to defrost. If your meat is cut into small pieces it would take probably only 15 to 20 minutes to defrost.
Defrosting Beef at Room Temperature :
Defrosting meat at room temperature may take time, but it will be worth it. You just have to take out the frozen meat packet from the refrigerator a few hours before preparing the meal. Place it in a bowl with water and change the water more often. It will defrost the beef quickly in no time.
At other times you may put the meat near the heat while you’re cooking another dish. It may not help that much, but it would certainly have some effect on the frozen meat.
How To Defrost Beef In Microwave:
When defrosting meat in a microwave, remember to remove the meat from the packet. Then add warm water to the bowl of meat before putting it in the microwave for two minutes. The microwave will work on heated water that will ultimately result in defrosting beef. Do it repeatedly until your meat loosens.
This process generally takes much shorter than anything that I’ve mentioned before. This is because microwaves have artificial warmth which makes the meat thaw in much less time. For some who want to lessen their use of the microwave for some health reasons, this is not for you. But if you are like one of those who are impatient to wait to defrost at room temperature, the microwave is your best friend. So if you are looking for a reliable microwave oven, you may check out Amazon for one.
Defrosting Quickly Without A Microwave:
Better things demand time and patience. That goes for defrosting frozen beef without a microwave but wants it to be done quickly. For this method, you just have to take a bowl of hot water. After this, take the meat out of its packet or box, then carefully put it into the bowl of hot water. Let it stay for a while. This will take hardly 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the amount of meat to be defrosted.
If you are after a healthier method that does not use artificial heat, this one is for you. Just be patient or allot ample time to prepare before cooking.
Conclusion:
The best thing you can do is to have your meat cut into small pieces before putting it in the fridge. This will come helpful for those times that you need meals done quickly as the thawing of meat will be in less time. Putting the meat in a resealable bag and get as much air out, as possible would make the defrosting process much easier.
The amount of meat and the size of its cut also matter because smaller cut and lesser amount will mean less time-consuming when whether thawing in a bowl of water or in the microwave.
If despite all these tips, you still think defrosting the beef eats up a lot of your time, then save a bit of time by using ground beef instead of the cubed or diced cuts. Check out my recipes here.
