Time often gets the best of me and most days I forget to take something out of the freezer to thaw out for dinner. Most times I remember early afternoon and then wonder if what I took out will be thawed out in time to cook for dinner. I really do not like using the microwave to defrost food, so what is the solution when you want to cook something that is frozen and you have little time to do it in?
Here are two methods to defrost items fast without “cooking” them like a microwave does.
For smaller items I run under cold water until thawed out. Like this homemade pasta sauce I made, since I froze it and decided to make pasta that night I just ran the jar under water for a few minutes until I was about to pour it out of the jar.
If you do not want to use running water then pour water into a bowl and leave your frozen item in the bowl and allow to defrost and then use.
Next time you forget to take dinner out of your freezer and it needs to be thawed out prior to cooking try one of these methods!
thanks for the ideas. we don’t have a microwave right now!
I already thaw stuff under the running water.. but just putting the item in a basin of water never crossed my mind. Thanks for the idea 🙂
We don’t have a microwave at our new house and don’t have any plans to buy one. However, I too seem to never remember to take things out of the freezer to thaw. So thanks for the tip.
Water is what we use. I have a hard time remembering to take stuff out of the freezer too! :/
I find the water method useful too. I usually fill up the sink with water and put it in there.
Great ideas thanks for sharing!
we do this with a lot with meats too, as long as the meat is completely airtight in it’s wrapping. But since we freeze all of our meat in foodsaver bags, that’s not an issue for us. It really help when I forget to take the chicken legs out for dinner that night.
My best way is to leave frozen cutlets in a bowl of hot water, although when in a rush I do run super hot water over the item!
Mitch
I am so bad at forgetting to put stuff in the fridge to thaw. Fortunately, we have a microwave, but I will definitely keep these in mind.
If it’s meat it is better to seal it in a bag then drop into a large bowl with a small trickle of cold water running over it. Works every time.
ugh i do that all the time
We always try and leave things in the fridge. I set sticky notes out to remind myself. And if I forget then I try to make a crock pot meal in the afternoon instead.
We do the same. It seems there are just some days where we get busy and forget… so water always does the trick.
Great idea!! I may have to use this today because I forgot to pull food out last night.
My Mom used to ALWAYS thaw anything in water. I think I rely on the microwave too much, I need to start doing this too
I hate using the microwave for anything. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the tips! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wrecked hamburger and other cuts of meats by trying to thaw them in the microwave no matter how careful I am. The worst time was when I actually followed the directions/instructions that came with the “nuker”.
We put a small freezer in the basement – but it turns out it’s a mixed blessing because I find myself needing to thaw meat at the last minute all the time now. I much prefer these “old fashioned” methods that I think my Mom & Grandma used but I’d forgotten about. Good Tips!
Work smarter, not harder. (My aim in life). I preheat the oven to whatever degree I need to cook my meat; take the meat straight from the freezer, and place it into an inch of water in the cooking pan. Add tiny bit of oil, salt and pepper, to the top side of meat, put a lid on it, and cook away. Check at the end of regular cooking time — if not quite done, lower the temperature a bit and continue to cook until fork tender. Delicious, and no worry about not having the meat thawed prior to cooking. It really helps keep the meat moist. Good luck!
that’s pretty handy…I usually do it that way as well, although it takes some times to do so…
I use this method a lot!