Your daughter called, and she’s bringing a chum for dinner. Normally, a further serving of casserole or more tacos would be no big deal. You make lots for leftovers night as it’s miles. But tonight, you had planned to prepare dinner steaks with grilled veggies, so there’s simply one problem: You are short one steak, and the clock is ticking.
Thankfully, you can nevertheless get the beef at the grill with time to spare as long as you operate this no-fail steak-thawing method.
The Fastest Way to Thaw a Steak Safely
In all situations, the first-class way to thaw a steak is in a refrigerator. The meat will stay at a steady, cold temperature even as it defrosts. This continues at a safe temperature, and you also won’t run the risk of getting sick from terrible bacteria. But on the occasion you don’t have time for this lengthy process (it typically takes 24 to 36 hours), you could speed matters up with this FDA-permitted approach:
1. Grab a steak from your stash, and place it in a zip-top bag. Squeeze out as plenty of air as feasible, and seal the bag.
2. Place the steak in a huge bowl. If you’re thawing more than one steak, you could speed up the manner by way of giving every steak its own bowl. Fill the bowl or bowls with cool water, now not hot or even warm water. Cool water is most secure. The higher the temp climbs, the closer you get to the risk region, or when bacteria increase speeds up.
3. Leave the steak inside the water for 30 minutes. Place a spatula or wooden spoon on the meat to hold it submerged. After that half-hour, take a look at the steak. If it’s now not completely thawed, empty the water, and fill the bowls with fresh cool water. Because the water’s temperature is cool, you don’t worry about discoloration of the meat, and it’s now not hot enough to start the cooking manner.
Plan for about 30 minutes consistent with pound of meat. Thinner steaks can be completely thawed in half an hour. Thicker ribeyes or filets would possibly want more time. You can speed up the method by keeping individual portions apart from each other once they’re thawed enough to pry them apart.
4. Remove the bag from the water. Open the seal, and do away with the stake. Season and prepare the beef simply as you generally do. If the center remains a chunk icy, that’s OK. You can nevertheless cook the meat. Just deliver it some extra minutes to attain the temperature.
Which rapid thawing strategies don’t work?
While your microwave has a defrost choice, it’s not high-quality, so don’t use it when you’re looking to get a steak thawed. The warmth from the appliance will thaw the meat. However, it may also quickly begin cooking the steak. This will affect the beef’s color (it’ll turn gray) and the feel (it can turn out to be chewy). Use this technique best as a final resort. Certainly, do not leave the steak at the counter at room temperature for any period. Even cool rooms like a basement or storage area are far too warm. The outside portions of the meat will swiftly heat to the dangerous quarter, 41°F to 135°F, and a dangerous bacterial bloom may begin. This ought to lead to food poisoning.
Some cooks advise area an unwrapped steak in a bowl of water with a steady stream of water running into it. This will certainly help maintain the water around the steak at a consistently cool temperature—and save you from attaining the hazard area—but it also method all the juices a steak releases simultaneously as thawing could be misplaced for correct. Ultimately, that could mean you’ve got a dry, stringy piece of meat.
Is it safe to prepare a frozen steak that is still frozen?
Yes, if you don’t actually have time for a quick thaw inside the bowls of water, don’t agonize. You can prepare dinner the steak from frozen. You’ll need to account for about 50 percentage extra cook dinner time for the meat, so positioned it at the grill first if you want it to return off at the identical time as the alternative steaks.
