Common Mistakes People Make When Defrosting Meat, According To Expert Chefs

Take a look in your freezer right now. Chances are that you have at least a few packs of frozen chicken breasts, pork chops, or ground beef in there. You might even have a larger beef roast, turkey, or ham hiding out as well. Being able to freeze meat allows us to stock up when the grocery store has a good sale and keep it from spoiling until we're ready to cook it.

However, when the meat is frozen, you must know how to defrost it properly. If meat isn't properly defrosted, you may notice an undesirable change in its taste or texture. Even worse, if you don't know how to safely defrost meat, you may inadvertently give yourself (or a loved one) food poisoning. To help us learn more about what you should — and should not — do when defrosting meat, we interviewed two expert chefs. Galen Zamarra is the co-founder of Galen Hospitality Group and Jessica Formicola is the founder of Savory Experiments. Read on to learn their best tips and tricks.

If you're planning to cook meat from your freezer for dinner, it can be tempting to just pull it out and leave it on the counter until it is thawed and ready to use. However, doing so simply isn't a safe decision. The USDA warns against thawing meat on the countertop. The meat won't thaw evenly. The outer portions will be fully thawed while the middle of the piece of meat is still frozen. As these outer portions warm up, they will enter the danger zone. The danger zone is the temperature range between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit where bacteria multiply quickly, increasing the chances of a foodborne illness.

It is imperative to avoid leaving meat (or any other perishable foods) out on the counter for more than two hours to avoid stepping into that danger zone. And, as Jessica Formicola says, most meats simply won't be able to defrost fully in such a short period of time. If defrosting on the counter is unavoidable (which it really shouldn't be), Formica says, "use a defrosting board, which accelerates the process and make sure it is out no longer than 2 hours before cooking." One option to try is the Cuisinart BBQ Defrosting Tray, which is made from food-safe aluminum to help meats thaw more quickly at room temperature.

Galen Zamarra highlights using the refrigerator as the best way to defrost meat. "Basically, all you need to do is allow yourself enough time, as depending on the size of the meat, etc. it could take at least a day or more," he explains. Some planning ahead can help ensure you and your guests don't end up with food poisoning. Remember, large cuts of meat, such as turkey, will require even more time to defrost.

It happens. You planned to cook something from the freezer for dinner but forgot to take it out and put it in the refrigerator to thaw the night before. Now, you're under a time crunch and need to quickly defrost the meat so you can cook the planned meal. It can be tempting to put it in a bowl of hot water to defrost it quickly. However, thawing meat in hot (or even cold) water is a mistake. According to Jessica Formicola, "This method can also result in the exterior thawing before the center (especially larger cuts). This again results in the potential for the meat to cook unevenly." Beyond the meat cooking unevenly, you are once again opening the door for bacteria to grow by allowing the outside of the meat to warm up more quickly and enter that danger zone.

To avoid this food safety mistake that could ruin everything from a summer BBQ to a Sunday dinner, choose a safer thawing method. If you don't have enough time to let the meat thaw in the fridge before you need to cook it, Galen Zamarra highlights thawing it in cold water as the next best option. He says, "Place the meat in a bowl so that it is fully submerged, and run a constant slow stream of cold water over the meat until it is defrosted." Zamarra notes that you'll only need a slow trickle of water to help the meat thaw and that you should also make sure that the sink is empty of other dishes to avoid potentially contaminating them with bacteria from the meat.

Defrosting meat in the microwave doesn't pose the same safety risks as you face with leaving it on the counter or putting it in a bowl of hot water. However, that doesn't mean that it is a good option if you want your meal to turn out right. Galen Zamarra explains that one of the downfalls of this method is that it will partially cook the meat, but won't do so evenly. "The taste and texture will be compromised," he says. Moreover, Zamarra notes, "People often use too high of a setting for this, and it does more cooking than defrosting."

Beyond the potential to give your finished meal a less-than-ideal taste or texture (if that wasn't already enough reason to avoid using the microwave), you also won't be able to defrost everything in the microwave. It simply won't work for larger items, such as a turkey for Thanksgiving, a large ham, or other large roasts.

When you're thawing raw meat, your hands are coming into contact with it (or its packaging). Jessica Formicola offers the reminder that frozen raw meat is still raw meat and should be treated as such. "Follow the same handling and handwashing guidelines — use clean, fresh knives if cutting raw for things like shaved ribeye for cheesesteaks or carpaccio, use a meat-only cutting board or wash between this and other veggies/fruits or cooked meats," she says.

Any type of raw meat, even frozen meat, can be contaminated with bacteria. If you're not following the same protocols that you would when touching thawed raw meat, you're risking spreading these bacteria around your kitchen. This can lead to cross-contamination should other foods, serving utensils, or kitchenware touch these areas where bacteria are present.

If you've looked through online recipes, you may have found some that say you can cook frozen meat and it will turn out just fine. However, cooking frozen chicken on the grill, on the stovetop, or in the oven isn't your best option for a few reasons. "The issue with this is that the meat will cook unevenly, and it is easy to have raw parts of the meat which can cause serious food safety concerns," explains Galen Zamarra.

If you do decide to cook meat from frozen, be sure to use a meat thermometer to ensure that the center — not just the outside — has reached the recommended internal temperature. However, once the center is fully-cooked, it is likely that the outer edges will be overcooked. This will leave you with a dry and unappetizing piece of meat, so you're probably best to just avoid this approach and defrost your meats before cooking them.

Other recipes you read online may suggest using a slow cooker to cook your frozen meat. To many, this may sound like a good solution to the potential problems raised earlier about cooking frozen meat. Because the slow-cooking process typically leaves meat nice and moist, you might think that it will eliminate the risk of a dry piece of meat.

However, even if you eliminate that potential issue, you're still introducing a new problem by trying to cook frozen meat in your slow cooker. "The danger is being very sure the internal temperature was hot enough. It is easy to assume meat is cooked, but the center of the meat or part near the bone may not have reached a proper temperature," explains Galen Zamarra. Another potential problem circles back to that danger zone. Because slow cookers cook slowly, foods take longer to heat up. When the meat you're cooking starts out frozen, it is going to take even longer to get warm. It will be much more likely that portions of it, particularly the outer layers, stay in that temperature range between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for too long, giving ample time for dangerous bacteria to multiply.

If you have a large stockpile of frozen meat in the fridge, you should be purposeful about how you store it, and about which pieces you pull out first. According to Jessica Formicola, "every time you open the freezer door, the temperature reduces mildly. This happening repeated times (think of how often you open your fridge and freezer) will start to impact the quality of meat and promote freezer burn." Pulling out meat that has been in the freezer for longer will help ensure you use it before its quality takes a dive. This way, you won't find yourself left with a frozen piece of meat that has been in the freezer for two plus years.

Formicola recommends cooking any meats that are in your kitchen freezer within six months. Meats stored in a garage or basement freezer should retain their quality for closer to a year, while those in a deep freezer may last for up to two years. The reason you need to cook meat from your kitchen fridge more quickly has to do with how frequently this door is open, letting that warm air in and degrading the quality of the meat more quickly. To help maintain the quality of the meat, regardless of which freezer it is being stored in, Formicola says, "Store anything you won't be using in the next 3 months as far back and underneath other items as possible." She also highlights airtight bags, such as those you can make with the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer Machine, as longer lasting than regular freezer bags.

Don't make the mistake of taking frozen meat out of the freezer too far in advance. While thawing it slowly in the refrigerator is one of the safest ways to defrost the meat, most cuts of meat will only need about a day to thaw (some larger roasts may need a few days). If you end up leaving the thawed meat in the fridge for too long before you end up cooking, the quality could start to degrade, or the meat may even spoil.

Jessica Formicola highlights how the way the meat is packaged can impact how long it will last in the fridge before cooking. She says that meat that is in an air sealed bag should be safe to remove three to four days before cooking (so left in the fridge for up to three days after defrosting). However, if your meat is only in a freezer bag, Formicola recommends cooking it as soon as it has defrosted. "Air is the enemy in freezing and thawing, so the more it has contact with, the faster the meat will start to degrade," she explains.

Think about the last time you defrosted meat. Did you put it in a leak-proof bag before doing so? If not, then you've just identified one mistake you've been making. Galen Zamarra explains two key reasons not to skip this step. "A leak proof bag or vessel is important when defrosting so the juices do not spread and contaminate other surfaces, which can then easily spread to other items."

Failing to use a leak-proof bag when defrosting meat in water may negatively impact the taste or texture of the finished product if water is able to seep through and come into contact with the meat. "A tight fitting sealed bag will keep it dry. If the bag is too loose, the air inside will not let the water directly defrost the meat, and this will make the food take too long to defrost and possibly be in the danger zone for too long," says Zamarra.

Keeping food safety in mind throughout the thawing process is essential. Remember, you are dealing with raw meat, which has lots of potentially dangerous bacteria and pathogens. If you're planning to thaw the meat in the refrigerator, it is essential not to put it directly on the shelf. Jessica Formicola says, "Put it on a plate! The shelf has germs that can get on the meat, the meat will have some germs (everything has germs) that can get on the shelf and then on anything else it comes across." As the meat thaws, it is also likely that juices will run off of it, reaching more foods and containers in the fridge that might not even be directly next to it.

This spreading of germs is called cross-contamination. The USDA highlights it as one of the potential causes of foodborne illness. Taking steps to prevent cross-contamination can keep you and others in your household from getting sick.

If you pulled a piece of meat out of the freezer to cook for dinner, but your plans changed and you ended up eating out instead, you might want to refreeze the item so you can cook it at a later date instead. However, you might want to rethink this approach — especially if it isn't the first time the meat has been thawed and refrozen. "The more you freeze/thaw/refreeze, the more damage is done, the more moisture is lost, texture is damaged, flavor and nutrients are lost," says Galen Zamarra. He shares a visual to help understand what freezing (and refreezing) can do to meat. "The water in the cells turns to ice shards when [meat] freezes, rupturing cell structure. This actually happens twice each time it is frozen, and is the reason frozen food leaks liquids when it defrosts," he says.

Another essential rule to note is that not all thawed meat can be safely refrozen. If you thawed the meat in cold water or in the microwave, it should not be refrozen unless you cook it first. It is only considered safe to refreeze raw meat that was defrosted in the refrigerator. This way, there is less of a risk that any portions of the meat thawed too quickly and entered the danger zone.

We've already discussed cross-contamination a few times, but it is so important that it bears a final reminder. After you've finished defrosting a piece of meat, your work in the kitchen is not quite complete. Galen Zamarra says, "Be sure to sanitize all surfaces and equipment which came in contact with it, especially your hands. It is easy to forget to clean the sink, or your refrigerator drawer."

To get rid of any bacteria that might be present, start by using hot and soapy water to clean any surfaces that may have come into contact with the meat. After washing with soapy water, you should disinfect the surfaces. To do so, you can use a commercial disinfectant, such as the Lysol Kitchen Pro Antibacterial Cleaner. Just be sure to follow the directions on the back and let the solution sit on the surfaces as recommended. You shouldn't use these chemical cleaners on kitchenware, so be sure to wash everything thoroughly at the sink and use the dishwasher when possible. Avoid making mistakes when cleaning your wood cutting boards; for example, they shouldn't go through the dishwasher, but can be disinfected with a solution of bleach and water (one gallon of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of bleach). To be safe, however, it is best to keep a separate cutting board for use with raw meat so that you don't inadvertently contaminate produce, bread, or other foods.