FOOD NEWS
The Meat Defrosting Hack That Will Save You Serious Time
By Nick Johnson
Despite the difficulty of defrosting meat, there are many reasons you should freeze it in the first place; per a USDA freezing and food safety article, freezing keeps food safe and unspoiled over time. For best results, flatten out the meat prior to freezing; not only will this make sure it freezes quicker, but it will also aid in the defrosting process.
While there are a number of ways to defrost meat, arguably the best way to quickly defrost it is to place it on an aluminum baking sheet. On his YouTube channel, J. Kenji López-Alt tested this hack and confirmed that meat placed on an aluminum tray thawed almost twice as fast as the same cut left out on a stoneware plate.
Per Thermtest, “Aluminum has a very high thermal conductivity of 205 W/(m/K), which explains its ability to heat up quickly and cook food evenly.” Aluminum's abilities as a conductor are what make your meat thaw at a faster rate; this is a better alternative since the USDA advises against meat being left room temperature for longer than two hours.