It’s 5:00 and you go to start making dinner and you realize….the chicken is still frozen. Da Da Daaaaaaaaa…….
I can’t be the only mom out there trying frantically to thaw chicken at the dreaded witching hour. I don’t have time for this and you don’t either!
So, I wanted to show you how I thaw my frozen chicken. This method really only works well with chicken in a plastic bag. Sometimes I buy large quantities of fresh chicken then divide and freeze portions in Ziploc bags, but lately I have been buying individually wrapped chicken breasts from Costco. I can grab a few out of the freezer, thaw them in a couple hours in the morning and have them ready and waiting for me in the refrigerator at dinner time.
This method will also work with any other types of meat, poultry or fish.
So are you ready for the trick???
COLD WATER.
Yes, cold water is how you will thaw frozen chicken in about 2 hours. I say about because your chicken may be thicker and take a little longer or thinner and take a little less time. Regardless, it is super easy and will be a big help come 5:00 when you need thawed chicken ready to cook.
I take a large bowl and put it in one side of my sink. You can put the bowl anywhere you have room. Fill with cold faucet water, yes COLD. Warm water is not your friend here. Place the bagged chicken (or beef or fish) into the water and walk away, that’s it. Set a timer for 2 hours and come back to check on the progress. Like I said it may take a little longer, but just come and check and reset your timer as needed.
But How?
There is actually science at work here. The science of diffusion. And if that kind of thing interests you, we would probably get along well (nerd alert). Basically the “cold” from the chicken is slowing moving into the water because it’s more highly concentrated in the chicken than it is in the water. But really all you need to know is that this method works and it works really well. The key is that the water can completely surround and come into contact with the chicken. Thus why you really need it in a plastic bag. A Tupperware container just won’t work well with this method.
I have not tried this with a whole frozen chicken. However, if it is wrapped in plastic, it should work, but it will take longer than 2 hours.
Below is a video I took of my thawed chicken. I wanted you to see how pliable it is – totally ready to cook with. Check it out! I do say “ice water” in the video, but it’s just COLD WATER, I promise. No ice is needed.
I hope you give my thawing hack a try and if you do, write to me and let me know how it worked for you. Better yet, share this post or take a picture and share on Instagram with the hashtag #thegreengiraffeeats.