Cooking For Engineers

[Enrico]

Many chefs say to defrost in the fridge. What difference does it make as long as the temperature does not get below 41 F ??

[Dilbert]

if you're thawing something very thin, it doesn't make any difference.

however a large roast, thick chops / etc if thawed at room temp - the outside of the meat will warm into "the danger zone" well before the center/core of the cut will.

the other aspect is time and attention - thawing at room temp is a bit of a guessing game as to how long it will take. thawing in the fridge you can do 24 hrs or 48 hrs without having to check the middle for temp/thaw every other hour.... of course, in an industrial scale setting where you may be thawing a 10# rib roast every day of the week....you could experimentally get the timing right - however the health inspector will still throw a fit.

[Enrico]

Thanks Dilbert,

[Dilbert]

USDA defines "the danger zone" for bacterial growth as:

below 140'F / 60'C
and
above 40'F / 4.5'C

spending more than two hours in the danger zone is not recommended.

[sensiblewall]