this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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It will be disgusting but if you thoroughly cook it it should be safe.
Cooking kills most bacteria - but not all, that's how food poisoning still happens in cooked food (cross contamination too, but that's a separate issue). You should never defrost meat at room temp, best way is in the fridge since it still keeps it at a temp that's safe for a few days after being fully defrosted but it takes a day or two to fully defrost. To do it faster you can submerge it in cold water if you replace the water every couple of hours (or more often, depending on your room temp) until you cook it but that's a last resort if you just need it defrosted in the same day
The fastest way, like 15 mins is to take the sealed package of frozen meat and put it in a container with hot but not boiling water. The meat will act like an ice cube, cooling down the water and other than the very center of the meat it will be ready to cook right away. This is really only good for ground meats because you can fry, flip, and scrape off the frozen center bit while browning the rest of the meat. Still better than microwave defrosting.
This is NOT a food safe practice. Following this advise is extraordinarily dangerous. Thawing under cold, running water is the safe way to thaw frozen meat.
I know it isn't food safe but it is 10 mins or less and if you are cooking it as ground meat and you break down cook it fully then you are pretty unlikely to have bacteria issues. I wouldn't do it to a roast where the outside is going to be defrosted way longer than the center.
Also the best thing is to freeze ground meat in thin layers, like one pound in a large Ziploc so it is less than 3 cm thick and defrosts fast without the hot water.