What would we do without our freezers?
Department of Agriculture(USDA), you should never thaw foods in a garage or a basement.
But you also shouldnt thaw frozen items in a few less obvious places either.
Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
These include your car, the dishwasher, or a plastic garbage bag.
Leaving a frozen container of food out on the kitchen counter to thaw is not recommended by the USDA.
Using your refrigerator to thaw food
The bestif not the fastestway to thaw food is in the refrigerator.
Its also the easiest.
How long it takes to thaw depends on the item.
The quality may suffer a little bit, but its likely not to be very noticeable.
The microwave method
Most modern microwaves have a defrost setting that can be used to thaw frozen food items.
Faster than the refrigeration method, thawing food in cold water does require a little more effort.
Food must be kept in a leak-proof package or container.
Leaks in the bag can introduce bacteria in the air into the exposed food.
Three- to four-pound packages may take up to three hours, requiring several water changes.
Unlike thawed food in the refrigerator, food thawed in cold water should be cooked before freezing again.
