How to Defrost Chicken at Home?

Going home to prepare a delicious chicken dinner but find that your chicken is still frozen? Don’t panic! Here are a few different ways to defrost chicken. Choose the one you like according to your actual situation.

How to Defrost Chicken?

Read carefully to learn how to safely thaw chicken in cold water, refrigerator, and microwave. Each method has its pros and cons, but in the end, you’ll have thawed chicken.

Please bear in mind that frozen chicken should never be defrosted at room temperature because bacteria will thrive in temperatures ranging from 40-140°F (5-60 °C).

Method 1. Defrost Chicken in the Microwave

If you are in a hurry to defrost chicken, try the microwave defrost function. It uses electromagnetic waves to make the polar molecules in the frozen food rotate at a very high speed, so that the frozen food heats up from the inside to the outside at the same time, shortening the defrosting time.

1. Place the chicken on the rotating tray of your microwave.
2. Set your microwave to the “Defrost” mode to prevent the outside from getting cooked while the inside remains frozen.  
3. Check every few minutes to assess whether or not it has defrosted.

Please note that the microwave thawing method is more difficult to guarantee the quality of chicken than other methods. It will degrade the nutrition and taste of the chicken.

Method 2. Defrost Chicken in Cold Water

Another effective way to defrost a chicken is to submerge it into a cold-water bath. To defrost chicken in this way, it takes about half an hour for every 453 grams of chicken. Please do not use hot water, which will promote the growth of bacteria.

1. Place the meat in a leak-proof, zip-top bag to avoid the water getting in and making your meat soggy.
2. Submerge your bag into either a sink full of cold water or in a deep bowl of water. Make sure the water is less than 40°F (5°C) at all times.
3. Change the cold water every 30 minutes.

Method 3. Defrost Chicken in the Refrigerator

Defrosting chicken in the refrigerator is the safest and most recommended method, but it may take 1-2 days to thaw a large whole chicken.

1. Place your chicken in a large sealed bag to prevent the juice from leaking during defrosting.
2. Put the chicken in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator so that if anything leaks, it doesn’t contaminate other food.
3. After defrosting is complete, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.

Note: The temperature of the refrigerator should be kept at 40°F (5°C) or below.

To place frozen chicken in a tightly sealed bag, you may need Adoric Vacuum Sealer Machine. It works well on vacuum seal, only seal, and only vacuum. 

Here is how to use it:

1. Plug the power cable and connect power.
2. Press the “PUSH” buttons on both sides to open the sealer lid.
3. Put the opened end of the bag into the vacuum groove.
4. Press down the lid with both hands to close and lock lid.
5. Press the “TEMP” button to select dry & wet setting based on the food.
6. Press “SEAL”, “VAC”, or “VAC SEAL” according to your needs and wait light off.
7. Press the “PUSH” buttons to open the lid and release the sealed bag.

Tip – How to Tell If the Chicken Is Thawed

To check if your chicken is completely thawed, cut a small cut in the thickest part of the breast or thigh and insert your finger. If you feel ice crystals or the chicken is solid, it means that the chicken still needs to be thawed.

Among the above 3 different approaches, which is the best method for defrosting chicken? Personally, the cold-water and refrigerator methods work best.