# Help Thawing Whole Chicken



## Jeni78 (Jul 31, 2010)

It's in the fridge right now. I took it out last night and it's still pretty frozen. Will brining help thaw? 

Or do I just need to be patient? it's a 4 lb chicken. I was hoping to roast it tonight!

Thank you!


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## MSC (Jul 31, 2010)

Can't say that I've heard that you'd die if you brined still-frozen chicken, but sure wouldn't do it as IMO the flavor will suffer.
If you have a microwave, put it on the defrost program.  If not, you can defrost it quicker by running hot but not boiling water over it for a minute and then let it sit in a pan after you dried it off with paper towels.  If you do it now, it should be easily ready for dinnertime.


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## GrillingFool (Jul 31, 2010)

Put it in water (brine would be fine) and it will probably be defrosted in time to cook.
This is how I always thaw my chicken.


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## Andy M. (Jul 31, 2010)

If it's still in the water tight plastic wrapper, put it in a deep pan or bowl in the sink and run a slow stream of cold water into the pan for a couple of hours.


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## Claire (Jul 31, 2010)

I'd assume the same instructions as for a turkey.  Immerse in COLD water, changed often (if you can do running water super).  If you are cutting it up (rather than roasting whole), then as soon as it is thawed enough to cut, do so, and it will thaw more quickly.  

Please remember that the joints of a frozen chicken will remain red, no matter how well done.  In my experience, the faster you thaw a chicken, the more red the joints will be.  Use  your meat thermometer.  If you wait for the bones/joints to NOT be red, you will wind up with very overdone chicken .... and still have red bones/joints.  We've got some on this site who know more about the science of food than I ever will, maybe someone can explain it to me!


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## Jeni78 (Aug 1, 2010)

Thanks all - I ended up not being able to try any of it because I ended up not having time to cook the bird yesterday anyway. It's brining right now and was almost fully thawed when I took it out.


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