# Defrosting a whole chicken



## JuliaCGA (Aug 4, 2007)

Hi
     Can anybody give me advice on defrosting a chicken. I read so many things but I will go with defrosting the turkey in cold water. I would prefer to put it in a big bowl of cold water and change the water every 30 minutes instead of letting the cold water run on it. I figured it was better not to waste all the water. Its really a small chicken, hummmmm maybey 2 or 3 lbs. So do you think about 2  hours defrosting would be accurate. Any help would be appreciated 
Julia


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## Andy M. (Aug 4, 2007)

I'm not sure how long it will take.  the more often you change the water, the faster it will defrost.  It probably will take more than two hours.


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## Uncle Bob (Aug 4, 2007)

Using your method I would plan on 3 hours to be sure. If the bird has the "innards" frozen in the cavity, the quicker you dis-lodge them, and get them out the better!

Have Fun & Enjoy!


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## Lady DeWinters (Sep 11, 2007)

Can you defrost an entire chicken overnight while in the refrigerator?


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## Barb L. (Sep 11, 2007)

Sorry no help here, I try to take my birds out a day or two and fridge before I plan on using.


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## Lady DeWinters (Sep 11, 2007)

So in other words, you have to take out the chicken at least two night and defrost in the refrigerator before using, right?

I also would like to know how does one avoid freezer burn on a chicken?


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## TATTRAT (Sep 11, 2007)

Lady DeWinters said:


> Can you defrost an entire chicken overnight while in the refrigerator?




Sure can, but depending on the size of the bird, like a roaster, might take 2 days.


If you are thawing in water, make sure the water is moving. Put the bird in a bigger vessel, put said vessel in the sink, fill, and let the water trickle and overflow during the process.

Placing a frozen object in standing water is, well, acting like an ice cube.


As for freezer burn, you need to have 2 layers around the bird, 1 tight layer, and another layer that will hold cold air, but no direct contact with the bird, like an insulator.


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## Lady DeWinters (Sep 11, 2007)

TATTRAT said:


> Sure can, but depending on the size of the bird, like a roaster, might take 2 days.
> 
> 
> If you are thawing in water, make sure the water is moving. Put the bird in a bigger vessel, put said vessel in the sink, fill, and let the water trickle and overflow during the process.
> ...


 

That's useful information! Thanks for the tips!!


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## TATTRAT (Sep 11, 2007)

No worries, that is what we are here for


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## Caine (Sep 11, 2007)

TATTRAT said:


> If you are thawing in water, make sure the water is moving. Put the bird in a bigger vessel, put said vessel in the sink, fill, and let the water trickle and overflow during the process.


 
Or, if you have a jacuzzi...


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## Lady DeWinters (Sep 11, 2007)

This may sounds silly... but has anyone defrost a chicken in the microwave before?


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

Defrosting chicken in the microwave will actually end up cooking the edges, at least in my experience.

Andy, I am not sure I agree that 





> the more often you change the water, the faster it will defrost



I think the opposite would actually be true, although not safe. As the water sits it will get warmer. The warmer the water is the faster the chicken will thaw. This is most certainly not safe though. the water needs to remain in *cold* water to defrost in a safe manner. 

I use Tattrats method of putting the chicken in a pot and filling with cold water and then letting a trickle of water continue to run into the pot. It is still important to check the water to make sure it says cold enough.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2007)

GB said:


> ...Andy, I am not sure I agree that
> 
> I think the opposite would actually be true, although not safe. As the water sits it will get warmer. The warmer the water is the faster the chicken will thaw. This is most certainly not safe though. the water needs to remain in *cold* water to defrost in a safe manner. ...


 

GB:  

The frozen chicken acts as an ice cube in a glass of water.  You put a zero degree chicken into 40 F tap water and the chicken will chill the water.  As a result, the water is colder than the original 40F.  Then, the water and the chicken are closer in temperature and the defrosting slows down.  If you dump the colder water and replace it with fresh 40 F tap water, it will warm the chicken further.

In essence, constantly running water into a pot with the chicken in it is the same as changing the water more frequently.


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

Andy M. said:


> GB:
> 
> The frozen chicken acts as an ice cube in a glass of water.  You put a zero degree chicken into 40 F tap water and the chicken will chill the water.  As a result, the water is colder than the original 40F.  Then, the water and the chicken are closer in temperature and the defrosting slows down.  If you dump the colder water and replace it with fresh 40 F tap water, it will warm the chicken further.
> 
> In essence, constantly running water into a pot with the chicken in it is the same as changing the water more frequently.


I do not disagree with the above Andy. everything you said there is correct as far as I am concerned.

The part I do not agree with is that 





> the more you change the water the faster it will defrost


.

If you have a frozen chicken and you put it in a container of water and change that water every 30 minutes then your chicken will defrost. If you do the same thing, but don't change the water then the water will warm up over time. A chicken sitting in warm (or warmer) water will defrost faster than a chicken sitting in colder water.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2007)

GB said:


> ...If you have a frozen chicken and you put it in a container of water and change that water every 30 minutes then your chicken will defrost. If you do the same thing, but don't change the water then the water will warm up over time. A chicken sitting in warm (or warmer) water will defrost faster than a chicken sitting in colder water.


 

I think you would agree that if you put a frozen chicken into very hot water (I know, not safe), it would defrost faster than if it was in an equal amount of cold water.  The greater the temperature differential between the chicken and the water, the faster the chicken will defrost.

If you put a frozen chicken into tap water, the chicken will chill the tap water, making it closer in temperature to the chicken. (Heat from the warmer water transfers into the chicken).  If you leave the chicken in the colder water it will eventually warm up if the room temperature is warmer than the water but that takes a very long time.

If you dump the water that has been chilled by the frozen chicken and replace it with warmer (relatively) tap water, you speed up the heat transfer again.  The still frozen chicken will chill the new batch of water also and the warming process will slow again.  Thus changing the water speeds up the process.

If you rely on ambient air temperature to warm the water in the bowl, you might as well leave the chicken on the counter without any water at all.


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

OK I see what you are trying to say now, although I can not still completely agree. There are variables that come into play that could make your statement true or not true. Some of those factors are the ambient room temp, the size of the bird, the amount of water it is in. for instance, if you put a frozen chicken in a pot just large enough to hold the chicken then there will not be a whole lot of water you will be using. The chicken will chill the water and keep it cooler longer than if you filled a large sink with water and put the same size bird in. In the kitchen sink, the amount of water may not be cooled that much by the frozen bird to bring it below the temp of the fresh water you are adding.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2007)

First, the amount of water vs the size of the frozen chicken will not change the science just the times.

The other factor to keep in mind is circulation.  The water closest to the frozen chicken is chilled.  If there is circulation, the chilled water is redistributed throughout and warmer water is closer to the chicken.  Thus, circulation also speeds thawing until all the water is close to the temperature of the bird.

Remember the Good Eats episode with the blue ice ducklings?  The ice in the running water defrosted first.


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

We are not talking about running water though. We are talking about a pot of water changed every half hour vs. a pot of water that is not changed at all.

So if I understand you correctly then we should be able to test this fairly easily. We could take two cups with two equally sized ice cubes. In one cup we could fill it with water and place the ice cube in it until it melts. In the second cup we could place the ice cube and change the water every X minutes (lets say 10). According to you the second ice cube should melt first correct?


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## keltin (Sep 11, 2007)

When defrosting chicken in water, you have to think of the water as a battery with reference to energy transfer. The water, whether it be 50 degrees or 79 degrees, is warmer than the 32 degree (frozen) chicken and holds energy to transfer to the chicken. To defrost the chicken, you must transfer heat to it. No matter the temp of the water, 50, 60 or 70 degrees, it is still warmer than the 32 degree frozen chicken. 

The water gets cold because the chicken is absorbing (or pulling) all of the heat energy from the water. When the water is warm, the chicken absorbs heat more quickly (because there is more to offer) and begins to slow as the water cools and the energy level is depleted. If you change the water often, you are renewing the energy supply. 

Think of thawing like riding a bike down a hill. The steeper the incline (the bigger the difference in temp) the faster you travel. As the temp of the water cools (incline decreases) and less heat is available for transfer, the thawing process slows down. So yes, changing the water frequently will be faster because you are renewing the energy supply. The water you add will always be warmer (holds more heat energy) than the used water (depleted heat energy).

Heat pumps work on the same principle. If you are not at absolute zero (-460 degrees Kelvin), there IS heat energy in the air or water. Only at absolute zero are you devoid of heat. So, in the winter, a heat pump can pull heat energy from 30 degree air, although they do start to struggle at around 22 degrees F (thus you have the heat strips).


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

keltin said:


> The water you add will always be warmer (holds more heat energy) than the used water


This is where I am not sure I agree.


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## keltin (Sep 11, 2007)

GB said:


> This is where I am not sure I agree.


 
Temperature is a measure of the heat energy in a substance (man it kills me to think like a physicist again….those classes were nightmares! ). If the water is 59 degrees it has less energy than tap water at 75 degrees. Its just like driving a car, 40 MPH is less than 60 MPH, and 59 degree water has less energy than 79 degree water.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2007)

GB said:


> We are not talking about running water though. We are talking about a pot of water changed every half hour vs. a pot of water that is not changed at all.
> 
> So if I understand you correctly then we should be able to test this fairly easily. We could take two cups with two equally sized ice cubes. In one cup we could fill it with water and place the ice cube in it until it melts. In the second cup we could place the ice cube and change the water every X minutes (lets say 10). According to you the second ice cube should melt first correct?


 

Yes, assuming you are using tap water as in the earlier examples.


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## GB (Sep 11, 2007)

I do not have time to try this tonight, but I will try it at some point and report back.


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## AllenOK (Sep 11, 2007)

On the gripping hand.....

If you don't run cold running water over your food being defrosted, it's still better to change the water out every 30 minutes or so until the food is defrosted.

If you leave it out at room temp until it's completely defrosted, which will take hours, you run the risk of bacterial growth.

I defrost 5 lbs of leg-and-thigh quarters on a regular basis for cooking at home.  If I just leave the chicken in cold tap water, and don't change it out, it takes hours to defrost.  If I change the water out every 20 - 30 minutes, that 5 lbs of chicken will be defrosted in about an hour to hour-and-a-half.

I'm not saying either way is right or wrong, but please take this bit of practical experience from someone that's been there, done that, in both commercial and home settings.


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## keltin (Sep 11, 2007)

I give 15 to 1 odds on this one. Changed water will melt the ice faster. 

As hard as it might be, think of water as a cooking element. We all know that what a 400 degree oven will do to ribs versus a 220 degree oven. Water is the same. A bath of 75 degree water is hotter than cooled water at 55 degrees.


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## TATTRAT (Sep 11, 2007)

Scientists, the whole lot of ya! LOL!


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