Before you start to cook any dish of minced meat, it must be defrosted. There are many ways to do this. The main thing is that the semi-finished product after the procedure remains suitable for further processing. How to quickly defrost minced meat in home cooking? For those who are just starting to learn how to cook, you can offer some useful tips.

How to quickly defrost minced meat in the microwave

Nowadays, almost every housewife in the kitchen has a lot of different modern equipment. Using it, you can significantly simplify the procedure for defrosting certain products. It all depends on the time frame for which this process is necessary. Take, for example, a microwave. It most often initially provides such a function. But, before using it, you need to clearly understand how this should be done. How to quickly defrost minced meat with a regular microwave?

In this case, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Take the meat out of the packaging. Usually in a freezer, it is stored in a plastic bag or plastic tray.
  2. Place the minced meat on a special ceramic plate.
  3. Put it in the oven.
  4. Turn on the “defrost” mode on the panel, indicating the specific weight of this product, and set the desired time. After that, it remains only to press the "start" button and wait for the timer signal.

If there is no defrost function, then after the product is in the chamber, the following must be done:

  • set the device power to 50 W;
  • indicate the warm-up time within 2-3 minutes (no more).

During processing, the semi-finished product must be periodically turned over. This is necessary so that it is evenly thawed from all sides.

This method, of course, has its drawbacks:

  • incorrect calculation can lead to the fact that the minced meat is cooked outside, while remaining frozen inside;
  • the semi-finished product after processing becomes usually more rigid and dry;
  • minced fish or chicken during this time can generally be cooked.

Therefore, to use this method or not, each housewife must decide for herself.

Technology in a water bath

As practice shows, still not every housewife can boast of the presence of modern kitchen appliances in the house. How to be in this case? How to quickly defrost a product without a microwave? For such purposes, you can always use a water bath. A similar device is often used in cooking.

To create such a design, you will need two tanks:

  • pan with a wide bottom;
  • ceramic bowl (you can replace it with a second pan of a smaller size).

Now defrost the minced meat without a microwave:

  1. First you need to pour cold water into a large pot, filling it about a quarter of the volume.
  2. Remove the minced meat from the package and place in a bowl. It will be in boiling water, so it is better not to use glassware.
  3. Set the bowl inside the pan. Water should not touch the product.
  4. Put the structure on the stove and light a fire. After boiling, the flame must be adjusted so that the liquid does not enter the bowl.

In just 10 minutes, a piece of minced meat will be completely thawed. Everything will depend on the amount of semi-finished meat product.

Using salt

There are different situations in life. Sometimes defrosting is required in conditions where there is no special equipment nearby, and an ordinary stove is busy. For example, the hostess decided to cook cutlets in the country. Or she does not want to subject the semi-finished product to additional heat treatment, for fear of spoiling it. How to quickly thaw minced meat in such a situation? There is no need to despair. The issue can be resolved using ordinary dietary salt.

This is done very simply:

  1. First of all, a piece of meat should be freed from the packaging in which it is located.
  2. Use a sharp knife or kitchen hatchet to chop it into smaller pieces.
  3. Sprinkle them with salt (not more than 10 grams per 1 kilogram of product) and wait about 15-20 minutes.

This time will be enough. As you know, table salt has the ability to "melt" ice. The reaction proceeds with the release of heat. At the same time, one should not forget to turn the stuffing in a bowl from time to time so that the heating of the product takes place as evenly as possible. This method has one main drawback: the semi-finished product partially absorbs salt. Its amount may be excessive.

Defrost in a warm place

Many housewives prefer the natural thawing of the product. How to quickly defrost minced meat without using additional funds?

To do this, you must:

  1. Place the frozen product in a plastic bag and put it on a plate. Packaging is necessary so that the semi-finished product is not ventilated.
  2. Place the plate on the table or near sources of heat (battery, preheated oven).

It will take at least two hours to completely defrost the product. This method cannot be called very fast.

True, it has its advantages:

  • the product fully retains its taste;
  • the process does not require additional attention from the hostess.

This option is good in case when the hostess plans to make something from the minced meat in advance or is preparing another dish at the same time.

Quick defrost with running water

There are situations when a small amount of chopped meat is required to work. How to quickly defrost minced meat without using any special kitchen appliances? In vivo, the process takes quite a while. To speed it up, you can resort to the help of running cold water.

To do this:

  • Put frozen minced meat in a bag and tie it tightly. It is better to use packaging with a “fastener”.

Place the product bag under a tap with running water.After 20 minutes, the mince will be ready for further use.

As in other options, this method also has its drawbacks:

  • after such processing, the consistency of the semi-finished product changes, and it becomes not as dense as before;
  • if the product is poorly packaged, water can penetrate inside, which will negatively affect its quality.

Do not use warm or hot water for such defrosting. Firstly, meat will lose its taste due to partial coagulation of protein. Secondly, at an elevated temperature, bacteria will quickly begin to multiply in it.

How to quickly defrost minced fish

The situation with seafood is somewhat different. If you take, for example, minced fish, then it is better to defrost it naturally. To do this, put the semi-finished product in the tray and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. True, time for such a procedure will require a lot. Everything will depend on the mass of the original product. What to do if time is limited? How to defrost minced meat from fish meat as quickly as possible? Not every of the options described above is suitable here.

Specialists advise defrosting minced meat or fish fillet:

  1. In cold water. To do this, put the product in a bag with a “clasp” and put it in a pan with cold water. The procedure takes from 1 to 3 hours. In this case, it is advisable to change the liquid every 30 minutes.
  2. Under running water. In this case, minced fish should be wrapped in several plastic bags so that moisture does not in any way touch the product itself.
  3. In the microwave. Having placed a plate with the product inside the camera, on the panel you must first set the “auto-defrost” mode, and then “fish” (or “seafood”). But here you have to be very careful. An extra minute of such processing can lead to the fact that the stuffing is simply boiled.

In general, during operation, do not forget that the fish semi-finished product is more tender than the meat one. Therefore, you need to work with him very carefully.

In a slow cooker or in the oven

In principle, for defrosting, you can use any kitchen equipment that involves heating the product. It can even be an oven or a crock-pot. The main thing is to follow certain rules during work. How to quickly defrost minced meat, for example, in the oven?

To do this, you need:

  1. Remove the original product from the packaging and put into any heat-resistant cookware (chicken bowl, stewpan and other).
  2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. This temperature will be quite enough.
  3. Put the container with minced meat in the oven for 5 minutes. Previously, you can pour 40-60 milliliters of water into it.

In the case of a multicooker, everything is much simpler:

  1. Stuffing must first be separated from the packaging.
  2. Put it in the multicooker bowl.
  3. Set the mode "steaming" and monitor the end of the process, periodically turning over the semi-finished product. The time will depend on the size of the piece taken.

Any of the options described is good in its own way. The final decision regarding the application of a particular defrosting method, of course, is to be taken by the hostess herself.

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