Why is it important to defrost food thoroughly before you cook it?

Answer 1

It's not necessarily important, the food will just cook faster if you do so. If you're following a recipe that says to cook fully defrosted chicken for 30 min and you leave it frozen, then you will have to cook it longer than the estimated time.

Answer 2

That depends on what you are planning to do with the meat. Smaller pieces can often be cooked from frozen - such as burgers or steaks. Larger pieces, when thawed, will take seasoning better, cook more evenly and will take less time to cook.

The above advice, while technically true in some cases, can be misconstrued with very very bad results.

When you have thicker pieces of meat, such as a big chicken breast, the internal temperature of the meat can still be very low and/or completely uncooked while the exterior of the meat is is cooked to a char.

Even with thawed meet, the temperature in the center of a piece of meat can remain at a dangerously low level if cooked improperly. Not thawing meat first dramatically increases the possibility of this.

Answer 3

Something that is frozen solid might not cook right and would take longer to cook. So it could be half cooked but the insides could still be raw/frozen. Food needs to heat to a certain temp to be safe to eat because of bacteria. Food must be kept at a safe temperature during thawing. Foods are safe for very long periods while frozen. As soon as food begins to become warm, any bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to grow. This could make you sick. Foods should never be thawed on the counter, or defrosted in hot water. The outside could be at a dangerous temp, perfect for bacteria, while the inside could still be at a safe temp.There are safe ways to defrost food, in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave. Do not refreeze food once it thaws

Answer 4

So the food cooks more evenly. If a roast is cooked from frozen, the center will take much longer to reach the desired temperature. The exterior could be overdone and dry. Some foods can cooked from frozen - like veggies, fish fillets, steaks and other portioned items.

Answer 5

pork caus if it is not defrosted it will not cook properly and therefore can make you sick(very very very very very very very sick)

Answer 6

Meat is thawed to defrost it, lets face it if something is frozen it will not cook, so you have to remove it from its icy stage before putting it on the stove

Answer 7

A pple sawes i know it sounds stupid but truted me it is right i hread it from a lot of great chefs

Answer 8

You defrost your food so that when you cook it, its thawed and isn't forzen