SV is a great thawer! Set it to 68F

[smoke83340]

Hi Gang, I have been off of SMF for some time, back again and it remains a great forum. My cousin [who is married to a nationally known chef] pointed out that a SV is an amazing thawing device. Just set the temp to 68 degrees F and let her rip. Solidly frozen meat is thawed really fast.
Happy hot-tubbing!

 

[SmokinEdge]

So much for 40-140 in 4 hours or less for food safety.

 

[jcam222]

I’d have thought that would not be a super safe way to thaw meat.

 

[Bigheaded]

I’d have thought that would not be a super safe way to thaw meat.

It isn't, this is the equivalent of running meat under the faucet with it turned to warm. The FDA tells us that's very unsafe, of course I know a thousand people who have been doing it forever and I don't think any have ever gotten sick, let alone died. So there is that.

Maybe the circulation does something at the low temp? I don't think the FDA recommends defrosting meat in room temp water either though.

 

[DanMcG]

Ok , Devils advocate here.
If it takes 1 hour in the 68° bath to defrost, then immediately tossed in a hot smoker and gets the exterior 1/4" of the meat above the 140° mark in less then three hours wouldn't that still be safe according to the 40-140 in 4 rule?
I'm not a fan of warm defrosting but it also would depend on the circumstances.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I guess not the safest way but I almost always defrost in sink full of water. Usually less than a hour and take out when close to being thawed. I have used the SV but the sink works all most as fast.

 

[smoke83340]

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies - I certainly don't want to do anything dangerous or suggest that anyone else so do. I am wondering if there is any safe way to use the SV as a thawer in a restricted time curve. Perhaps there is not.
[sorry for the delay, the site was down]

 

[smoke83340]

So much for 40-140 in 4 hours or less for food safety.

As noted, I stand corrected - thank you!

 

[SmokinEdge]

As noted, I stand corrected - thank you!

Folks can get pretty hyper about food safety, but as has been mentioned, lots of people thaw with warm water and lots of people thaw with a microwave on defrost. I’m guilty of all of it. If you are going from thaw straight to cook and not slow and low, I’m guessing the SV is fine. You know, lots claim one benefit of SV is the ability to go from frozen, into the bath and cooked. The food danger side is that at about 60* bacteria wake up and multiply at a faster rate. The warmer the faster multiply up to 120* or so. If you have a clean whole muscle piece and you cook right away after thawing I’m sure you’d be fine.

 

[dls1]

I've been cooking SV many years and have never used the method to thaw an item solely for the purpose of "thawing" it. On the other hand, however, I've used SV to cook numerous items from the fully frozen state to finish, or semi-finish, countless times. Sometimes, I've done it purposefully, and other times I've done it as a back-up method when I haven't allowed enough time for an item to defrost in a more traditional manner. When I do it to a semi-finished state, the item is then finished in the smoker, oven, or grill.

With beef, pork, and lamb, I've done it with steaks, chops, loins, ribs, roasts, etc. Most recently, I did it with a 3 lb. cleaned and frozen "lump" of beef cheeks that I used for ravioli. I've also done it with frozen poultry parts, and thick cuts of frozen seafood such as halibut and swordfish.

It's worked very well every time, and I've never had a problem. Also,I've never been concerned about food safety.