Don’t take the slow road when thawing frozen chicken

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Q: I was planning to cook diced chicken for fried rice when I got home, but I forgot to thaw the boneless chicken breasts. I put them in the slow cooker with some broth so they would thaw and cook while I was at work. Was that the right thing to do?

A: Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It’s never a good idea to put frozen chicken in a slow cooker. The cooker is designed to cook at a lower temperature, so the frozen center of the chicken could stay at an unsafe temperature for too long, increasing the risk that bacteria would grow.

There are only three ways recommended to thaw chicken: In the refrigerator, in cold water and in the microwave. If you use the microwave, you must be able to cook the thawed chicken immediately because some areas will get warm enough for bacterial growth. The refrigerator takes planning ahead, because it can take as long as 24 hours to thaw even boneless chicken, and a couple of days for a whole, bone-in chicken.

Submerging smaller cuts of bagged or wrapped meat in cold water is the simplest way to thaw. It works quickly, usually thawing skinless, boneless chicken in 30 minutes or so.

Since you were away from home all day, the best choice in this case probably would have to move the chicken breasts to the refrigerator before you left. They wouldn’t have been completely thawed by the end of the day, but they would have softened enough to easily cut them into bite-size pieces. Then you could have sauteed them or microwaved them to cook them and continue with your fried rice.