Defrosting meat safety question

[HonoluluBrew]

Last night around 9pm I put some vacuum sealed, frozen wild duck breasts in a sink full of cold water to defrost. I fell asleep and woke up at 6am to find the water gone and the birds completely defrosted.

Does anyone know if they are safe to cook now? I feel like they should be fine... Let me know if I run the risk of death.

[parkside21]

I think they would be okay...people often just leave out frozen chicken breasts on the counter (or, at least my mom did) while they are at work during the day, and would cook them when they got home. That's about the same 8 or 9 hours that you had them sitting for. But, hopefully you put them back in the fridge when you got up this morning? I dunno, I'm no expert, but I'd say they are okay....unless wild duck is that much different than chicken.

 

The more important question is....where the heck did the water go? Hopefully you just didn't put the drain in tight, and it's not some crazy dog (or roommate) you have wandering around drinking water from the sink.

 

By the way, this reminds me, did anyone see the mexican restaurant Kitchen Nightmares last night? That garbage can full of refried beans was awesome.

[HonoluluBrew]

Yeah, I threw them right in the fridge this morning.

 

The more important question is....where the heck did the water go? Hopefully you just didn't put the drain in tight, and it's not some crazy dog (or roommate) you have wandering around drinking water from the sink.

I think the drain just doesn't fully seal the bottom of the sink. I'm marinating them to cook Sunday morning for a Packer tailgate...I just don't want to make anyone sick.

[ewizabeff]

In the future, you should always defrost frozen meat in the refrigerator if it's going to be out for more than a few hours. Most food safety people wouldn't recommend defrosting something on the counter all day like a lot of our parents did.

 

This link from the USDA makes me think your food might be a little suspect.

[hawing]

Yeah, I don't want to be the downer on your tailgate, but I would think at least twice about using them.

Maybe if they'd been in cold/cool water for the whole 9 hours...but you don't know how quickly your sink drained, and accordingly you don't know how long the meat just sat there in the (presumably room temperature) sink.

[temke]

In the future, you should always defrost frozen meat in the refrigerator if it's going to be out for more than a few hours. Most food safety people wouldn't recommend defrosting something on the counter all day like a lot of our parents did.

 

This link from the USDA makes me think your food might be a little suspect.

i tried this the other day and i came home to still-frozen block of meat. thankfully it was beef that i could toss in the microwave on low.

[lodiness]

If you defrost them in the fridge, it will probably take about 2-3 days, but it is the safest way. Next would be to put the whole pack in a container and continuously run COLD water on it, so that there is an overflow of water. This is how we do quick thaws in all of the restraunts that I've worked in. The duck should be ok, was it cool in the morning when you put it in the fridge, or was it room temp? If it was room temp, I'd probably throw it. if it was still cool, I would be cautous to check for a strange odor.

[burniebrewer]

I defrost packaged steaks on the counter top all day before cooking them for dinner.

 

I'm starting to wonder about food disease and stuff after I watched Anthony Bourdain eating raw pork in China. But raw pork is supposed to kill you or something, right?

[temke]

I defrost packaged steaks on the counter top all day before cooking them for dinner.

 

I'm starting to wonder about food disease and stuff

youre still alive...right? seems to be fine! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[1992casey]

To check on this, I just texted a friend who's a restaurant manager. If the temperature of uncooked meat is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours or more, the bacteria level becomes unsafe; and the meat should be tossed.

[HonoluluBrew]

Thanks for your help everyone. In the end I decided that it was too valuable to toss, and we ate it this morning before the game. Not sick yet... (crossing my fingers)

[mothershipconnection]

Maybe it's the thrill-seeker in me, but I usually just fire up the gas grill extra hot and cook the meat a little longer than normal.

[sgtcluels]

Thanks for your help everyone. In the end I decided that it was too valuable to toss, and we ate it this morning before the game. Not sick yet... (crossing my fingers)

This sounds like a start of the pending Zombie invasion. Do you have any desire to feast upon tasty tasty human brains?

[lodiness]

I watched Anthony Bourdain eating raw pork in China. But raw pork is supposed to kill you or something, right?

It might kill you in China, but the way that pork is raised here, has actually gotten very sanitary, and they say that you can eat pork cooked to medium temp, a little pink in the middle.

[RyDogg66]

I usually slide the frozen meat under my mattress before I go to bed, and when I wake up it is nice and thawed out. Then I stick it in the fridge before I leave for work and come home and cook it up.

[Patrick425]

RyDogg66 wrote:

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I usually slide the frozen meat under my mattress before I go to bed

I'm guessing your joking?

 

We have always left our frozen meat on the counter (like our parents) while we are at work. Have eaten meat that has been thawed in this manner all my life. I have never gotten sick from it. We are not good at planning dinner 2 or 3 days out, so the fridge system doesn't work so well.