Today, most people love to cook food from frozen, and it’s for the right reasons — it can save you lot of time and money. But have you considered how safe it is to cook frozen meats? If you haven’t, this post will enlighten you. We’re going to explore how safe it is to cook your favourites including meat products, fish, chicken, and bacon. Enjoy!
Cooking Meat from frozen.
It’s entirely safe to cook meat products from frozen. However, you need to cook the meat thoroughly before serving. Just be sure that it reaches a core temperature of 70°C for up to two minutes — doing this will help eliminate any harmful bacteria.
Tip: it’s sure to be an excellent idea to freeze your meat in diced pieces, this will help it cook through with ease.
Is it safe to cook Fish from frozen?
Wondering if you can cook frozen fish without thawing it? Well, you can! You can steam, grill, roast or sauté fish from frozen.
Here are simple steps to follow:
- Start by rinsing the fish with water so the frost and ice can be washed away
- Now, dry it gently with a paper towel
- You can brush the fish with a bit of olive oil and seasoning
- Then just cook it as you usually do until it is heated through.
Is it safe to cook Chicken from frozen?
So what about chicken? Can you cook it from frozen? Well, the answer is not as straightforward as you expect it to be. For starters, you can cook small pieces of frozen sliced or diced chicken on the stove top. As usual, you need to ensure that it reaches a core temperature of 70°C for at least two minutes — this way, any harmful bacteria will be destroyed.
It’s also good to point out that large pieces of chicken, chicken breasts and whole frozen birds can be cooked in the oven, but you should know that it will take a longer cooking time compared to thawed chicken. When it comes to cooking chicken directly from frozen, you should consider baking or roasting. Why? Well, it’s only because these methods will help heat the chicken quickly enough to inhibit harmful bacteria growth.
So can you cook a whole chicken or large pieces of chicken from frozen? Well, you can, but it’s not recommended. You will need to thaw the poultry first simply because the cooking time will not be sufficient to ensure that the poultry reaches the recommended temperature of 70°C. If it doesn’t reach this core temperature, you’ll find that only the outside of the chicken will cook — the centre will still be frozen, and this will inadvertently lead to the growth of dangerous bacteria. Moreover, it’s ill-advised to cook chicken from frozen in a slow cooker primarily because of insufficiently high temperatures — pretty sure you know what comes next; the growth of harmful bacteria including salmonella.
Is it safe to cook Bacon from frozen?
Frozen bacon can be cooked directly. You only need to fry it on a low heat until the rashers start to separate. Now, slightly increase the heat and continue to fry the separated pieces until properly cooked. It’s also good to know that it is entirely safe to cook other types of frozen pork on the stove, under the grill or in the oven. The only thing is that you’ll have to wait a bit longer for it to get ready — it takes a longer time to cook compared to thawed pork.
And that’s it! As you can see, meat can be cooked from frozen — you only need to ensure that it reaches the core temperature of 70°C. However, It’s also important to note that large pieces of meat or poultry cannot be cooked from frozen — they must be properly thawed before use. This is because such joints are not likely to reach the recommended temperature in the cooking process and that increases the risk of contamination. Happy cooking!