Is it possible to cook frozen chicken right away or do I need to thaw

Putting chicken for storage in the freezer is convenient, but then the question arises, how to cook this frozen chicken? Do I need to defrost it before throwing it in the soup? This is not necessary, especially if the product has been properly prepared.

When freezing is not a hindrance

What is the right preparation? The answer is very simple: before filling the freezer, the chicken needs to be cleaned of feather residues, butcher, if you want less fat, remove the skin. For second courses, it is recommended to remove the meat from the bone. Then the pieces need to be laid out in different containers or packages, sign the expiration date and put on shelves.

Tip
The drier the surface of the future workpiece after rinsing and the less “juice” has time to leak during the freezing process, the better the semi-finished product.

Such a pre-prepared product does not need to be defrosted - just run it in cold water and cook. It will not affect the taste or quality of the finished dish.

What is the effect of ice

Frozen chicken is cooked in the same way as chilled, with one exception: the meat will need more time, on average, 1.5 times to cook completely. Nevertheless, the soup on the table will be noticeably faster than when defrosting.

The second nuance: ice chicken still cools the water and does not let it boil longer. Accordingly, if you cook soup in a slow cooker, set a 1.5-2 times longer work interval, otherwise the chicken will not cook or the broth will turn out not saturated.

Be sure the chicken in the slow cooker should boil - since the appliance is heated slowly and then simmers the soup (due to this the effect “from the oven” is obtained), there remains a risk that the meat will multiply and then harmful microorganisms will not die. Therefore, the magazine purityis.decorexpro.com/en/ recommends choosing the “Multipovar” program or first “Cooking”, let the chicken boil, remove the foam, and then activate the “Soup” cycle.

Tip
Do not rely on the timer completely, and check the readiness of the chicken with a fork. The raw product will be more difficult to pierce, juice will be released from the puncture, which will immediately give foam.

When a chicken needs to be defrosted

There are several cases when defrosting is required:

• when the frozen portion is too large - you need to let it thaw slightly, separate the right amount, and immediately hide the residue back into the freezer;
• when the skin is not previously removed, and in a dish it is useless (for example, you need a diet dish with a minimum of fat);
• when a portion is frozen so that it does not lie in the dishes and sticks out above the water;
• if you intend to fry or stew the chicken - excess juice will ruin the dish, therefore, it is recommended to let the meat thaw and cook, then rinse, dry with paper towels and cook.

Important
Re-freezing is categorically unacceptable, therefore it is so important to divide the chicken into portions in advance. In the opposite case, it is preferable to put the entire stock into cooking immediately, for example, making soup from the neck, back and wings, salad from the brisket and stewed potatoes with chicken legs.

How to defrost

After thawing, the chicken will not lose its taste or shape, if you follow simple recommendations:

1. Thaw the product slowly, preferably in the refrigerator or on the balcony. In a microwave or oven, there is a high risk of drying meat or baking at all. This will negatively affect the final dish. In the room - a good option if there are no cats / dogs and the air is cool enough, otherwise the chicken will die soon after it melts. A good place is the windowsill on the north or west side.
2. Free the product from the bag, film, remove it from the container onto a plate - this will speed up defrosting.
3. Do not force defrosting with a jet of water: these meat sprays are not hygienic, and the meat will become watery.
4. Put the chicken in the dishes with the sides: quite a lot of liquid drains from it. It will be bad if everything spills on the products below.
5. To protect the chicken during thawing on the table from pets, cover the product with a microwave cap.

Feel free to buy chicken for free and freeze. In this form, it retains all the useful qualities from 2 to 5 months with the standard mode in the freezer. Thawing the bird before cooking is not necessary - for the chicken, place the chicken without defrosting. This is extremely convenient if you need a dish today for lunch, and not tomorrow for breakfast.