I started thawing a thick cut of London Broil (maybe 1.5 lbs) in cold water and then I realized I didn’t want to start cooking it yet. I’ve moved it to the fridge.
While thawing in cold water, I had not sealed the meat completely in a zipper bag, but instead wrapped it in cling wrap. It was pretty well covered (double wrapped), but some water may have gotten in and it wasn’t sealed off entirely from the air. (Research has left me concerned that this may have been bad)
Is this a problem?
Background info: In total it was out of the freezer in cold water for maybe 45 minutes, and the outside has begun to thaw. I’ve put it back in the fridge after washing the container it was in with soap and hot water.
I plan to cook it in a crock pot for 8 hours after browning it on the stove top.
Best Answer
Safely? Yes.
Cold water thaws are fine. It's hot or warm water thawing that's bad.
Cold running water will thaw faster than cold still water, but cold still water is okay as you basically have a giant ice cube in the water (the thing you're thawing), so the water stays at a safe temperature until you're towards the end of the thaw ... it just takes a really long time compared to thaw running water.
The only issue here would be the meat getting wet. If it's clean water, and you don't drip it on other things it shouldn't be a problem from a safety standpoint. It can change the quality of the food being thawed (wash away flavors, cause the food to absorb too much water), so if you're going to do it intentionally, it can be worth adding salt to brine the item being thawed.
So, from a safety standpoint, what you're doing is fine ... so long as your fridge temp is set well.