You know, one of the biggest challenges new members bring to me about the CSA is just how to thaw meat. With the ultimate convenience and availability of fresh meat in the grocery store, it’s not uncommon to find home cooks that have never had to thaw meat or with experience limited to thawing a giant frozen turkey for Thanksgiving.

Benefits of buying frozen meat

For one, grass-finished beef is a seasonal product where I farm - the grass only grows for a few months of the year and for the meat to contain maximum nutritional value in the form of omega-3s and all that other good stuff - the animal needs to consume fresh, green grass up the the last bite.

The benefit of freezing meat means I can share a season’s worth of bounty all year long. Yay!

Frozen meat also gives our members the ability to control when and how they cook their meats. When buying fresh, there’s a pretty small window of a couple days where you need to cook (or freeze) meat or it will go bad. With frozen, you decide when that clock starts!

Finally, frozen meat is so much more sanitary to transport. When members pick up their shares, there is no worry about packages leaking and making a mess all over the bag or trunk of the car or cross-contaminating other groceries. In fact, every time a member picks up their share by bike and I watch them load all the cuts of meat into their backpack or pannier, I’m SOO happy we don’t sell fresh meat. A backpack full of raw chicken just sounds messy and gross!

How to thaw frozen meats

In a few days:

Place frozen meat in the bottom drawer of the fridge (in a tray/bowl to contain messes). Most ground meats, steaks/chops and smaller packages will thaw in 1-2 days. For larger cuts like whole chickens or roasts, plan for 2-3 days to thaw.

In a day:

Lots of folks will leave meat out on the counter to thaw overnight or while at work. I totally can’t endorse this from a food safety standard but I know folks do it anyway.

TIP: Make it a habit

“I plan two home-cooked dinner per week - Tuesday and Thursday. Other days we go out to eat, eat vegetarian or leftover meals. I put meat in the fridge to thaw on Sunday and Tuesday. It’s just habit now” -Kelly

In a few hours:

My preferred method for nights when I'm short on time. For wrapped cuts, remove outer paper wrap and place frozen meat in a ziploc bag. Squeeze to remove air and seal tightly. Place in a large bowl/pot filled with warm-hot (but not hot-hot!) water. Turn frequently and change out the water when it gets cool.

TIP: Multi-task

Infuse flavor and juiciness by thawing AND marinating (or brining) at the same time. I do this every week! Remove the wrapper and place frozen meat in a ziploc bag. Adding a marinade (all meats) will season the meat as it thaws and a brine (for chicken and pork) will make the meat juicy and keep it from drying out. Thaw in the fridge or in a bowl of water.

In a few minutes:

Yes, I know the microwave is speedy but please, please don’t defrost in the microwave -  it does such a disservice to your quality, pastured meats. Not only will it dry out the meat it also makes those weird cooked bits on the corners. The only time you can really skate by with this method is cooking ground beef for crumbles. Once added to the skillet and browned, you probably won’t notice any difference in the final dish.

Don’t thaw at all:

There’s a couple instances where you can get by without thawing meat in advance. The first is to cook frozen ground beef in a skillet. As long as you are able to remove any plastic wrapping first (which sometimes gets wedged into a crease in the meat when wrapped), scoot the beef around in the pan scraping off thawed bits as you go. Adding a few tablespoons of water or covering with a lid can speed up the process too.

The next cook-from-frozen technique involves using the Instant Pot. The meat doesn’t absorb flavor as well as it would if cooked from thawed but I know, sometimes the speed and convenience is worth the sacrifice. I most commonly cook chickens (and chicken backs/bones for stock) in the IP - especially if I’m going to be tossing the meat in a final sauce.