I Tested a Hack for Thawing Meat Quickly—Here’s Why I’d Never Do It Again

Whether you forgot to take the ground beef out of your freezer in advance or you’re switching up your dinner menu at the last minute, sometimes you need to defrost meat ASAP. One quick trick you may have seen people recommend online is to place frozen meat on a sheet of metal and leave it on the counter, which reportedly thaws it much faster than letting it sit on a standard dinner plate at room temperature. I’m a contributing analyst and writer in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab, where we’re always testing methods to make meal prep quicker, so I put this hack to the test to see if it earns its mettle—and if it’s safe.

Metals like aluminum conduct heat well, and the theory is that a metal baking sheet speeds up defrosting by absorbing a room’s natural heat and transferring it to the food. To find out whether meat really thaws faster on metal than on a plate (and whether it’s safe), I placed 1 pound of frozen ground beef on an uncoated metal baking sheet and 1 pound on a ceramic dinner plate. Both sat on a countertop in our Lab on a 73°F day. Every 30 minutes, I used an infrared thermometer to check the surface temperature on both sides of each package. I considered the meat thawed when a meat thermometer probe slid easily into its center.

Yes. In our test, the ground beef on an aluminum baking sheet thawed 90 minutes faster than the beef on a ceramic plate.

But, there’s a caveat...neither method is technically considered safe when it comes to food safety rules.

The USDA says perishable food shouldn’t be thawed on the counter or left at room temperature for more than two hours because bacteria can multiply rapidly between 40°F and 140°F.

Both sets of frozen meat sat on the counter for a minimum of three hours and were above 40°F when they finished thawing.

• At the start: The surface temperature on top of both 1-pound packages of frozen ground beef measured 2.5°F. The bottom of the beef on the baking sheet measured 10.1°F, compared with 3.9°F for the beef on the plate.
• After 30 minutes: The ice coating under the beef on the metal sheet had melted, and the meat was beginning to soften. The beef on the ceramic plate remained quite frozen.
• After two hours: The beef on the metal sheet had softer edges and released more juice when turned. The beef on the ceramic plate was still firmer.
• After three hours: The beef on the metal sheet was fully thawed, with a center temperature of 31°F. The surface measured 44.6°F on top and 53.6°F on the bottom.
• After four and a half hours: The beef on the plate had finally thawed—90 minutes after the beef on the metal sheet.

Though the hack is fast, it isn’t the safest way to defrost meat. For a safer quick thaw:

• Use the microwave: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to defrost meat and then cook the meat immediately after thawing.
• Use cold water: Put the meat in a sealed zip-top bag, submerge it in cold water, and change the water every 30 minutes. Cook it as soon as it’s thawed.
• Plan ahead: Thaw meat in the refrigerator, where it can stay at a safe, constant temperature.

Defrosting meat on metal is definitely faster than using a ceramic plate, but thawing meat on the counter isn’t considered safe and can promote harmful bacterial growth. Use the refrigerator, cold water, or the microwave instead.

Mark Marino is a writer, food editor, and product tester with more than seven years of experience in digital food media. In addition to testing whether meat defrosts faster on metal, he has tested multiple single-serve coffee makers since becoming a contributing analyst in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab.