Defrosting fail

[rikibeth]

A five pound block of frozen shrimp does not defrost to any noticeable extent when left in the walk-in overnight.

So beer battered rock shrimp was the LAST thing I did today.

Today I tried the Baja Burger -- avocado, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, chipotles en adobo, and melted jack. Not quite as wonderful as I'd hoped -- the chipotles overwhelmed the avocado more than I wanted them to. I might try a chicken burger done Baja style at some point -- I think that the flavors would work better. I still have a couple of burgers to try on the menu before I start branching out to appetizers, entrees, and customizing things, though.

I found out why my feet are getting soggy -- the SOLE on my left work boot is cracked. Well, I got four years out of that pair, hard daily use... that's not great, but it's not bad considering I bought them gently used, and I was crap about maintaining them.

eternaleponine is watching High School Musical 2 on the Disney Channel. I don't know WHY. At least I have alcohol.

Comments

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

put them in a colander under running water and they'll bee done in no time

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

no, we do that and they still take forever to defrost

Caveat chef

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

It takes roughly 100 times more heat to transform the frozen shrimp to thawed shrimp than it does to raise the temperature of the shrimp the last degree before that transformation and the next degree afterwards. This is part of why water is so much better than air at defrosting a mess of shrimp. Other reasons have to do with efficiencies related to the surface area contacted, etc.

You could try putting that 5 lb block of shrimp into, say 20 lb (2.5 gal) of water that is maybe as many degrees above freezing as the freezer is below freezing.

This is mostly a physical chemistry problem, and is dependent on how much water (vs fat and protein) is actually in the shrimp. I'm betting it's similar to poultry.

I'm also presuming that the frozen bunch of shrimp is in plastic.

Re: Caveat chef

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

The caveat is, if the temp needed above is warmer than you're comfortable with, add more water at a temp you're OK with. Try not to go too much warmer than the walkin's ambient temp either. Every degree warmer the water is than we really need will result in 4 degrees warmer shrimp.

Re: Caveat chef

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

The walkin is or should be at 40F. The shrimp should absolutely not be left in water warmer than 40F overnight. Will sticking them in a bucket of cold water overnight in the walkin still be more effective than just leaving them on a shelf? I'm just hoping to reduce the amount of time they spend under the faucet the next day.

Riddle me this: frozen lobster defrosts much quicker!

Re: Caveat chef

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. The bucket of water will help regardless of what temp the water is. You could put the (half full) bucket in the walkin first thing in the morning, and the shrimp in the water as you walk out the door and it will help. (more efficient transfer of heat, etc.)

Lobster defrosts faster because it is higher in fat, lower in water. Think about how fast butter defrosts.

It's all entropy.

Re: Caveat chef

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

Experiment.
Equipment
1 5lb block ice in deep freeze.
1 5gal bucket half full of cold water in walkin overnight

place ice in bucket at beginning of shift.

notice when the ice disappears.

Re: Caveat chef

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Put them in a bucket of cool water (35-40F) and they will defrost.

Put them in without, and it will take about two days.