Eli5: Why does it take hours for frozen ground beef to thaw on the counter but just minutes if left in a bowl of cool water?
In: 6
Air vs water. Everything has a property called “thermal conductivity” which basically measures how well something can move heat around. The thermal conductivity of water is ~20x that of air. The water is dethawing it 20x faster than air. But I’d say “just a few minutes” is a bit of an exaggeration, it can still take a fair bit of time.
This is the same reason why a pool at room temperature feels cold when air at room temperature feels fine.
Because water takes away the cold faster than air. Air is a great isolator. Hence why we have a blanket with air in it, double walls with air in between, and so forth. Air is a slow medium to transfer temperature. And thus perfect for isolating.
Water facilitates the transferral of energy much faster than air.
Heat is simply a measure of how jiggly the particles in a material are….
The jigglier, the warmer.
Water facilitates convection currents and the transfer of jiggly energy into the meat.
The opposite happens to your body in an ice-bath… your body cools down because jiggly heat energy from your body gets transferred to the ice-water.
Heat moves from things that are warm to things that are cold. Air is usually warmer than the meat and so is water. So the frozen meat absorbs heat from the surrounding air and defrosts.
Water carries heat a lot better than air. Thus why 120+ degree F air is uncomfortable but 120+ degree water will cause burns. So the water will give me heat to warm up and defrost the meat in the same time span.
Put your hand in a 200 degree oven. Easy. Put your hand in a 200 degree pot of water. (Okay don’t). See what I mean?
Water transfers heat better than air.
This is off question but I must point out that the safe way to defrost mest is usually left in the refrigerator. Leaving meat out to defrost may not be safe or using water to defrost it. I had a very nasty bout of food poisoning 3 whole days of sheer agony in the hosp ER. ✌be safe✌
Thanks to all you scientists for explaining it like I’m 5!
Kitchen tip: if you have an aluminum/nonstick skillet or cooking dish, set it facing down on the counter, then set the frozen meat on top. The aluminum, being a good conductor of heat, will help the meat defrost much faster.
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