Why do we have to thaw frozen meat slowly instead of just throwing it on heat?
In: Biology
It takes time for heat to go through the meat. Once you start heating it on the outside the inside is still cold. Turning up the heat will just cause it to burn on the outside as the heat does not move much faster to the inside. It takes a lot of energy to thaw something so this is going to slow down the cooking time even further. You have to wait for the outside to thaw, then the layer inside that, and then the center. If you just heat the outside while it is still thawing inside then you can burn the steak on the outside and it may still be frozen in the middle, or at least pretty raw.
This is why a lot of meat recipes call for taking your time. Both in thawing the meat before cooking it and also to let it rest after you have cooked it. The inside may still be cooking as it is increasing in temperature for some time after the outside is already done and taken off the heat. The practice of sous-vide is taking this even further and cooks the meat on a low temperature for very long. This allows time for the heat to go through the meat to the centre so it is all at the same temperature. You do not have to thaw the meat beforehand but it will affect the cooking time.
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