Frozen Meat?

[polygonia]

I have 2 frozen hunks of corned beef in the freezer.
Do I have to thaw it out before putting them in the crock pot?

Comments

[giglet]

On Monday, I put a hunk of frozen corned beef (and the spices) into a crock, and covered with water. Cooked on high until the water was simmering (about 3 hours), then low for about 4 more hours. Worked pretty well!

[rachelk121]

i'd thaw the corned beef... last time i cooked a corned beef frozen it turned out chewy

[ginalin]

I never thaw anything..the pot takes care of it. Just cook it longer!

[rubykins02]

From a texture standpoint you may be better off to thaw the meat. In terms of safety, as long as you make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked (to at least 165 degrees F) throughout before tasting/eating any of it you should be fine. Many times it is recommended not to use frozen meat, because the meat stays in the "danger zone" where illness causing bugs can multiply rapidly, for a long time. The key here is that, if you make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked through, all those nasty bugs that could make you ill, will have been killed by heating it high enough. Just don't be tempted to taste it until you check to make sure the meat is completely cooked through.

[renfairewench]

I usually throw frozen items in the crock pot because I leave at 6:00 a.m. and do not return until 6:00 p.m. The crockpot is set for the longest duration of 10 hours and it automatically keeps the stuff warm once the cook time is done. By throwing in items frozen I kinda feel like it slows down the cooking time. I've never killed anyone yet by doing this. I find that if I have a long cook time and have used thawed meat, the meat can sometimes come out too dry. I don't really experience that with frozen meat though.