this is safe to do. Meat is cooked at temperatures that kill all potential bacteria and parasites, even for steaks cooked medium rare.
this is generally done with the meat still in the packaging, unless there's a dedicated place to thaw meat. The thawing container is washed before and after each use.
it's always done with cold, running water to prevent the meat from thawing unevenly or unsafely.

[–] Johnhones 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In my experience, we left it in the packaging, and also the taps continued running as that helped speed it along. Strictly in cold water.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

That sound marginally better but honestly I've never experienced a kitchen where it would be okay to thaw meat outside the fridge. This might be a Danish thing, but if the health inspector came by and saw that, the restaurant would probably get fined.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yep, that's how my kitchen did it.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Having worked in several professional kitchens, I have to debunk this. You don't throw unpacked, raw meat into a zink (with or without water) to thaw it. You leave it in the fridge, preferably in a closed container until it's thawed. leaving it out in room temperature makes it a feast for bacteria.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've helped thaw chicken in cold water when I worked in a kitchen. Like I said though, we did it in a substantially cleaner container dedicated to the purpose of thawing meat. It was a giant pot meant for cooking pasta.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I did it in a pork packing plant. Same thing, but in a cooler room. Clean containers ofc

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hopefully in a clean container though?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Lol yes it was, we cleaned it before and after each batch of meat

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Which restaurant is that? Just want to know so I can avoid spending the day in the toilet vomiting and shitting.

[–] agamemnonymous 5 points 1 year ago

ServSafe, who does industry standard food safety certifications, condones defrosting frozen foods this way, submerged in cool running water. It's perfectly safe, although the method shown in the original picture will require cleaning the whole sink as raw. As stated, usually this is done with the food wrapped in plastic and placed in a smaller container.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

this is safe to do. Meat is cooked at temperatures that kill all potential bacteria and parasites, even for steaks cooked medium rare.
this is generally done with the meat still in the packaging, unless there's a dedicated place to thaw meat. The thawing container is washed before and after each use.
it's always done with cold, running water to prevent the meat from thawing unevenly or unsafely.
I was working in my college cafeteria.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I just wanted to make sure you know that food poisoning happens even when all microorganisms are already dead. Some bacterial toxins are resistant to high temperatures and can still cause disease even after their source has been killed. That's why cooking something that's been sitting around in warm or room temperature doesn't make it safe to eat, even though it makes of safer than not cooking it.