Boneless chicken breast portions were thawed by submersion in hot water (60 C) and compared to
refrigerator thawing. Thawing in hot water was significantly quicker (2–8.5 min) than refrigerator thawing
(10–15.5 h). Thawing time in hot water increased with an increase in meat thickness. Sensory panelists
could not distinguish a difference between hot water versus refrigerator thawed and subsequently
grilled chicken breast portions. A model for Salmonella growth predicts that thawing chicken breast at
the slowest rate in this study (0.5 C/min) would result in a lower increase in the Salmonella concentration
than that expected for room temperature storage for 4 h.
2008 Elsev