Question: What Is the Safest Way to Thaw Frozen Meat?
Summary: Often when you buy meat products at the grocery store you freeze them to make them last until they are ready for use. But they come out of the freezer frozen solid, and must be thawed before use. In this experiment we will compare 3 different thawing techniques, and see which results in the least bacteria in the meat once it is thawed.
Materials Needed:
(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)
Bottle of Purified Water
Clean Chopping Board
Clean Knife
Refrigerator
Chicken Breast Bought Cold from Supermarket
Permanent Marker
Project Procedure:
1. Prepare 3 Petri dishes using agar and store them in a refrigerator. The Petri dishes are brought to room temperature before the start of experiment by taking them out of the refrigerator, label the Petri dishes as “Room temperature”, “Fridge” and “Microwave”.
2. Using a knife and a chopping board, cut out 3 equal cubes of chicken meat. Keep the chicken cubes inside the freezer for a day.
3. The next day, the 3 pieces of frozen chicken cubes are removed from the freezer. Remove the 3 cubes of frozen chicken from the freezer the next day. Keep the 1st cube of chicken in the fridge for the next 12 hours to thaw . Leave The 2nd piece of chicken at the kitchen counter for the next 4 hours to thaw at room temperature. Use the microwave to thaw the 3rd piece of chicken.
4. Label the 3 beakers as “Room Temperature ”, “Fridge” and “Microwave”. Pour 100 ml of disinfected water into each beaker and soak the thawed meat in it, according to the labels on the beaker for ten minutes. Wash the swab with sterilized water and dip it into the beaker. Swipe the swab at the center of the agar surface according to the label on the beaker and Petri dish
5. Cover the Petri dishes and keep them in a cool, shaded place for the bacteria to grow, for the next 5 days.
6. Measure the diameter of the bacteria colony growth after 5 days and record it in the table provided below.
| Thawing method | Outside | Fridge | Microwave |
| Bacteria growth (mm) |
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