# Cooking frozen food without thawing

> Straight into the cooking, heat or oven a little lower, and half as long again. What you never do is thaw on the counter.

## The essentials

Almost everything frozen cooks straight away, without thawing: vegetables, fish portions, ground beef patties, shrimp, bread. It takes longer, and that is all. Counting half as long again is the usual landmark. The freezer then becomes a real pantry, and an evening without shopping is no longer a problem.

## The one thing to know

Straight into the cooking, heat or oven a little lower, and half as long again. What you never do is thaw on the counter.

## The method

1. Vegetables: straight into boiling water, the hot pan or the oven, without thawing. Two more minutes in water, two or three more in the pan, five more in the oven.
2. A fish portion: in the oven at 200 °C (400 °F), twenty-two to twenty-five minutes instead of fifteen. In the pan, medium heat instead of high, with a lid, twelve minutes instead of seven. Salt afterwards, salt does not stick to frost.
3. A ground beef patty: in the pan, medium heat, four to five minutes per side instead of three. It is eaten well done, with no pink.
4. Cooked shrimp: five minutes in a bowl of cold water, drained, and they are ready.
5. Big pieces, a whole chicken, a roast: they are not cooked from frozen, the outside burns before the centre cooks. They thaw in the fridge, the day before, in a dish.

## The landmarks

- Vegetables, herbs, fruit: straight in, no thawing, always.
- Fish portions, ground beef patties, meatballs, nuggets, fries: straight in, heat a little lower, half as long again.
- Whole chicken, roast, big pieces: in the fridge the day before.
- Bread, pastry, pizza: straight into the oven, or the toaster for bread.
- A frozen sauce or soup: on low heat in a pot with a splash of water, lid on, stirring now and then.

## How long it takes

The normal time plus half. A fish portion, twenty-five minutes in the oven instead of fifteen, and still no shopping.

## If it goes wrong

Cooked outside and cold in the centre: the heat was too high. Lid on, low heat, five more minutes. The fish released a lot of water in the pan: that is normal, drain it halfway and finish on higher heat. The vegetables are soft: they waited in the water, drain right away next time.

## Make it tonight

Shrimp in curry and coconut milk: if your shrimp are frozen, five minutes in cold water and the recipe carries on as if nothing happened.

## Safety

Never thaw at room temperature: in the fridge, in cold water, or straight into cooking. A raw product that has thawed is not refrozen, unless it was cooked in between.

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Source : disheazy, https://disheazy.com/bases/cooking-frozen-food-without-thawing