[Sca-cooks] Room Temperature

[Stefan li Rous]

Anahita asked:
> How long do you leave something out of the refrigerator until it
> comes to room temperature.
>
> I realize that there are variables, such as how cold the item was to
> begin with (a fridge can range from, what? 34 to 40 degrees
> Fahrenheit?), and what the temperature of the room is (since it's
> winter, my current room temperature is around 64 degrees).

I think you left off one even more important variable. How big the frozen
chunk of meat is. It will take longer to thaw a side of beef or a turkey than
a chicken. I think how cold the food is, if below freezing, will have a
negligable effect compared to the mass to surface area ratio. Something above
freezing will warm much quicker in the same enviornment than something that is
below freezing because it takes extra energy to get past the frozen to
non-frozen phase change.

Unless you are trying to thaw something before a particular deadline, I

think the more important question is going to be how long the meat stays

in the bacterial growth range. But others on this list can comment much

better on this than I.
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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