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I had forgotten about this until recently (having to do with my Beef Jerky experiments).
Years ago on TV someone was advertising some kind of magical defrosting board that would defrost meats much faster than just putting them on the counter. My dad bought one. It did indeed work, but I don't know if it was worth the whatever they charged for it.
Anyway, since then I found out that placing frozen meats on heat conductive material (metal) defrosts faster than meats just put on a plate. I thought about this for my last batch of jerky.
I want to have the jerky partially frozen (because I'm using formed meat, not steak slices, and it's easier to cut properly when properly frozen). I don't feel like hanging out, at least not at the experimental stage, until it's properly "partially" frozen, so I just fully freeze it and then defrost and pull it when I think it's right.
Last time I just defrosted on a plate. It took hours to defrost - even partially - a half-inch slab of hamburger.
This time I put it on a metal pan. It was just a regular frying pan. The more conductive, the better. I checked it after two hours and it was FULLY defrosted. I had to put it back into the freezer.
Anyway, long story short, metal conducts the heat (or cold), better metal (like a Le Creuset, which I didn't use this time) works even better, and if you put your meat in a frying pan, or anything with any heft to it (I used a non-stick pan, not very thick), it works VERY well. Meat defrosts in at least half the time of normal, if not more, than just putting it on a plate or board or anything that doesn't have the ability to conduct the temp away (or in).
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