I DON'T want to poison my family!

I think every refrigerator has a defrost compartment where you can put in the frozen chicken few hours or overnight and put it inside that compartment. The chicken will not be too solid when you are ready to chop it up.

Normally you wouldn't want to leave it out more than 2 hours. Or any meat or dairy product...

Is it a whole chicken? Chicken portions? I cook chicken from the frozen state all the time. Frozen chicken pieces can be placed in the crock pot and they turn out delicious. You could certainly boil the chicken and use the cooked meat for chicken salad, casseroles, chicken & noodles, etc. I think if I absolutely had to defrost it I would do it in the microwave or throw it in the refrigerator for tomorrow night.

That is a very dangerous way to thaw meat or poultry. If you cannot thaw it in a microwave then it is much safer to thaw it out in cold water just keep changing the water.

You could put it in warm water for a while or if you have a microwave you could defrost it a little. I have defrosted chicken and turkey in their store packages for a few hours in water or on the counter. Just keep checking to see that it is still cold but getting softer.

I have always taken my frozen meats out of the freezer and set them in the fridge for about 2-3 hrs and if they have not defrosted by then, I put then in the sink and fill it with luke warm water. This usually helps to get it nice and thawed by the time I want to cook it :)

Having worked the food industry I know that the best way to thaw out any meat in the fridge. If as you have forgotten it should be defrosted in COLD water NEVER EVER WARM water. There are three safe ways to defrost food. Place the chicken in a water proof plastic bag and submerge in very cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes or so. A 3- to 4-pound package may take 2 to 3 hours. I personally don't like the microwave method. Go down to water thawing meats http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

I don't leave poultry on the counter at all. Its easy to thaw it in the microwave. Good luck and hope you get lots of help.

I am sorry I am a month late . what my mom does is take the chicken out of the freezer athe night before and she woulf put it in the fridge.It would defrost overnight. BB By the time she was ready to cook , the chicken was defrosted. The chicken would have been in the fridge for at least 18 -24 hours.

I am probably too late for this, but what I do is fill the sink up with cold water and soak the chicken, changing the water every hour or so..It slowly defrosts the meat, but usually it is ready to go by dinnertime..

I wouldn't leave it on the counter at all. When I want to use frozen chicken for dinner, I put it in a pot of water and bring it to a boil and then turn it down to medium. When it is 'soft' I take it out and finish cooking it in the oven, roaster or frying pan, whatever I want. And it always comes out more tender and juicy......

Hi koala' I normally put things like that in the microwave and thaw it out then run it under cold water to make sure the ice or water is off whatever it maybe I am cooking...it does the trick for me nd I haven't had food poisoning....littleowl

i don't believe u are going to do that. i always put my chicken in cold salty water before i cook it. that helps thaw it but i have left it out all morning to get it to thaw.

I am thinking that you could safely leave it on the counter until it is a little softer but of course you don't want it exposed to the air for too long because of course you don't want any poisoning involved. How about this idea. Why not just have something else for dinner? Say something that is not frozen or maybe order something in tonight.

If I were you, I would have used defrosting option of microwave. Then you could try to keep in the lower compartment of the fridge for 2 hours and leave in the open water(Remove the packing)for one hour. To make it very quickly, I would drop everything into warm water and wash again and again. I have done that and it works.

hi hatley here I usually put my frozen chicken in some hot water for about an hour or more, never leave it out more than two hours, usually doesnt take that long to thaw, once thawed if its too long before I need to start cooking it I put it back in the fridge. I am always very careful with chicken as they are usually full of germs anyway. I always thoroughly wash my chicken under hot water before I start cooking it,no matter what method of cooking I use. happy cooking and mylotting.

Actually, you are supposed to pull it out to thaw the night before. Technically you can do it several hours in advance, but it may not fully thaw then. It is best to leave it out overnight or at least in the morning. If you don't know how to cook it properly, then you shouldn't be preparing it. I would recommend taking some sort of course to learn these things as this won't be the first time you will need it.

Hi Koalatbs, Cover it and leave in the fridge overnight, that should be ok or you can cover it and leave on the counter overnight too and then cook it the very next day. Tamara

I've never been fond of leaving meat on the counter, for just that reason. I love the microwave, but it doesn't work on chicken. What does work on chicken is water. Trust me, I've done this before!! Cut open the top of the bag, or just put all the pieces in a container that will hold them all. Use the sink and fill it with hot water to cover the chicken. It even works with cold water, it's just faster with hot. Then leave it in for 15 minutes. Drain the water off. Check chicken for stiffness. If still stiff, refill with water and let sit again. It will be soft and thawed by then. 1/2 an hour isn't too long to leave meat out. It's amazing what you find out when you're as big a procrastinator as me!

You can put your chicken in a bowl of cool water to defrost it, or you can leave it on the counter for a few hours. I usually take mine out and put it in the refrigerator the night before i plan on cooking it, When chicken goes bad it will have a terrible smell to it. Just make sure that you wash it real good to before you cook it.