The only safe way of defrosting fish or meat is in the refrigerator. Defrost overnight for next day use.

Welcome to the forum TallulahP   

I agree with Kye, it's safest to defrost the fish in the refrigerator overnight.
Out of curiosity .. Why is it that you are not keen on doing this ?
It's so easy all you need to do is to put the fish onto a good sized plate ( so it does not hang over the edge , cover it with cling film and put it on a lower shelf on the refrigerator ( lower shelf just incase there is any leakage , and so that there is no chance of it dripping on anything else )

Ladybee1602 wrote:

I think TallulahP is saying she/he is not keen on using a micorwave for health reasons.  I can relate to that.  Wouldn't have one in the house.  Something not quite right about the technology, in my opinion. 

I rate microwaves up there with genetically modified canola and other foodstuffs.  It's going to be some years before we really see the ramifications of such things to human health.

Bah humbug

I'm not keen on leaving meat or fish in the fridge because of the potential for bacteria to form, especially with fish.

I have tried defrosting in the microwave but found it almost cooked the meat. I use microwave sparingly, if at all.

I live out in the country and only do grocery shopping once every week or two weeks, and the local grocery shop doesn't sell fresh fish. I'd have to drive half an hour into the next town just to buy a piece of fresh fish, which isn't good use of petrol. So I buy frozen because then I don't have to worry if it doesn't get cooked right away. I can store food for the winter in case the roads get wicked with snow.

Thanks so much for the advice! I will try defrosting in water to see if that works for the fish. For minced beef I will try leaving overnight in the fridge.

Alton Brown did a thermal dynamics of thawing on Good Eats Season 3 Episode "What's up duck". In a nut shell he thawed it under cold water (slowly dripping) for quicker results and in the fridge for slower results.

Here's probably more info then you need on thawing seafood....
http://www.seafoodacademy.org/Documents … hawing.pdf

@ Coco