Lifehack: How to Defrost a Steak in 5 Minutes Without Electricity

This trick is just too cool to pass up. At some point or another, we’ve all bought meat in bulk. You can’t possibly finish it all so you freeze it, but then when it comes time to eat it, you have a choice. Leave it out for a few hours on the countertop to defrost or heat it up in the microwave carefully hoping you don’t overcook and ruin it. What if there was a way where you don’t have to wait more than ten minutes or even use electricity to defrost that steak?

According to RocketNews24, this neat trick comes from CTi, a Taiwanese cable TV network, where they show us how to defrost a 1 cm-thick steak in just 5 minutes. All you need are two metal pots and water.

First, turn one pot upside down and place the steak on top.

Next, fill the other pot with water just to give it some weight and place it on top of the steak, sandwiching the steak between them.

After 5 minutes, your steak will be defrosted.

A little hard to believe? Here’s the science behind how it works.

As we all know, metal is a great conductor for many things including heat. Metals like aluminum conduct ambient heat which is surprisingly sufficient to defrost a steak. Sandwiching it between two large metal surfaces, weighted by water, increases the surface area contacting the steak and the room temperature air, making the conduction more efficient.

CTi demonstrated this trick with a steak about a centimeter thick, defrosting it in 5 minutes, and according to the show, a 5 cm-thick steak would only take 10 minutes.

Check out the video below —  it’s all in Chinese with no subtitles, but you get the main point. You have to try this trick out next time you defrost a steak.