Thawing Food Safely

Four approved methods, and the exam will offer you a wrong one as a distractor:

1. Refrigeration — 41 F or lower, always the safest answer.

2. Running water — 70 F or lower, submerged, with enough flow to float the food away.

3. Microwave — only if the food goes straight into cooking afterwards.

4. As part of cooking — frozen to cooked in one continuous step.

Never thaw on a counter, in a sink of standing water, or in a warm room.

The trap: water temperature. “Warm running water” is always wrong; 70 F (21 C) or lower running water is the correct phrasing.

Every approved method has drills here: FoodSafe Prep.