Is your rib roast for your holiday meal in the freezer? Find out how long it will take you to thaw it?
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Are you super excited for your Prime Rib Roast Christmas Dinner? But first you got a frozen roast to deal with. Let us show you how you can get it thawed out in time and how long it will take. We offer both a slow thaw and quick thaw method.
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⏲️ Thaw Times
🧊 Should You Freeze It?
🙋 Do You Need to Thaw It?
⏲️ Thaw Times
When it comes to defrosting meat, I will do either 1 of 2 options - in the fridge or in an ice bath out of the fridge.
If you want to do it in the fridge, you need to pull it from the freezer 2-3 days before cooking it to make sure it's fully thawed. It depends on how large it is. A 6-bone roast is going to take longer than a 3-bone roast.
Plan for minimum 5 hours needed per pound. So a roast that weights 10 pounds will take 50 hours to thaw in the fridge, which is just over the 2 day mark.
If you want to speed up the process using an ice bath in a bucket is the way to go. I do this with a turkey all the time. You need to be careful that your rib roast is in packaging will keep the roast itself dry. You aren't trying to brine it! You can wrap it in several layers of aluminum foil to be safe.
The approximate thaw time for a roast would be about 30 minutes per pound. Here is a table to see how long yours will take.
6 pounds
3 hours
7 pounds
3 ½ hours
8 pounds
4 hours
9 pounds
4 ½ hours
10 pounds
5 hours
11 pounds
5 ½ hours
12 pounds
6 hours
13 pounds
6 ½ hours
14 pounds
7 hours
Place your roast into a bucket or large stock pot with ice. It's important to keep the temperature of the water below 40 degrees so that you don't risk any bacteria growing. I always do this in a sink or even the tub in case I need to change the water.
You can use a probe thermometer to track the temperature of the water to make sure it stays cold enough.
I want to discuss whether freezing a rib roast is a good deal to begin with. If you bought it frozen, sure it's already that way. Most grocery store don't sell them frozen, they are sold fresh. I don't think you need to freeze it unless you are using it months down the road. Rib roasts are at their best price at Christmas time so it's not a bad idea to stock up.
If you are going to use it within 2 weeks of buying it from the store, you should be able to skip the freezing step. In fact you could do some dry aging at home.
Read more our blog post on How Far in Advance to Buy a Rib Roast along with tips for dry aging at home.
🙋 Do You Need to Thaw It?
Some people may argue that you could just put it into the oven frozen, but you are going to end up with it being unevenly cooked. To get the most interior part of the meat cooked you are going to overcook the exterior parts of the meat. You want to have that red/pink color from edge to edge.
However you could do this if you sous vide your rib roast.
When you cook via sous vide you are cooking to your finished temperature not beyond. That's the beauty of the technology. So your meat will be the same temperature inside and out. So even if it takes longer to cook the center of the meat, the exterior will not overcook in the mean time.
Last year I sous vide my rib roast and it was so perfectly cooked. At the end I put it into a really hot oven with some herb butter that caramelized on the outside. Oh my gosh was it delicious.
Check out our How to Sous Vide page to learn more.
It's a slow process, but that allows for an even thaw and keeps the meat at a cold, safe temperature (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit). Allow around 16 hours for a typical 3 pound roast. After thawing, if left in the fridge beef will stay safe for 3-5 days.
While foods are in the process of thawing in the refrigerator (40 °F or less), they remain safe. After thawing, use ground meats, poultry, and fish within one or two additional days, and use beef, pork, lamb or veal (roasts, steaks, or chops) within three to five days.
While leaving meat alone to come up to room temperature might sound like a faster approach, it's pretty problematic. Sure, you aren't doing anything to your frozen food. But the problem is meat becomes more delicate and bacteria-prone once it reaches room temperature.
Submerge the beef in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes so that it continues to thaw. Small packages of beef may thaw in an hour or less; a 3- to 4-pound roast may take 2 to 3 hours. Cook immediately.
Small amounts of frozen meat (1 pound of ground meat, boneless chicken breasts, etc. require a full day in the refrigerator to thaw. Larger frozen meat items (roasts, ham, turkey) require at least 24 hours for every 5 pounds of meat. When thawing foods in the refrigerator, the temperature on the shelf matters.
Slow thaw: Put your cut in the fridge. A 1-2 lb roast will take about 2-3 days in the fridge to thaw. A 2-4 lb roast will take about 4-5 days. Once thawed, set on your counter for about 30 to an hour to bring to room temperature, then cook!
Position the wrapped roast so that the ribs are facing downward and stash on the lower level of the refrigerator (set no lower than 34°F and no higher than 38°F) for 5 to 7 days.
For raw ground meats, poultry, seafood and variety meats (liver, tongue, chitterlings, etc.), refrigerate them only 1 to 2 days before either cooking or freezing. Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, steaks and chops may be kept 3 to 5 days.
Pull the rib roast out of the fridge and let temper on the counter for three hours. USDA guidelines requires food not be held above 33°F (1°C) for more than 4 hours. A three-hour rest on the counter is well within time constraints.
Can You Leave Meat Out to Thaw? One of the most common misconceptions about defrosting meat is that you can simply leave it out on the counter to thaw. However, food must not be left at room temperature for more than two hours, or you risk entering the danger zone where bacteria begin to multiply rapidly.
The absolute best method for defrosting meat safely is overnight in the refrigerator until it is completely thawed. Once thawed, ground meat, poultry, and seafood can keep well in the refrigerator for an extra day or two, while red meat (beef, pork, lamb, and steak) stays good for three to five more days.
Remove rib roast from the refrigerator. Allow it to come to room temperature for about 3 hours, depending on its size. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
The cold water bath has a couple of things going for it. I mean, it's a safe way to thaw beef quickly and evenly – more quickly than a fridge and more evenly than a microwave. Although, it does take slightly more effort than thawing in the fridge.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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