Defrosting prawns

[emmagreeny]

How should you defrost prawns? I recently saw someone pour boiling water on them and let them sit in it for a while, then they put them in cold water. This seemed unsafe to me. Am I right to be worried?

[woofgang]

yes, absolutely you should be worried, this is a recipe for food poisoning par excellence. If you are just going to let them stand, then leave them covered in a cool place in a sieve so that the melt water drips away from the prawns. if you want to hurry them up, then put them in a plastic bag in a sink of tap cold water. You can cook them from frozen and serve hot. If you are going to use them IMMEDIATELY, then you can use the defrost setting on your microwave very gently to start the thaw. I would not advise this method for people who would be seriously at risk from a tummy bug or who have a tendency to them. For complete safety, follow the instructions on the packet.

[Moog]

If you need to defrost them (as woofgang says they can be cooked from frozen) then run them under COLD water for 20/30 seconds (I usually whack them in a colander and run the water over them for about 30 seconds)

[Gef]

Are we talking about cooked or raw prawns here?

[woofgang]

either

[emmagreeny]

The prawns in question were pre-cooked frozen prawns and they were about to put them in my sandwich. When I questioned this method of defrosting they looked at me as if I were mad and said they had always done it this way and no one else had complained. I sugested that you couldn't complain if you were busy throwing up with food poisoning. They seemed to think I was over reacting! I am not so sure that I was now.

[Squirrel]

Just out of interest, what causes rapidly-warmed prawns to become poisonous?

[Squirrel]

It always pleases me to learn that another strange little myth intended to scare people is completely wrong.

[woofgang]

The original question specifies that the defroster let the prawns sit in the water for a while...