The Genius Meat-Thawing Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner

There’s nothing more frustrating than realizing your dinner plan is on hold because you forgot to thaw the ground beef. You had everything mapped out—maybe tacos, burgers or a quick skillet meal—but now you’re stuck with a rock-solid block of frozen meat. It throws off the timing, the meal and your already packed evening. Suddenly, you’re scrambling for a backup plan or considering takeout. It’s a classic weeknight dinner derailment, and honestly? It happens to the best of us. So frustrating!

But when you forget to thaw meat, two quick methods can save dinner.

You can place the sealed meat in a leak-proof bag and submerge it in a bowl of cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes to keep it cold and speed up thawing. A pound of ground beef takes about 30-60 minutes to thaw this way.

You can also use your microwave’s defrost setting, flipping the meat every 30 seconds to 1 minute to avoid uneven cooking. Be careful—this method works fast but can partially cook the edges!

And thanks to content creator Dustin Hadley (@that40yearguy), we now have a third trick up our sleeves. He shared a game-changing meat defrosting hack, and it’s viral for a reason—it actually works! Bonus: no microwave or endless water changes required. His trick speeds up thawing, saving your dinner plans immediately. Here's what you need to know.

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How to Thaw Meat Using Two Pans

Dustin places one pound of ground hamburger (still in the sealed Ziploc bag) between two skillets—one is flipped upside down and the other sits right side up so the meat is sandwiched between the bottoms of the pans. You can also use metal mixing bowls or metal baking sheets for this trick.

After about 15 minutes, he flips the meat and places it back in between the skillets. At about the 37-minute mark, his meat is fully thawed and ready to cook!

Why does this work? Placing frozen meat between two metal pans speeds up thawing because metal is an excellent conductor of heat.

One thing to note: the USDA only recommends thawing meat in the fridge, microwave, or using cold water. The concern here is that if the meat is left on the counter it could be in the temperature "danger zone" for too long. To be extra safe, you can try this trick in the fridge.

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Does This Work With Other Materials?

To make this happen, you will need two metal pans or bowls. Ceramic, glass and plastic don’t transfer heat efficiently, so they won’t speed up the thawing process much.

Metal quickly pulls warmth from the surrounding air and transfers it to the frozen meat. Plastic and ceramic, on the other hand, tend to insulate rather than conduct heat, so the meat stays frozen longer. If you’re trying this trick, stick to stainless steel or aluminum bowls or baking sheets for the best results!

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