Denny Wheeler wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:35:51 +1300, Peter Huebner
> > wrote:
>
> >Never had a microwave, until we were given one by a customer loyalty scheme a
> >few months ago. So I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to anything beyond
> >reheating a cup of coffee in that gadget.
> >
> >I've tried defrosting pork, sausages and ground beef a few times and my results
> >are pretty abysmal. I used the built in defrosting program where you set the
> >weight, then press start. Alas, I find that usually the meat is still part-
> >frozen in the centre, yet already partly cooked on the outside by the time the
> >cycle ends. This is hopeless; it ruins the food.
> >
> >Any tips? (think I'll go back to defrosting under the running cold tap in the
> >meantime - but sometimes it would be convenient to do it more quickly).
>
> For ground meat, do as ms. peacock suggests--effectively defrosting by
> layers.
>
> I tend to agree with Steve W. about the built-in defrost cycles. You
> sometimes might want to wrap tips of whatever with foil to prevent
> their receiving too much microwave energy.

Wrap with foil? Not unless you want to destroy your microwave and
possibly start a fire!

> Steve's 'nuke-wait'-repeat approach works well.
>
> You'll also find the micro to be useful for melting butter (use low
> power and short times, though) or just softening a cold cube of it.
> Again, low power/short times. Good for frozen veggies like corn,
> peas, baby limas, too.
>
> --
> -denny-
> "Do your thoughts call ahead or do they just arrive at your mouth unannounced?"
>
> "It's come as you are, baby."
>
> -over the hedge

Maybe no one else here cares, but I don't like running water over
something to defrost it. I don't like wasting the water.
What I find works very well is one of those metal plate defrosting
gizmos. It's just an flat piece of some metal alloy with tiny feet to
get it just off the counter so air can circulate under it. It conducts
heat from the room into the meat and defrosts very well. If I turn the
meat every 15 min or so, and run hot water over the plate for a few
seconds each time I turn the meat, it works even faster.
Hope this helps in your world.