There are many reasons why soup remains such a popular dish throughout the world – ranging from the easiness of making it, the versatility of what can go into the dish, and the fact that it is just so tasty – but perhaps one of the most notable benefits of soup is that you can make a lot of it, preparing potentially a week’s worth of meals that can then be frozen and saved for later.
However, with this notion comes the need to defrost the soup – something that, if not done correctly, could lead to the dish being ruined, and potential illness afterwards.
So this begs the question: what are the best ways to defrost soup?
Defrosting Soup: 4 Methods
When it comes to defrosting soup, there are 4 methods that you could try to get the best results.
Use A Microwave
Using a microwave is the most common and effective way to defrost your soup – especially if you are looking to get it done quickly.
Microwaves all have a defrost setting, which will thaw the food efficiently, but at a lower temperature than it would normally use for cooking.
This means that the core temperature of the soup thaws gradually, which will not only preserve the look and the taste of the soup in question, but will also stop you from getting sick or thawing it improperly.
Use A Stove
You could also use a stove top to defrost the frozen soup – but when you use this method there are some things worth remembering.
Firstly, you are not trying to cook it outright – at least not straight away at least. You want a gradual, low heat to slowly increase the core temperature of the soup, and thaw it in a more natural manner.
This is especially true if the soup has meat or seafood inside it – as these could cause illness or food poisoning if they are thawed too quickly.
Use A Refrigerator
If you do not want your soup to eat that day, and are in fact sorting your meal for the following day, then a refrigerator can be a good way to slowly defrost the soup overnight.
Most defrosting periods take roughly 8-12 hours, and this is probably the safest and most labor saving method to thaw out the soup at a natural pace, without risking ruining the texture, the taste, or risking illness through impatience.
When using the refrigerator method, it is important to keep the soup covered – either with the container lid or saran wrap – and be sure to stand it on a plate in the refrigerator to avoid any leakages or dripping that might occur during the defrosting process.
Use Cold Water
Lastly, you could also defrost your soup in cold water, and there are several ways you could do this.
Firstly, if your soup is frozen in a watertight container – as most freezer containers tend to be – you could submerge the container in a pan of cold water in your sink.
This will take longer than other methods (like microwaving) but can still be an efficient way to achieve the end result you want.
Alternatively, you could also run the cold tap onto the container – although it is worth bearing in mind that this will not give the same uniform defrosting process as submerging, and means running the water for the duration of the defrost – something that could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Defrosting Meat/Seafood Soups
When defrosting meat/seafood soups, you really need to be more careful – not to mention mindful – of what dangers there can be.
Firstly, you could potentially get food poisoning if you defrost and cook the soup too quickly – which means that microwaving and stove-defrosting are probably not advised.
For this dish, you generally want as slow a defrost as possible – maintaining a lower temperature so that the soup doesn’t enter the danger zone, temperatures where bacteria can grow and thrive.
This is why overnight defrosting, or water defrosting, are probably the safest and most efficient methods to use – ensuring you can enjoy some tasty soup without running the risk of sickness or food poisoning.
What Shouldn’t You Do?
Of course, there are also certain methods that are worth avoiding when defrosting soup.
Do Not Use Warm Water
Firstly, you should not use warm water to defrost your soup.
This is not as dangerous as it is when defrosting meat – unless there is meat and seafood in the soup – but could still cause the taste and texture of the soup to be ruined by quick temperature changes.
If the soup does have meat or seafood inside it, you could risk making yourself ill and exposing yourself to harmful bacteria by raising the temperature too quickly.
Can Defrosted Soup Be Refrozen?
This is a common question, and the answer unfortunately is a big no-no. Once soup has been frozen and defrosted, you definitely should not freeze it once more, as this can lead to illness and the risk of bacteria.
What’s more, the freezing process can hinder the taste and texture of food, and the more something is frozen and defrosted, the higher the chance that they will be affected.
Freezing is a chemical process, and can cause cellular changes to the soup, meaning that the more you do it, the worse it will be changed.
How Long Can Defrosted Soup Be Stored?
After defrosting the soup, you should generally consume it within 2-3 days to ensure the best taste, texture, and to avoid bacteria and potential stomach upset.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it, everything you need to know about soup, and the 4 best methods to defrost it after freezing.
It’s true that soup is a popular dish throughout the world, and one that is consumed in many different ways. It is also one of the easiest to make, which makes batch cooking an easy and beneficial byproduct.
However, you can’t eat frozen soup without knowing how to defrost it, and luckily with these handy methods, you will have a delicious bowl in no time!
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
