For many of us, defrosting chicken means taking it out of the freezer well ahead of dinner time and allowing it to come to room temperature on the kitchen counter. Just as many of us have lost track of things and completely forgot about defrosting until we go to cook and find ourselves staring at frozen poultry. Whether you routinely do the latter or are just looking for a defrosting method that’s safer, this tutorial from the #OWNSHOW on The Huntington Post is a life-saver. Not only do they explain how to do it, they tell us the science behind it. Pretty cool!

So there you go— the best and safest way is to submerge tightly sealed chicken in a bowl of cold water in your sink, allowing more cold water from the tap to slowly and steadily run over it. Don’t use warm or hot water, which will actually start to cook the chicken and create some of the safety issues the FAT TOM acronym warns against. Is this method how you defrost your chicken? Did you know the science behind it before?