Quick Cleaning Tip – Defrosting meat

Cleaning for me is a lot about doing the little things all the time that make the big jobs easier. That’s what my quick cleaning tips series is all about. Some tips are obvious, but when these habits lapse, household tasks get more difficult and so are more likely to be put off for another day. Here’s today’s tip:

I like to buy meat in bulk and then freeze it in usable portions. When I’m organised, I then take a serve of meat out of the freezer the morning or night before I plan to cook, and defrost it in the fridge. I always used to do what my Mum did, which is place the meat on a plate (dinner plate or bread plate, depending on the size of the meat). With my occasional (ok frequent) lack of coordination, when I’d get the meat out of the fridge, I’d spill meat juices on the shelf, on the floor and/or on the kitchen bench. This problem was exacerbated with my current fridge, which has a drawer to store meats (which is more hygienic as it contains any stray meat juice). Here’s my solution:

Place the meat in a container with sides to contain any spills – I use takeaway or Tupperware-type containers, but a bowl or casserole dish also works. No more cleaning up meat juice spills for me!