Fast defrosting trays, do they work?

[naf]

I was looking at cookware shop and saw this type of aluminum tray without the need of electricity, I wonder if anybody has tried something like this? Do they work? Or they are just gadgets?

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

A family member received one of these as a gift once, so we tried it. Our opinion was that the defrosting tray wasn’t worthwhile. I found it more effective and quicker to seal the item to be defrosted in a zipper top plastic bag, then immerse the bag in a bowl of water.

I wonder if others have had similar experiences.

[biondanonima]

There’s no magic here. Any conductive surface (aluminum, cast iron, granite, etc.) will help frozen items thaw faster than a less-conductive surface, like wood or Corian, etc. If you have stone counters and use them to thaw things, you probably won’t see a benefit from a tray like this (or you could just use a cast iron vessel you already own). If you have wood or Corian countertops, putting frozen things on a more-conductive surface will help them thaw faster, although I agree with Denise that a bowl of water is faster than any of the above.

[Chemicalkinetics (For the Horde!)]

Yeah, I used to think these trays are some magic stuffs (when I was a kid). Now, of course, I know they are just based on marketing strategy.
I noticed how many items are being marketed for different audience. It makes me really think…about many “single purpose” items are the products of marketing strategy – to make you feel you are missing a special item, but in fact we all have plenty other things which can be used as substitutes.

Tea cake rack:

Dish rack

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

@biondanonima

Any conductive surface (aluminum, cast iron, granite, etc.) will help frozen items thaw faster than a less-conductive surface, like wood or Corian, etc. If you have stone counters and use them to thaw things, you probably won’t see a benefit from a tray like this (or you could just use a cast iron vessel you already own).

So true! We experimented with that too.

[seamunky]

I have a large metal box that acts as a great heat sink to cool down hot pots or to warm up frozen foods. It’s large size allows it to radiate or absorb heat. Basically, I put a cookie sheet on my dryer and it acts as a huge giant defrosting tray. This may seem weird but my stove, sink, and laundry room are combined in one room.

[PhilD]

I was a microwave cynic until we bought a new one. This has a program for different types of food and you simply enter the weight and fire it up. Its really good at defrosting and doesn’t heat or change the food.

[LilRedHen (Patricia)]

I used the griddle to my built-in kitchen grill for thawing some foods. Made of aluminum with a non-stick surface, the griddle worked fine and really did speed up the thawing process.