You Should Never Thaw Food At Room Temperature. Food should never be thawed at room temperature or in hot water. Ideally, defrost these foods in the fridge.

Thawing at room temperature on the counter is unsafe. You can speed up your refrigerator thaw time by putting your frozen food on an aluminum pan, according to the kitchn. Even if the core of a package remains frozen after thawing on the counter or in warm water, the outside layer of the food is in the “danger zone,” which is between 40 and 140 degrees fahrenheit.