If you are making your baby's food and you have made more than one portion or actually planned to make several portions, it makes sense to freeze the extra food in suitable containers.

So now that you have these frozen portions of food, what is the best way to defrost or thaw them for your baby on another day?

How should I thaw baby food?

When it comes to thawing baby food, you have a few different options, all of which are fairly simple. So, choose what you think will suit you and your family best!

Thawing in the fridge The simplest thawing method is to move each serving for the next day’s meals from the freezer to the fridge the night before. The temperature drop will allow the foods to safely thaw out overnight, ready for eating the next day. Check that the food is thawed by sticking it with a fork or simply by trying a little bit. If you find that it’s still a little hard going forward, you can place it in the fridge a little earlier on the previous day. It’s important to place any food in sealed containers to prevent bacterial contamination from other fridge foods and the loss of moisture.

Microwave thawing. If you’re thawing food in the microwave, there are one or two things you’ll have to keep in mind.

Hot spots can form in food when you heat it in the microwave. Stir it all the way through to make sure the dish heats evenly.
High-fat foods have strong hot-spot potential because they heat up fast. It is safer to thaw these in hot water or in the fridge.
When you’re thawing food, it’s always a good idea to try a little and make sure it’s ready and safe to eat, but this is particularly important when using the microwave.
Go for glass or ceramic food containers. This is because plastic contains chemicals that can leach into food, particularly when heated. Whatever you choose, check that it is microwave-safe before using it.
If your microwave doesn't rotate the dish while it heats up, it’s a good idea to turn it halfway through to even out the heat distribution.

Thawing in hot water If you want to thaw food using hot water, you can either place the container in a dish or bowl of hot water until it’s thawed out (this generally takes about 20 minutes), or you can place the container in a pot of hot water and pop it on the stove on a low setting. If you’re using one of these methods, favour a glass or ceramic container to avoid melting plastic.

How can I thaw my baby's food?

From Unii’s Baby Nutrition Journey, we share tips on thawing food safely.