Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I like to cook, but don't like to plan too far in advance. Usually I get a craving or the family has a late request that requires last minute thawing of some kind of meat we have frozen in the fridge (yes, we buy meat in bulk at Costco and freeze it, saves tons of money) I was skeptical at first, so I decided to do some google research. Turns out it's pretty simple. The tray is made of a kind of metal that is highly effective at transferring heat. When a hot and cold item touch they want to be the same temperature, so usually meet in the middle - like when you put ice in a room temperature drink - ice melts, drink is colder. Where it gets cool and "science-y" is after the metal has transferred its heat to the icy meat, it also wants to get to the same temperature as the air around it. So it grabs the heat from the air around it and transfers that to the icy meat thus melting it further. This is the reason the tray has little legs, it needs the legs to allow it to be raised from the surface, to allow airflow, so it can grab heat from the air and transfer it to the meat and melt the ice. So ensuring legs are attached and stable is important, but I wanted to ensure legs weren't too long to allow for easy storage, I keep this upright with my baking sheets and pans. Interesting fact is the thinner the metal, the better this reaction is. A concern for me is that the metal shouldn't be too thin as I didn't want the tray warping. I also needed grooves as I assumed the water from the melted ice needs to drain away, rather than having meat sit in a pool of bloody and oily water. So basically, it is a piece of highly conductive grooved metal on legs. So given I understood how it works and how simple it is, I wasn't going to pay alot. In addition to price, I checked reviews to ensure no complaints of warping of loose legs. As for the other complaints comparing it to other thawing methods. Folks who want to continue to do it the old way, that is their right, but there absolutely is a significant difference in thawing time with the board. Yes, just leaving your icy meat out on the counter, the melting process also happens but much slower, but the more time the meat spends out, the more opportunity for germs and bacteria and nasty stuff to grow as the meat is in a warmer environment that allows the nasty stuff to grow. So best to thaw stuff as quickly as possible. I ignored the low stars from folks who say there is no difference in thawing time as they are doing something wrong - blocking the airflow, not having enough of the meat touch the board (flat is best), comparing to leaving meat out on a sunny warm day or something else. Soaking the icy meat will thaw it out, but you need to constantly change water and get a lot of bloody oily water along with another pot or sink to clean. I have used this multiple times now and despite knowing the science, am impressed at how quickly it works and how easy it is to clean up. At under $14, this kitchen tool is a great deal.