@Michigander OR.... this could be the Mastodon part:

"Please read my academic white paper describing the dangers of defrosting frozen food using high temperature water with regards to bacterial growth."

(am I right? 😂)

@jann @gr8nanjan @Michigander But I'm pretty sure water *can* freeze faster than hot water. It's called the Mpemba effect but I don't think cold water will defrost something faster than hot water...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect

@apodoxus @gr8nanjan @Michigander I'd believe MIT before Wikipedia:

https://engineering.mit.edu/engage/ask-an-engineer/does-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water/

@jann @gr8nanjan @Michigander What about UCR and Yale and Nature or the multiple articles in AJP cited by Wikipedia? Or is MIT the final word on this for you?

1. https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html

2. https://www.yalescientific.org/2015/01/unsolved-mysteries-the-mpemba-effect/

3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-021-00349-8

@apodoxus @gr8nanjan @Michigander I dismissed the Mpemba effect as a generality for lack of empirical proof. "for a wide range of experimental conditions.", "can sometimes freeze faster", or "Results from different experiments vary, and no single theory has been substantial. " is what those articles say.

There is some other thing at work in CERTAIN circumstances and that has yet to be shown empirically - as all the articles you pointed out said.