Retail cuts of beef, pork and lamb were fabricated, packaged, evaluated for appearance traits, swabbed, and subsequently frozen. After storage for 7 days, one-half of the cuts were thawed at 4 C. The other cuts were thawed at 25 C. At 0, 4, 8, 24 and 48 h, the thawed retail cuts of meat were rated for appearance and swabbed. Taxonomy was conducted before freezing and after each thaw period. Evaluation revealed that differences (P < .05) in appearance for beef and pork existed between those samples thawed for 24 h and 0 h. Beef and pork cuts thawed at 25 C were less (P < .05) desirable in appearance after 24 h than for 8 h. Cuts thawed at 4 C for 48 h were less desirable than for 24 h. A higher thaw temperature increased (P < .05) microbial growth at 24 h on beef; but this trend was not observed among cuts of lamb and pork. Thaw time beyond 24 h increased (P < .05) the microbial load of only lamb and pork. Microorganisms most prevalent among samples were Pseudomonas , micrococci and staphylococci. These data suggest that retail cuts of meat should be thawed at refrigerated temperature, especially if thaw time exceeds 8 h.