its works best if while its submerged you leave the faucet dripping. cuts defrost time in half

I submerge fish in water to defrost. I have also used a pan to defrost hamburger patties - I just used a nonstick pan, and I think it took about an hour - I flipped it a few times

Very effective for just about everything. I think you get better flavour retention if you use cold water, just change it every so often.

How long to I submerge in water approx? Can this method work for all meats & chicken? Great advice, thank you so much!

We defrost just about everything, in a plastic bag, submerged in water. You can weigh down the bag with a bowl or a plate. Anything to get it down into the water and not floating on top. This method works very quickly.

The book "What Einstein Told His Chef" recommends, placing the unwrapped steak on a frying pan (cast iron) that is at room temperature. Because the pan will conduct heat, it should allow the steak to defrost at room temperature pretty well. You will have to flip it over of course, and as long as the steak isn't too thick, it should defrost before you have to worry about food safety issues.

Agreed. Though food safety rule of thumbers recommend cold water room-temp to warm water is just fine, as the steak will defrost long before the two hours allowed in the "danger zone" of 40-140. I usually place the shrink or ziplock wrapped meat in a large bowl and run lukewarm water over it until the bowl is full. I check the bowl every five minutes or so and when the water is cold I dump the bowl and repeat the process. I've had no problem with the quality of the steaks.

I've had some success with defrosting frozen meat by submerging (wrapped in plastic) in room temperature water. I don't know if I've ever tried this with steaks though. *Its even faster if the water is kept moving.