2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14
Today, a semi-finished product is a very popular product among housewives due to the fact that it is prepared quite quickly and easily. Similar products are almost ready. Most often, they do not even need to be thawed before cooking. The semi-finished product only needs to be fried, boiled, or simply heated in a microwave oven. After that, the product is already ready for use, and it can be served.
Production of semi-finished products has become quite a popular niche in the market. After all, the demand for such products is not only not decreasing, but also increasing.
But are frozen convenience foods so he althy? And are they edible? Are they harmful to he alth?
Everyone at least once in his life cooked semi-finished meat products (schnitzels, meatballs) and sweets (dumplings, pancakes). But hardly anyone thought at that moment about their benefits or harm to the body, because then it was necessary to satisfy hunger.
Well, now it's time to figure out if semi-finished meat products harm us? After all, it is necessary that we not only save time, but benefit he alth, and not harm the body.
Is the quality of the semi-finished product?
It depends on what it contains, how it was transported andwhether the necessary storage conditions were observed. While choosing a product in the store itself, you decide whether you need to buy such a product or not. To make the right decision, heed our advice.
Appearance is the main factor when choosing
First you need to see what the packaging of this product looks like. If it is wrinkled or torn, then, most likely, the frozen semi-finished products were thawed and re-frozen. As you understand, this violates the terms of their storage.
Frozen vegetables, fruits and berries in bags should be crumbly and without any lumps.
Dough products should not be stuck together. It happens that in stores refrigerators are briefly turned off, where this product is stored or it is brought in cars without refrigerators. This can be immediately noticed by the appearance of the package.
Never take semi-finished products whose dough has already begun to crack. This indicates that the product is of poor quality. By standards, the dough of such products includes a lot of eggs, so it should be with a yellow tint.
Brand and price will help you choose a quality semi-finished product
Quality products can be identified by brand and price tag. Everyone understands that good and expensive meat cutlets should not differ greatly in price with fresh meat itself. But even products that are not very good quality are now expensive.
It often happens that if the price tag is very low, then the patties most likely consist of soy. And such a semi-finished product is not the worst. Nowadays, evenin large industries, instead of minced meat, they take skin, veins, cartilage, adding starch, dyes, spices, etc. to them. This is a permitted method for the production of dumplings and sausages, since there is no ban on the use of such products.
An important feature is the method of freezing semi-finished products
The main thing in the preparation of such products is sometimes not their composition, but the method of freezing. There are two methods for freezing semi-finished products: the first is traditional, the second is shock.
The first one goes in three stages. First, the product is kept at -5°C, then it is raised to make the liquid present in the product more solid. Then it is frozen at -18°C.
The second method is more favored by specialists. Semi-finished products from poultry or meat are frozen very quickly at -35°C. Therefore, the taste and nutritional value of such products remain the same. Semi-finished products frozen in this way are of better quality than any others. When shopping for foods, look for those that are shock-cooked.
Allowed additives that can harm human he alth
But, unfortunately, even if you took a good semi-finished product, this will not save you from possible harm to he alth.
Most of these frosts contain a lot of spices, additives and s alt. Even just a large amount of s alt puts a huge burden on the kidneys and irritates the lining of the stomach and intestines. This can lead to inflammation in the body.
Modified starch, whichused in semi-finished products, is not fully digested in the intestines and contributes to its disorder. Replacing meat proteins with vegetable proteins causes a lack of useful amino acids in the body, which leads to a weakened immune system.
Many convenience foods need to be cooked through frying, which, as you probably know, is an unhe althy way of cooking. It turns out that you yourself exacerbate the risky situation with the consumption of such products.
Cooking semi-finished products: secrets, technologies and features
It is also very important to be able to properly prepare such products.
Some convenience foods do not need to be defrosted. They can be fried or boiled right away. But it is better to defrost sheet dough, vegetables and fruits first. Semi-finished products are often heavily frozen. Therefore, they need to cook twice as long as those that you make at home yourself.
Cutlets recipe
Let's look at the example of chicken cutlets, how to cook semi-finished poultry products.
Everything is done quite simply. We need oil. We pour it into the pan in the right amount. Then we make a strong fire, heat the dishes, but, of course, do not bring the oil to a boil. Next, turn off the fire. In the pan, one by one, lay out our semi-finished cutlets. Fry first on one side to the desired condition, then on the other. If you do not like it when a toasted crust appears on finished products, then follow this during the cooking process. To those who want to get on theircutlets she appeared, we’ll tell you what you need to fry on each side for seven minutes. If more, then it will turn out already overcooked.
Note that cutlets should not be defrosted, as they will simply lose their shape. It happens that in the package several products stick together (this, however, is not a very good sign).
In this case, you do not need to defrost them to the end. It is better to use a knife, carefully dividing the semi-finished products. Why? This is because it is most likely almost impossible to return the original shape of cutlets. If you fry frozen products, then they retain their shape perfectly. This means that eating them will be much more pleasant than broken cutlets or nuggets.
Small conclusion
Now you know that a semi-finished product is an almost ready-to-eat product, though not always useful. We hope that the information provided in the article was useful to you. A lot of ready-made frozen products are now being produced. So choose carefully what you want to buy and cook for family and friends.
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