Semi-finished products are ... Frozen semi-finished products

Today, a semi-finished product is a very popular product among housewives due to the fact that it is prepared fairly quickly and easily. Similar products are almost ready. Most often, they do not even need to be thawed before cooking. Semi-finished products should only be fried, boiled or simply heated in a microwave oven. After that the product is ready for use, and it can be served to the table.

The production of semi-finished products has become quite a popular niche in the market. After all, the demand for such products does not simply not fall, but also increases.

But how useful are frozen convenience foods? And are they suitable for eating? Do they harm health?

Every once at least once in my life I prepared meat semi-finished products (schnitzels, cutlets) and sweet (vareniki, pancakes). But hardly anyone thought at the time of their benefits or harm to the body, because then you had to satisfy your hunger.

Well, now it's time to figure out if the meat products are harmful to us. After all, it is necessary that we not only save time, but bring health benefits, and not harm the body.

And whether a qualitative semi-finished product?

It depends on what it contains, how it was transported and whether the necessary storage conditions were observed. While choosing the goods in the store, you decide whether you need to buy such a product or not. To make the right decision, listen to our advice.

Appearance is the main factor when choosing

First you need to see what the packaging looks like. If it is crumpled or torn, then, most likely, the frozen semi-finished products were defrosted and they were frozen again. As you understand, this violates the conditions of their storage.

Frozen vegetables, fruits and berries in packages should be crumbly and without any lumps.

Dough products should not be stuck together. It happens that the stores for a short time turn off the refrigerator, where this product is stored or it is brought by cars without refrigerators. This can be immediately noticed by the appearance of the package.

Never take semi-finished products, the dough of which has already begun to crack. This indicates that the goods are substandard. By standards in 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 determined by brand and price tag. Everyone understands that good and expensive meat cutlets should not be very different at the price of fresh meat. 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 cutlets are likely to consist of soy. And such a semi-finished product is not the worst. Nowadays, even in large factories, instead of mincemeat, they take skin, veins, cartilage, adding starch, dyes, spices, etc., to them. This is the permitted way of making ravioli and sausage, since there is no prohibition to use 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 and the second method is shock.

The first goes in three stages. First, the product is kept at a temperature of -5 ° C., then it is raised to make the liquid that is present in the product more solid. Then it is frozen at -18 ° C.

The second method is approved by experts more. 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 higher quality than any others. When buying food, choose those that are prepared with the shock method.

Permitted additives that can harm a person's health

But, unfortunately, even if you took a good semi-finished product, this will not save you from possible harm to your health.

Most of these frosts contain many condiments, additives and salt. Even just a large amount of salt gives a huge load on the kidneys and irritates the stomach and intestinal mucosa. This can lead to inflammation in the body.

Modified starch, which is used in semi-finished products, is not fully digested in the intestines and contributes to its frustration. Replacement of meat proteins with plant causes a lack of useful amino acids in the body, which leads to a weakening of immunity.

Many semi-finished products must be brought to the ready by frying, and this, as you probably know, is a harmful way of cooking. It turns out that you are exacerbating the risky situation with the consumption of such products.

Preparation of semi-finished products: secrets, technologies and features

It is also very important to be able to properly prepare such products.

Some semi-finished products do not need to be thawed. They can immediately fry or cook. But sheet dough, vegetables and fruits are best defrosted first. Semi-finished products are often highly frozen. Therefore, they need to be cooked on time twice as long as those that you do at home yourself.

Recipe for cutlets

Let's look at the example of chicken cutlets, how to prepare semi-finished poultry.

Everything is done fairly 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, we do not bring the oil to a boil. Further we reduce the fire. In the pan one by one, we lay out our meatballs-semi-finished products. Fry first from one side to the desired condition, then on the other. If you do not like, when on the finished products appears a toasted crust, then follow the cooking process behind this. Those who want them to appear on their cutlets, we will suggest that you have to fry on each side for seven minutes. If more, it will turn out already overcooked.

Note that cutlets should not be thawed, because they simply lose shape. It happens that in the packaging several products are stuck together (this, however, is not a very good sign).

In this case, you do not need to unfreeze them to the end. It is better to use a knife, neatly dividing the semi-finished products. Why? All because to return the original form of cutlets, most likely, is almost impossible. If you fry frozen products, they keep the shape perfectly. This means that eating them will be much more pleasant than broken cutlets or nuggets.

A small conclusion

Now you know that a semi-finished product is a practically ready-to-eat product, though not always useful. We hope that the information provided in the article was helpful to you. Ready-made frozen products are now produced a lot. Therefore carefully choose what you want to buy and cook for loved ones.