Today, the 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 finished. Most often, they do not even need to be thawed before cooking. The semi-finished product only needs to be fried, cooked, or just heat in a microwave. After which the product is already ready for use, and it can be served to the table.
The production of semi-finished products has become a fairly popular niche in the market. Indeed, the demand for such products does not just fall, but also increases.
But are frozen convenience foods so useful? And are they suitable for eating? Do they harm health?
Everyone once at least once in their life cooked meat semi-finished products (schnitzels, meatballs) and sweet (dumplings, pancakes). But hardly anyone at that moment thought about their benefits or harm to the body, because then it was necessary to satisfy hunger.
Well, now is the time to figure out whether meat products are harmful to us? After all, it is necessary that we not only save time, but benefit health, and not harm the body.
Is it a semi-finished product of high quality?
It depends on what it contains, how it was transported and whether the necessary storage conditions were observed. While choosing a product in the store itself, you decide whether to buy such a product or not. To make the right decision, take 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 convenience foods were thawed and re-frozen. As you understand, this violates the conditions for their storage.
Frozen vegetables, fruits and berries in bags should be crumbly and without any lumps.
Dough products should not stick together. It happens that in stores refrigerators are turned off for a short time, where this product is stored or brought in by 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 suggests that the product is of poor quality. By standards, the dough of such products includes many 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 meatballs should not vary greatly in price with the fresh meat itself. But even products that are not of very good quality are now expensive.
It often happens that if the price tag is very low, then the patties are most likely made up of soy. And such a semi-finished product is not the worst. Nowadays, even at large enterprises, instead of minced meat, skin, veins, cartilage are taken, adding starch, dyes, spices, etc. This is an allowed method for the production of ravioli and sausages, since there is no ban on the use of such products.
An important feature - 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 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 in the product harder. Then it is frozen at -18 ° C.
Experts approve of the second method more. Semi-finished products from poultry or meat are very quickly frozen at -35 ° C. Therefore, the taste and nutritional value of such products remain the same. Semi-finished products frozen in this way are better than any other. When buying products, choose those prepared using the shock method.
Allowed Supplements That May Harm Human Health
But, unfortunately, even if you took a good semi-finished product, this will not protect you from possible harm to health.
Most of these frosts contain a lot of seasonings, additives and salt. Even just a large amount of salt gives a huge burden on the kidneys and irritates the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. This can lead to inflammation in the body.
Modified starch, which is used in convenience foods, is not completely digested in the intestine and contributes to its upset. Replacing meat proteins with vegetable ones causes a lack of useful amino acids in the body, which leads to a weakening of immunity.
Many processed foods need to be cooked by frying, and this, as you probably know, is a harmful way of cooking. It turns out that you yourself exacerbate the risky situation with the consumption of such products.
Preparation of semi-finished products: secrets, technologies and features
It is also important to be able to properly cook such products.
Some convenience foods do not need to defrost. You can immediately fry or cook. But it is better to thaw sheet dough, vegetables and fruits first. Semi-finished products are often very frozen. Therefore, they need to be cooked in time twice as long as those that you do at home yourself.
Cutlet Recipe
Let's look at chicken cutlets as an example of how to cook semi-finished products from poultry.
Everything is done quite simply. We need oil. We pour it in the right amount into the pan. Then we make a strong fire, heat the dishes, but, of course, do not bring the oil to a boil. Next, reduce the fire. We put our semi-finished meatballs in a pan one at a time. First we fry on one side to the desired condition, then on the other. If you do not like when a fried crust appears on the finished product, then watch this process during cooking. For those who want her to appear on their patties, let’s tell you what to fry on each side for seven minutes. If more, then get already overcooked.
Note that cutlets should not be defrosted, as they simply lose their shape. It happens that in the packaging several products stuck together (this, however, is no longer 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 separating the semi-finished products. Why? This is because it is almost impossible to restore the original form to cutlets. If you fry frozen products, then they retain their shape perfectly. This means that eating them will be much nicer than broken meatballs or nuggets.
Little 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 presented in the article was useful to you. There are a lot of finished frozen products now. Therefore, carefully choose what you want to buy and cook for family and friends.