Cottage cheese is one of the most beloved types of dairy products. You can buy it both in the store and in the market. It is known that this product contains a large number of useful substances that stimulate the development of a growing organism and contribute to maintaining a healthy adult. However, it should be understood that the largest amount of useful minerals and vitamins contains only a natural product. How to choose it and how to distinguish a fresh, genuine sour-milk product from a substandard one? Let us consider a few recommendations below.
What can be in a low-quality product?
For the sake of earning, some manufacturers of the fermented milk product in question may add unnatural ingredients to its composition. Practice shows that most often starch or flour is poured into the composition of the product - these ingredients are easily adapted to the color of the natural product and are almost invisible when closely examined.
Branded manufacturers go to great tricks, replacing the milk fats inherent in natural cottage cheese, palm oil. It should be noted that the constant use of this ingredient entails the development of dangerous diseases in the human body.
How to check cottage cheese for naturalness and choose the right, healthy product? In answering this question, several factors should be taken into account. Further, we consider some features of the process of determining a quality product.
Does the product contain vegetable fats?
How to check cottage cheese for palm oil, as well as for the presence of other types of vegetable fats? Practice shows that this can be done in several ways, and all of them are quite simple to use in the home.
First of all, you can rely on your own taste buds and try a small amount of the product. A product that does not have palm oil or any other plant product does not leave a feeling of greasy after 2-3 minutes of keeping it on the tongue.
How to check cottage cheese for the presence of plant impurities? This can be done using warm water. To do this, put a spoonful of cottage cheese in a glass of cleaned and heated liquid. If after a couple of minutes a thin film of yellowish color forms on the water surface, this factor indicates the presence of undesirable impurities in the product.
You can check the cottage cheese for the presence of various impurities using a hot pan. Putting a small amount of cottage cheese on it, you should observe it: if the lump coagulates and releases serum, it means it is natural, if the opposite result, it is better to refrain from further acquiring the product from this manufacturer.
Iodine test
Many food products are checked for naturalness with the help of a simple chemical component, which can easily be found in a pharmacy at a low price - iodine. It allows you to calculate products that contain starch. Practice shows that it is with the help of starch that both branded and home manufacturers increase the volume of the product, and therefore its nutritional value is lost.
How to check cottage cheese with iodine? To do this, a small amount of the chemical component should be applied to the product, and then observe it. In the event that the applied drops acquire a blue tint, this means that there is a fact of deception - the composition of the curd contains starch. In the event that the iodine turns brown, then you can safely eat the product.
Curd in the market
As practice shows, you can choose the highest quality dairy product on the market. This is due to the fact that sellers provide the opportunity not only to inspect the goods well, but also to smell, and then try it.
When purchasing it on the market, you should pay attention to the container in which the product is stored, popular rumor about its quality, and also rely on the results of your own inquiries about the seller’s existing household.
How to check cottage cheese on the market? To do this, just smell it and taste it. The natural product will not leave a greasy flavor on the tongue, and its smell should not resemble anything other than milk.
When choosing cottage cheese in the market, you should also pay attention to the cost of the product - it should be high. It is better to refrain from acquiring a cheap product - it most likely contains unwanted impurities.
Checking the curd with temperature
There is a surefire way to check cottage cheese for naturalness at home. To do this, take a container of boiling water and immerse a small amount of the product in it and thoroughly shake the water. Next, you should observe his further reaction. If under the influence of temperature the cottage cheese is compressed into a dense lump and does not fall apart, this is a sign of quality cottage cheese. If you are dealing with a low-quality product, which contains palm oil or other additional components, then it will dissolve completely or partially.
Air check
How to check cottage cheese at home? In order to verify the naturalness of the purchased product, just watch it under conditions of prolonged stay at room temperature. To do this, leave the product on the table for several hours, and after a certain time, evaluate its appearance. If the fermented milk product has not changed its color, but has acquired a sour taste and aroma, this indicates that high-quality and healthy cottage cheese has been acquired. All other phenomena indicate a lack of quality, as well as the presence of impurities in the composition.
Is there any chalk in the composition?
Many unscrupulous manufacturers prefer to add another colorless and tasteless ingredient to the composition of cottage cheese - chalk. How to check cottage cheese for the presence of this component? To do this, take ordinary acid and add it to a small amount of cottage cheese. Next, you need to observe the reaction. In the event that the mass begins to hiss and bubble - this will indicate the release of carbon dioxide, which, in accordance with the laws of chemistry, occurs during the contact of chalk with acid. In the event that there is no such reaction, it only means that the product does not have such impurities.
About product composition
How to check cottage cheese for naturalness? This can be done very simply by looking at the composition of the product indicated on its packaging. So, in accordance with GOST, among the components that make up the correct and high-quality product, there can only be starter, natural milk, butter, and cream. The presence of all other components in natural cottage cheese is not allowed.
The fact that the product is created to the extent permitted by GOST must be indicated by the corresponding inscription on its packaging.
About the consistency of cottage cheese
How to check homemade cottage cheese for naturalness? When evaluating a product on the market visually, you can turn your attention to its consistency. So, regular and natural cottage cheese has granular, heterogeneous grains. Moreover, it crumbles very well with stirring. If the grains of the product are smooth and approximately the same size, then in this situation, there is a fake or a product containing some impurities. If the structure is too smooth in appearance, then in this case it is entirely possible to assume that palm oil is present in the cottage cheese.
About color
How to check cottage cheese for quality visually? This can be done by focusing on the color of the product. So, a natural sour-milk product has a pure white or slightly creamy tint. If we are talking about a yellow color, which many buyers mistakenly confuse with an indicator of a high level of fat content, then this is a sign of low-quality cottage cheese with a lot of unacceptable additives.
In the event that the product has a pinkish tint, you should generally refrain from buying, since this phenomenon is one of the signs of a damaged product.
About packaging
When choosing cottage cheese in a store, you should definitely pay attention to the packaging in which the product is offered. A high-quality sour-milk product should be packaged in airtight packaging, which shows all the data regarding the name of the product, its manufacturer, as well as the date of manufacture and expiration date.
In the event that the package has some damage, the internal mass spreads and does not keep its shape, and cloudy drops are observed, you should refrain from making such a purchase - the product will turn out to be of poor quality.
Shelf life
How to check the quality of cottage cheese? You can do this even in the store by purchasing a product - you just need to pay attention to the shelf life, as well as the date of manufacture. You need to understand that natural cottage cheese, made on the basis of sour milk, has a rather short shelf life - only 72 hours. After the specified time, the product begins to sour. If it is stored at room temperature, then the fermentation process in it can be started much earlier - after 8 hours. Paying attention to how long the product is stored in the refrigerator without losing its properties, you can determine whether the manufacturer offers natural components.
While in the store, you should also pay attention to the date of production. So, if the cottage cheese was packaged more than three days ago, then it is advisable to refuse to purchase it - so there is a risk of buying an artificial or artificial product.
Pay attention to the price
When purchasing cottage cheese on the market or in the store, you should definitely pay attention to the cost of the product. Do not flatter yourself if the manufacturer offers a "natural" product at a great discount. Most likely, the package contains cottage cheese with various impurities in the form of starch or vegetable fats, since the fermented milk product itself has a rather high cost.
Curd with fruit additives
Often on the shelves of stores you can find the type of fermented milk product in question, to the composition of which fruit fillers are added. Many buyers seek to purchase them in order to diversify their diet or to please their children. However, practice shows that adding fruit additives to cottage cheese is not just a marketing move. Often, fruit additives are added to an expired fermented milk product. The labels on the product, of course, are re-glued, and then the updated jars are sent back to the store shelves. In this regard, many experts in the field of proper nutrition and health care recommend seriously thinking about whether it is worth buying curd masses with fruits and, moreover, feeding them to their children. It is much better to choose a "pure" product without impurities and add whatever you want to it before use.