Minced meat is a private participant in the feast of many housewives. It is part of dumplings, lasagna, meatballs, pies and casseroles. Making minced meat is a complicated process, and today housewives buy ready-made semi-finished products in stores. The main thing is to be able to choose fresh and tasty minced meat.
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Instruction manual
1
Carefully consider the packaging and labeling on it. A product in opaque packaging deprives the buyer of the opportunity to consider the product itself, so in this case you should either refuse to purchase it, or study the expiration date and packaging date. The labeling should contain complete information about the production date, weight, freezing temperature and storage conditions. In the absence of labeling, it is better not to buy the product.
2
Consider the stuffing. Since it is sold not only frozen, but chilled, the buyer does not always have the opportunity to read the markings. Pay attention to the color. Depending on the composition, the color of fresh chilled minced meat varies from dark red (with a higher content of beef) to light pink (for pork).
3
Inspect the consistency. Stuffing made from meat should be uniform in composition, without impurities of bones and cartilage. When interspersing dark spots, mince should not be taken. They indicate that they used stale meat when cooking.
4
Pay attention to the look. A matte surface with a gray film on top means that the stuffing is not the first freshness, and it has long been on the counter. Fresh minced meat of bright color, its surface glistens. The smell of good minced meat is purely meat. If you smell garlic or seasonings, it means that the seller was trying to hammer in the aroma of stale meat.
5
Consider the juice produced by chilled minced meat. Its absence is a sign of the addition of not only meat to minced meat, but also other components. Fresh product gives off bright red and translucent juice, stale - dark, thick and cloudy.
Useful advice
Extend the life of a good stuffing after buying it will help proper storage. Chilled minced meat is stored for no more than 12 hours, that is, you need to buy such a semi-finished product immediately before preparing dishes from it. When freezing -12 degrees, it can be stored in the freezer for no more than 30 days, at -18 - three months.