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 Most food products are subjected to heat treatment, under the influence of which they are brought to readiness and acquire the appropriate taste, texture, smell, and appearance. However, along with a positive effect (increasing the digestibility of food, destroying pathogens), heat treatment leads to a partial loss of nutrients, vitamins, mineral salts, etc.
Knowledge of technological methods of food preparation, skillful use of the most rational of them can reduce these losses.
Heat treatment techniques
There are basic and auxiliary methods of heat treatment. There are two main ones: cooking and frying. There are many auxiliary ones:
- blanching - short cooking or scalding of products in order to improve their appearance or remove bitterness, inedible parts (sturgeon beetles) or poisonous substances (some mushrooms);
- shearing - heating until tender in a fat broth, meat juices of lightly fried foods with the formation of a slight golden brown crust and meat juice (brea):
- steam cooking - under the influence of steam, without touching the liquid, on a special mesh;
- boiling followed by frying - boiling in liquid (main method) followed by deep frying;
- baking - heating until full readiness of flour, confectionery products in confectionery ovens;
- frying in fat (in deep fried) - immersion of the product in boiling fat at 180 °. Fat is taken 5 times more than the main product. Calcining the fat before smoke formation is mandatory;
- frying over an open fire - over charcoal or in special grill devices, as well as on a grate over a non-smoking flame, in which metal grate bars are imprinted on both sides of the fried product;
- baking - heating the product in the oven until tender or until the color is formed (at 250-300 °);
— browning - slow frying in a low amount of fat until cooked or half cooked without changing the color of the products;
- letting go - in its own juice or a small amount of liquid;
- braising - heating until cooked in a sauce or other liquid of pre-fried foods with the addition of flavoring and aromatic seasonings.
Processes during heat treatment
When cooked, products change their original properties. Due to the loss of water, some nutrients, weight is reduced (uparka, boil). There are changes in proteins (denaturation and coagulation), the conversion of collagen protein into glutin, caramelization of sugars, hydrolysis, dextrinization and gelatinization of starch, emulsification of fats (this is an undesirable phenomenon observed when broths are boiling), leaching of mineral and
other substances useful for the human body.
To reduce the loss of nutrients, vitamins, improve taste, follow these rules:
- cook food only from fresh, well-processed foods;
- vegetables should be stored for a short time, and not in water, but in a damp linen napkin;
- if you want to get a tasty broth, put the meat in cold water. If you want the meat to be tasty, immerse it in boiling water;
- avoid boiling broths, sauces, soups, main courses, drinks and generally the digestion of foods. All meals and drinks should, as it were, "languish";
- immediately take the correct ratio of water, liquid, never dilute broths, soups, syrups during cooking with raw water;
- bookmark in a strict culinary sequence, based on the duration of heat treatment;
- salt soups, sauces at the end of cooking, 5-10 minutes
until ready; '
- While cooking soups, sauces, taste, bring to taste when the dish is ready, and then soak to infuse for 15-20 minutes;
- Boil soups, broths, vegetables, fish, meat, cereals, etc. with the lid closed. The pressure cooker is ideal for these purposes: it will save both your time and the nutritional value of products;
- cook sea fish in salted water with the addition of onions, parsley, celery, bay leaves, pepper;
- lightly sauté vegetables for dishes;
- it's even better to bake them in the oven, beets are especially tasty;
- cook vegetables in salted water, except for beets, as the taste worsens, and peas, which, in the presence of salt, do not boil well;
- cover vegetables, potatoes during cooking with water for 1 - 2 centimeters;
- cook vegetables for salads and vinaigrettes unpeeled, after rinsing well;
- to preserve color, vinegar is added to the beets (5 grams per 1 liter of water);
- add vinegar to give the cabbage elasticity when stewing;
- letting in the fish to remove the sea smell, add cucumber pickle in addition to roots and spices;
- in the process of frying, as a crust forms, poultry, veal, pork should be watered with fat and juices formed during frying;
- before frying, frying, frying, deep-frying, in order to avoid a lot of smoke formation, be sure to ignite the fat;
- leave a layer of fat on the surface of soups, sauces to protect vitamin C from oxidation;
- when cooking jam, do not allow the color of the syrup to change (transition to yellow, brown): the jam should have a characteristic color of fruits and berries;
- do not overcook jelly, fruit soups, gravies - the structure of starch grains is destroyed, they can liquefy.
Karlov L., The man in the kitchen
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