A rosy and juicy cutlet itself asks into the mouth, combined with any side dishes, will be a great lunch or dinner. But things don't always work out great. It happens that the burgers are falling apart in a skillet, come out hard and dry or not at all pleasing the view. Why it happens?
Why burgers fall apart
Most often, the cutlets fall apart if, when using dry meat (beef, chicken breast or lean pork), no binding components are added.
The most common ingredient is the raw chicken egg. Also connects a lot of soaked bread, semolina, grated potatoes. It is only important to lay the components in small quantities, so as not to spoil the taste.
Why more burgers can fall apart:
- Poorly stirred stuffing. According to the rules, the twisted mass must not only be brought to homogeneity, but also fought off on the tabletop. As a result, it will become dense, uniform, slightly sticky, and the cutlets will come out even, will please with strength.
- A large number of additives. If there is little meat, then onions, cabbage, and grits, which do not give stickiness, are often introduced into cutlets. In this case, it is recommended to add another egg.
- Cold pan. Cutlets can be spread on a cold baking sheet, but the frying pan needs to be heated to quickly form a crust.
- Low oil. It is not necessary to fry the cutlets in deep fat, but the layer of oil should still cover the bottom of the pan. A cutlet caught in hot fat will quickly grab a crust and will not fall apart.
- No breading. Crackers and flour also help to “tie up” the ingredients of the burgers, give a solid crust, do not allow the stuffing to fall apart. Without breading, cutlets can break up in a frying pan, they become covered with cracks, lose their juice.
- Early covered. No need to cover the pan with a lid, until the meatball is fried brown on one side. Then it needs to be turned over, lightly browned, and only then covered and lowered the fire.
Also, burgers sometimes fall apart when braised. This is to blame a large amount of liquid, as well as active boiling. If you want to pour the cutlets with sauce, then you have to simmer them on a small fire. Otherwise, we get an incomprehensible porridge of minced meat.
Why cutlets are tough
Cutlets can be made from any meat and poultry, but it is better to mix several species. If you use dry meat without fat, the juicy and soft dish will not work. It is advisable to add a piece of bacon or enter vegetables. Perfectly chopped cabbage, slightly fried in onion.
Why still cutlets are obtained dry and tough:
- Dull meat grinder knives. They squeeze the juice, the quality of the stuffing suffers. It is believed that it is better to chop meat with a combine or to do it manually with the help of sharp knives.
- A lot of eggs. The egg holds the mass together, but in large quantities after cooking becomes hard.
- No additives. Cutlet mass implies the presence of vegetables, bread or crackers. Sometimes milk, sour cream, and cream are added to it. From clean meat juicy cutlet is not done.
- The cutlet was long and slowly fried. No need to try to bring the cutlet to readiness on low heat. It is wiser to fry it quickly, and then cover and lightly steamed.
If suddenly the cutlets turned out to be very tough, then you can try to reanimate them. To do this, add cream, sour cream or another sauce, simmer on low heat. Or cover the form with cutlets with foil, warm it in the oven.
Why cutlets look unappetizing
To get the cutlets beautiful, you need to make them the same size and shape. With a bad eye, you can use the scales. Wet hands immediately divide the whole mass into lumps. Then rinse the hands again, take a lump, give a rounded or elongated shape, squeeze for density, only after that flatten out.
If the cutlet is originally a curve, the surface is in the tubercles, then in the cooking process, it will not exactly finish.
The second moment is a pretty crust. Without breading it does not work. You can roll each cutlet in ready-made crackers, which are sold in the store. Or take the usual flour, chopped corn flakes without sugar.
Cover the patty with a uniform layer, press down, shake off the rest. We lay out exclusively in a hot frying pan, so that the surface is browned.
Top 5 mistakes in cooking cutlets
- The stuffing did not lie down. It is impossible to sculpt and fry patties from freshly twisted meat. It must be mixed with the rest of the ingredients, put into the fridge for ripening for at least two hours. The mass will become dense, and the cutlet is strong, will delight neat shape.
- Quenching breaded breaded cutlets. If you plan to simmer the cutlets in a sauce, then you should not bake them in breadcrumbs, you can only lightly powder with flour. Otherwise, the crackers will go down, go into the sauce, you get an unpleasant-looking dish.
- A large number of additional ingredients. As a result, homemade burgers are no better than cheap semi-finished products. They lack the natural taste of meat.
- Lack of additional ingredients. Natural burgers without vegetables, bread, and decoys are dryish, heavy, dense, and their taste also suffers.
- Long frying. Minced meat products are cooked much faster than whole pieces. No need to expose them to long-term heat treatment. As a result, nutrients go away, taste deteriorates.
Secrets of cooking cutlets
- You can dip the patty in the egg whipped protein, and then send it to the breading. Then they will not fall apart when frying, and additionally covered with a good crust.
- To make the cutlets not dry, it is advisable to use at least two types of meat and be sure to add a piece of bacon.
- You can put a piece of butter inside each patty; it will provide juiciness even to beef or chicken cutlets.
- If the cutlets on the griddle do not want to be produced at all, you can try making them in the oven. There they will definitely not fall apart, they will not burn, besides they will not require active participation.
