When the semi-finished products are ready, the last stage remains - heat treatment.
At first glance, this is a very simple operation, but it happens that the cutlets crumble, turning into a crumbly meat mass, or, burning on top, remain uncooked inside, or stick to the pan and have to be scraped off with a spatula.
How to fry patties in a pan - the basic technological principles
The reasons for these deficiencies may be several. It is important to find them and eliminate them at the very beginning of cooking fried patties, so as not to completely spoil your favorite dish.
Firstly, before frying the cutlets in the pan, it would be very nice if, in case of uncertainty, the hostess conducts a little testing, especially when it comes to making cutlets using a new recipe. Take a small portion of the cutlet mass, make a cutlet, weighing 50-60 g, and fry it separately. In this case, it will be possible to identify any defects of the stuffing and eliminate them.
Here are the most common causes of failed cutlets and ways to eliminate them:
If the cutlets in the frying process are scattered, then there is a more likely error in the preparation of meat or fish cutlet mass: the minced meat is poorly knocked out, as a result of which collagen, which binds the cutlet mass, is not sufficiently extracted from the meat juice. In this case, you need to beat the mince to the desired consistency, or add an egg to it and mix thoroughly. After re-knocking out the mass must be kept in the cold for at least an hour and then proceed to frying the meatballs.
If vegetable, cereal patties are scattered, where the binding component of the cutlet mass is egg white, starch, flour, or other products, add the missing ingredients, mix the cutlet mass, and wait for the gluten or protein fibers to swell and particle binding begins. Of course, for frying meatballs, you must choose the correct fat and the right dishes. First about fat. If deep-frying is necessary, then we definitely choose refined vegetable oil. It is odorless, and therefore the taste and aroma of cutlets during frying will not change. The fuming of refined oil begins at a temperature above 200ºC, and this is quite enough for making meatballs. In natural vegetable oil (untreated) at 110ºC, the microparticles of the raw materials from which this oil was obtained start to burn. When heated, these particles begin to stick to the semi-finished products, which in turn will have a bad effect on the taste of the finished dish.
If we are talking about meatballs from poultry or fish, where the condition requires the use of butter, then you need to remember that it actually contains up to 82.5% fat (“Extra”), and the rest is milk components, and this they begin to stick and stick in hot cookware at a temperature of even less than 100ºC. How to fry patties in the pan in this case?
Options for solving this problem:
You can combine vegetable and butter. Start frying on one side of the vegetable oil, and, turning the cutlets, place a small piece of butter under each semi-finished product so that it is absorbed directly into each cutlet, does not stick and creates the desired taste of the product;
Use whey-free ghee, consisting exclusively of milk fat;
Another backup option is to use spread or margarine cutlets for frying.
Of course, choosing fat, you must consider the composition of meatballs. For some vegetable semi-finished products, vegetable oil is definitely better: for example, this refers to carrot semi-finished products. But potato or cabbage patties will be equally tasty if you use any of these fats to fry them. Just the taste will be different, but it will only add more variety. For frying meatballs from pork and beef mince pork fat is quite suitable. A few words about the dishes. In a pan with a good Teflon coating, you can fry the patties without using fat. If the pan is used correctly, according to the instructions, and there are no scratches on it, then sticking and sticking to the cutlets does not threaten. However, in this case, turning the cutlets on the other side, it is desirable to cover the pan with a lid, and continue to fry, while steaming them from the inside.
In the arsenal of each hostess there is a set of pans of different material. You can figure out the diameter of the pan: it depends on the number of cutlets. Vegetable semi-finished products are best cooked in heavy frying pans, made of cast iron, since it is such dishes that allow you to get the necessary degree of roasted products at the same time as an attractive appearance.
It should also be borne in mind that cast-iron cookware heats up longer than conventional Teflon or ceramic pans, but it also, after heating, keeps a constant temperature for a long time, even after turning off the stove. This mode allows you to slowly monitor the process of heat treatment. Smooth heating also provides better roasting inside the semi-finished product, without burning the surface.
When using pans with a thin wall, even with a Teflon coating, you need to constantly adjust the intensity of its heating, and to do this, add or decrease the temperature with a burner regulator. With a strong fire in such a pan, the cutlets will quickly roast from above, remaining undercooked inside. With a weak heating of a Teflon frying pan, the cutlets will be more likely to be stewed, rather than fried, and in this case you will not be able to achieve a golden crust.
Which of the two methods is more convenient is to decide the hostess of the plate and pan, based on the assessment of their capabilities and skills.
How much fry patties in a frying pan? The answer is obvious: until complete readiness. But if no joke, the duration of frying will depend on the product used - in each case the time varies according to the density of the ingredients.
To begin with, burgers are cooked from whole pieces of meat or fish, and from minced meat made from meat, poultry, fish, cereals and vegetables. The cooking time in each case depends on the composition of the cutlet mass, the temperature of the frying top, the moisture content of the cooked minced meat. First, all types of meatballs are fried on both sides, and brought to readiness on a lower heat, under the lid or in the oven. The thickness of the cutlets is also important for the duration of their heat treatment.
But in any case, meat and fish patties must first be fried until they get a crust on both sides, and after that they should be steamed, for another 7-8 minutes. In particular, this applies to meatballs, which include minced pork. After baking, heat the cutlets in a frying pan, in the oven, and you can steam them in your own juice, or stew them by adding broth, water, or a specially prepared sauce.
In each particular case, as a rule, the temperature of roasting is indicated in the recipes, and how many burgers to fry in the pan, although a popular and well-loved dish sometimes does not require such detailed recommendations.
Recipe 1. Juicy homemade meatballs
Ingredients:
Oily pork (pulp) 400 g
Veal, boneless 350 g
Onions 200g
Bread, white 150 g
Milk 250 ml
Garlic 30g
Salt
Egg 1 pc.
Ground pepper, black
Fat (for frying)
Cooking:
Wet stale bread in milk, mash with a fork - you can add it to a meat grinder to twist along with the other ingredients. Mix well the cutlet mass and, covered, soak in the cold for at least half an hour. Form flat oval patties 120-130 g.
Fry first on high heat, for 1-2 minutes on each side, and then simmer, on medium or low heat, covered with a lid.
Recipe 2. Cabbage cutlets with cheese and mushrooms
Ingredients:
White cabbage, chopped 0.5 kg
White loaf (or crackers) 180 g
Garlic 20g
Dry mushrooms, white (powder) 50 g
Cheese, hard 250 g
Salt
Sour cream 150 g
Ground pepper
Flour (for breading)
Ghee for frying
Cooking:
Finely chop the cabbage, rub the cheese (finely), combine the ground crackers and mushroom powder with sour cream. Salt the cabbage and add chopped garlic, ground spices, lightly press it to make juice. Combining all the prepared ingredients into the cutlet mass, mix. It is necessary to form semi-finished products immediately with hands dipped in water and immediately fry at medium temperature on heated fat. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes.
Recipe 3. Beef liver cutlets with buckwheat
Ingredients:
Buckwheat porridge 250 g
Egg 1 pc.
Spice
Liver 350 g
Onions 100g
Salt
Garlic 15g
Flour 70-80 g
Mayonnaise 50g
Fat for frying
Cooking:
Boil 120 g of buckwheat into 350 ml of water. Porridge should not be crumbly. Prepared pieces of liver, garlic and onions chop blender or meat grinder. Combine the mass with porridge, add the rest of the ingredients, mix. If the cutlet mass is too thin, add more flour and let stand for 50-60 minutes. In the heated fat, spread the cutlet mass with a spoon, like fritters, and fry for 2-3 minutes on both sides.
Recipe 4. Chicken chops, in sour cream with parsley
Ingredients:
Chicken fillet 0.7 kg
Onions 150g
Egg1 pcs.
Salt
White bread, stale 200 g
Milk 100 ml
Pepper
For the sauce:
Sour cream 10% 300 ml
Flour 50 g
Garlic 10 g
Parsley, chopped
Spice
Cooking:
Wet bread in milk, chop onion and chicken meat. Add spices, minced garlic, egg and cook the cutlet mass. Soak it in the refrigerator and form balls of 60-70 g. Let them go down in the heated oil, covered with a lid, mix for 10 to 15 minutes. Mix the sour cream with flour and spices. In thick cream, if necessary, add water. Pour the liquid into the pan with chopsticks and simmer for another five minutes, cover with a lid, add the greens, let the sauce boil and turn off the heat.
Recipe 5. Pollock fillet fish patties
Ingredients:
Lemon juice 50 ml
Onions 100g
Fillet of Pollock 700 g
Egg 1 pc.
Butter 120g
Bread 200 g
Breadcrumbs
Spice
Cooking:
Combine the crushed bread with onions and fish, killed in a blender, add lemon juice, eggs and spices. Stir the stuffing, add the softened butter and beat the mass. Cool and form flat round patties, breaded them in breadcrumbs, put on a dish, and put into the cold. It is better to fry such burgers in deep fat so that the butter from the cutlet mass does not have time to drain into the pan.
How to fry cutlets in a pan - tricks and tips
- The readiness of meat cutlets can be checked by pressing the spatula or fork on the cutlet: if as a result of pressing a clear juice comes out, after 2-3 minutes steaming, you can remove the cutlets from the fire.
- If you monitor the amount of cholesterol entering the body, then use only vegetable oil for frying, and it is better if it is olive, but not the first spin. Although any fried is harmful enough, you should try to reduce this damage to a minimum.
- Do not use the same butter twice because after frying the cutlets in the pan, this butter turns into a toxic substance containing carcinogens. After frying meatballs the remnants of this oil should be thrown away. At best, they can be used for other business purposes, but in no case be eaten.
- In order for juicy cutlets to be juicy, it is not always necessary to use breadcrumbs. Juice provides protein or starch.
