The store shelves are literally overflowing with a variety of semi-finished products from chicken meat. They are in demand and often purchased by the hostesses for the preparation of lunch or dinner. After all, nothing is easier than fry a cutlet in Kiev or bake marinated breast. All actions are only to warm up the frying pan or oven and fry until ready. In time it is usually not more than 20 minutes and then with the condition of cooking the garnish. The speed of cooking and saving time spent in the kitchen, bribes women, and they are increasingly turning their attention to the shelf with semi-finished products.
Is it useful to eat such foods? All depends on several factors.
The use of chicken meat
By itself, chicken meat by dietitians is recognized as a dietary product, it is indicated to everyone who sits on diets or because of the characteristics of digestion does not consume meat products from pork or lamb. Chicken meat does not have a lot of fat, it is well absorbed by the body.
The chicken meat produces excellent, rich bouillons and second courses. Dishes from chicken are prepared faster and easier than from pork or beef.
However, in semifinished products many useful properties of chicken meat are lost. How not to make a mistake in choosing what to look for?
Who produced the products
You should always buy semi-finished products manufactured in large enterprises with a well-known brand. Such manufacturers are responsible for their product and try to comply with the norms of Rospotrebnadzor. Serious manufacturers of semi-finished products will never allow products of poor quality and appearance to hit the shelves. Of course, the cost of such products is an order of magnitude higher, but it can be said with certainty that they will not harm the body.
But the semi-finished products made by handicraft at their attractive price can be of poor quality and bring only grief and upset stomach.
Food supplements
There should not be a lot of additives and preservatives in a quality semi-finished product. All sorts of flavor enhancers and starches are added to reduce the cost of the product and hide the quality of meat. If you buy cutlets or products from ground meat, then the meat itself must be at least 70% of the product.
Appearance
Be sure to look at the appearance of the product. The package must contain all the information about the manufacturer, the shelf life, the composition of the product. The products themselves should be the same in mass, with even edges and without deformation. Frozen, stuck together products indicate that they were stored incorrectly and, possibly, several times subjected to freezing.
Smell
During cooking, the products must exude the aroma characteristic of the dish and do not have extraneous smells. The presence of sharp smells of spices and garlic may indicate poor quality meat or a large amount of fat.
Do not buy in stores, chicken semi-finished products that have been heat treated. Grilled chicken and baked ham are most often products that were not sold in raw form and began to deteriorate. In such products, processes and infection with harmful bacteria are already most often irreversible.
For the preparation of chicken semi-finished products, it is best to stop your preference on portioned meat. It's very good if it's hips or wings, breast. Such products are sold in a refrigerated form, as if they were fresh. They do not include salt and spices, various additives. Prepare them a little more difficult than the same cutlets or dumplings, but the benefits in them will be several times more.
While saving time for cooking, it is still not worth the risk to eat dishes prepared from semi-finished products no more than once a week. After all, the presence of a large amount of salt and spices is not the best way to affect the health of the body.