How much to store forcemeat in a refrigerator and a freezer?

Practice shows that depending on how and how much to store forcemeat in the refrigerator or freezer, you can noticeably affect the taste and aroma of the prepared dish, its texture, shelf life. Non-observance of the recommended parameters will become noticeable immediately. This will manifest itself in the form of deterioration of color and smell of the billet, difficulties with its exploitation. Even if the indicators are sustained, many housewives neglect the preparation of the ingredient, simply place the product in a refrigerator or freezer, after which they use minced meat for the intended purpose.

It is important to remember that meat and fish products need to be stored in different ways. While the period of use of fresh meat composition is within 12 hours, the fish mass will have to be used in 6 hours. And it is highly recommended not to freeze, the taste and texture of such stuffing deteriorates noticeably.

Features of the preparation of stuffing for storage and the timing of its contents in the refrigerator

Everyone knows that you can buy minced meat only in specialized stores, subject to the availability of appropriate marking and the specified production time. But not everyone understands what to do with him, how much and where to store it.

In the case of a meat product, you first need to make sure of its high quality:

  • If you already acquire a ready-made composition, then it must be homogeneous. It is highly recommended not to store mixed types of products in the refrigerator and even the freezer.

Tip: The best option would be hand-made cooking stuffing. This will allow you to control the composition of the mass, to select quality meat for it, to keep the necessary proportions.

  • Before you can prepare the mince, you need to dry the meat. The drier the final mixture will be, the longer it will last. When using the finished product, it should be wrapped with a clean cloth and held under a slight oppression for a few minutes.
  • Composition grayish and gray-pink with suspicious inclusions or slippery surface storage in the refrigerator and freezing is not subject.
  • Before you remove the stuffing into the camera, you need to sniff it. A quality product can smell of fresh milk or a fresh smell of meat. Any impurities in the form of rust, antibiotics, putrefaction and oxidation should be strained. It is strictly forbidden to buy a frozen product. It practically does not give an odor, therefore this form of forcemeat is often used by unreliable sellers.
  • The composition of a good product should not contain salt and spices. These ingredients cause stiffness of meat fibers, if not immediately cook a semi-finished product. Spices interrupt putrefactive odors, so they are often used by sellers if the expiration date of the product has expired.
  • It is not necessary to purchase mass with soy additives or independently introduce them in preparation for storage. The presence of these components can positively influence the taste of the final dish only if used before the start of cooking.

To store minced meat in a refrigerator, it is necessary to remove it into a clean and dried plastic container, seal it tightly with a lid and wrap with several layers of food film. The product is put on the bottom shelf, otherwise it can drip water into other ingredients. In this case, the shelf life of the product is no more than 12 hours, after which it must be prepared.

No matter how much minced meat is left in the refrigerator, it is not recommended to subject it to freezing afterwards. It is necessary to immediately determine when the composition will be used and, based on this, to select the optimal storage option.

If the prescription means the use of mixed stuffing, then you need to combine the ingredients just before cooking the culinary excellence. Disregarding this rule, you can spoil the structure of the product and reduce the shelf life of it.

How to store the product correctly in the freezer?

The procedure for storing minced meat in the freezer is also specific. To get a fresh and high-quality product on the output, you need to consider the following:

  1. Only fresh ground meat is allowed to be frozen. In the refrigerator until this point, he can spend no more than an hour.
  2. . No matter how many housewives put pelmeni into an example, in the filling of which there is not only meat, but also spices, onions and some other ingredients, this rule does not apply to the storage of minced meat. Adding the auxiliary ingredients to the pure product can spoil the taste and aroma of the prepared dish, shorten the shelf life of the mass, increase the risk of food poisoning.
  3. It is best to store the meat product in the form of flat briquettes. To do this, we divide the composition into small portions, lay them out in packages, let out all the air from the package and squeeze it, forming flat cakes. Thus, the mass will solidify very quickly, and the frozen semi-finished product will take up a minimum of space.
  4. Contrary to popular belief, the shelf life of the product in the freezer should not exceed three months. It is able to lie much longer, without spoiling, but the quality of the fibers will noticeably suffer and in the finished form will resemble rubber, and not meat.
  5. Repeated freezing is strictly prohibited. This not only negatively affects the state of the mass, but also increases the risk of poisoning the product as a result of increased bacterial activity.
  6. If the function of fast freezing is present in the refrigerator, then it is recommended to use it when processing minced meat. In this case, the composition will retain its freshness to the maximum extent.

Ready meals from meat or fish mince are recommended to keep in the cold for no more than 1-2 days. If desired, they can be stored in the freezer, but only if there are no garnish left on the surface and served without sauce. Before you remove these products in the cold, you must completely cool them at room temperature and put them in clean, dried plastic containers.