How frozen foods are thawed and cooked the healthiest

When cooking frozen foods, most of them use cold water soaking, water washing, hot water and other thawing methods, resulting in poor taste, ugly color, irregular shape and loss of nutrients. So how do you thaw and cook frozen food?

Understanding the time of various foods for refrigeration and freezing In order to maintain the quality of food and inhibit the reproduction of bacteria, the use of low-temperature storage method is the main means to prevent food from spoiling.

Currently equipped with refrigerators or electric freezers used by the company, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment is generally controlled between 0 °C and 10 °C, and the temperature of the freezer compartment generally reaches -18 °C to -24 °C. Therefore, the refrigeration and freezing time for all types of food should be:

1. Vegetable food storage in the cold room. Leafy vegetables such as cabbage, rapeseed, spinach, pakchoi, etc. are 2 days; Yuancai is 5-7 days; melon and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, green peppers, zucchini are 4 to 5 days; legumes such as lentils , green beans, cowpeas, etc. for 3 to 4 days; fungi such as various mushrooms including fresh mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, etc. for 2 to 3 days.

2. Store various animal foods in the refrigerator. The pork and beef chunks are 3 to 4 days, the small pieces are 2 to 3 days, the mutton is 2 to 3 days, the chicken is 2 to 3 days, and the fish is 1 to 2 days. Frozen storage means that the food is placed in the freezer compartment, and the temperature of the freezer compartment is generally between -18 ° C and -24 ° C, so that the food is stored for a long time, and can be eaten, taken, and placed, such as pork. Beef and lamb are 90 days, chicken is 120 days, and fish is 90 days. However, frozen foods cannot be stored for a long time. If the storage time is too long, the food will become odorous or even deteriorate. This is the same as the shelf life of other foods, and it will deteriorate after the shelf life. Therefore, frozen foods should be eaten during the freezing period to prevent indefinite storage.

The method of thawing frozen foods requires that the food must pass through a thawing period from the frozen state to the cooking. Thawing is a reversal of freezing that restores frozen food to a fresh state before freezing.

The methods of food thawing are:

1. Air thawing method. There are two general types. One is to take the frozen food out of the freezer and put it into the refrigerator. This thawing method takes a long time, but the quality of the defrosted food is good. It is usually taken out at night and eaten the next morning. The second is the frozen food. It is taken out from the freezer and thawed in the indoor air. This thawing method is greatly affected by the temperature. The use of air thawing method must pay attention to food can not be too long, especially in summer, the food after thawing bacteria multiply quickly, easily lead to food spoilage.

2. Flow hydrolysis method. When the frozen food is in urgent need of consumption, it can be hydrolyzed by a stream. Because the heat transfer performance of water is better than air, the thawing time can be shortened. However, it should be noted that frozen food should not be in direct contact with water, and should be sealed, such as sealed boxes, sealed food bags, etc., otherwise the nutrients of the food will be washed away by running water, making the taste of the food worse.

There are three points to note when using the flow hydrolysis method: First, the frozen raw food should not be completely thawed. When it is thawed, it can be cooked when it can be cut with a knife. Second, it cannot be thawed. For example, meat, fish and other foods will be thawed. There is a lot of blood flowing out. After the cooked cooked product is frozen, a thawing method can be used for thawing. However, when thawing, you must pay attention to adding a small amount of water and slowly heating it with a small fire, and you should not be too hasty to prevent the phenomenon of external rotten and cold after thawing with a large fire.

3. Microwave thawing method. Microwave ovens have become household appliances, and will soon become a company, especially small and small units. In addition to the main and non-staple foods, microwave ovens are also the "strength" of microwave ovens. It uses electromagnetic waves to rotate polar molecules in frozen food at a very high speed, and uses the principle of mutual vibration, friction and collision between molecules to generate a large amount of heat energy, so that frozen foods simultaneously heat from the inside to the table. It is extremely quick to shorten the freezing time.

Although the microwave thawing is good and fast, there are a few points to note.

First, frozen foods should not be placed in metal containers. They can only be placed in plastic containers for microwave ovens or in ceramic products. When thawing, cover the faster surface and edge parts with a small piece of aluminum foil. In this way, the local thawing process can be slowed down, and the food should be constantly flipped during thawing to make it thaw evenly;

Second, the weight must be accurate to determine the thawing time, otherwise it will easily cause the food to thaw too much, so that the food is scattered and rotten;

Third, the bagged food must be taken out of the bag during thawing and placed in the container. It cannot be thawed directly in the bag. If it is thawed in the bag, the bag opening must be opened, otherwise the bag may be broken.

To master the cooking method of defrosting foods, the internal structure of the food has changed after freezing. First, the water content is high, the cells become brittle, and the color becomes dark, which brings disadvantages to cooking.

To cook frozen foods, you must master the following principles:

1. Pay attention to the requirements of the knife. Because frozen foods have the above drawbacks, the processing of the knife must be distinguished from the fresh raw materials. When processing the pork, it should be thicker. When processing the meat, it should be larger to prevent the water from losing too much after heating. It is broken.

2. Sizing and hanging paste should be well grasped. Frozen foods have more water content and poor water absorption. Foods that have not been frozen have less water content under the corresponding conditions and have higher water absorption. Therefore, the frozen food should be thicker when sizing and hanging paste, and prevent the water from overflowing after the heat is applied to cause the pulp and the paste to fall off.

3. The heat of cooking should be stressful. Because of the poor toughness and fragility of frozen foods, it is necessary to use medium heat or small fire when oiling or direct cooking. Try not to stir the fire quickly, and prevent the raw materials from forming too quickly.

4. Master the cooking techniques. When cooking frozen foods, whether it is fried, burned, steamed, stewed, stewed, you should pay attention to no water or less water, in case the water overflow in the raw materials causes too much soup. At the same time, when you stir up the dishes, the action should be small, and the speed of the shovel should be slow. Avoid excessive force and excessive force, so that the dishes are scattered and rotten.