How to defrost ready-made cutlets

Have you ever encountered this situation: you are rushing home from work, on the way you still need to stop at the store and buy something to cook dinner, and then relatives or friends call and warn you about an imminent visit? The mood is ruined, you’ll have to run to the grocery store and spend money on semi-finished products. Often, not only the price, but also the quality is unsatisfactory in this matter. Therefore, it is important to make sure in advance that the treasured bag of cutlets is waiting for you in the freezer. Within 15 minutes they can be cooked, topped with boiled spaghetti and sprinkled with cheese. The supper is ready.

To be or not to be

The question of whether it is possible to freeze ready-made cutlets arises among housewives quite often. This is a dream. We come home from work, put it on a plate, pour it with tomato sauce - and that’s it, you can serve it. But vague doubts still remain. Will the product lose its qualities during defrosting? How long can it be stored? Experienced chefs and cooks answer positively the question of whether it is possible to freeze ready-made cutlets. This is a great time and effort saver, as well as a way to save food.

Choosing minced meat

For a semi-finished product to be truly tasty and healthy, it must be made from high-quality meat. The best way to do this is to buy the pulp and twist it yourself. In this case, you will be sure that no foreign ingredients, such as large amounts of fat, will get into it.

The choice of meat type should also be conscious. Fatty pork is not very healthy. Also consider frying in oil. Lean pork will be tender but dry. The same can be said about chicken. The beef is too tough. Through trial and error, the housewives found the optimal solution. It is a mixture of beef, pork and turkey. Then the cutlets turn out juicy and tender. Ask your moms if you can freeze ready-made cutlets. Surely they will answer that they themselves have done this more than once.

How to form semi-finished products

For a kilogram of cutlet mass you will need 100 g of breadcrumbs. Pour it into a convenient cup and start shaping the products. There are several ways to do this, among which you can choose the most convenient one.

With clean, slightly damp hands, form a patty of the required size and roll well in breadcrumbs. To prevent the products from sticking together and moving away from the packaging, it is recommended to use crackers rather than flour. And then the crust turns out more interesting. Is it possible to freeze ready-made cutlets in muffin tins? Very simple. And housewives are happy to use this method. After freezing, simply pour them into a bag.
You can lay out semi-finished products ready for frying on a cutting board, covering it with film. Be sure to leave space between the products and cover with cling film on top. And in this form, send it to the freezer.
If you plan to make a large quantity, you can lay it out in several layers. To avoid damaging the shape, it is best to make thin minced meat cutlets, otherwise the top ones will flatten the bottom ones. Or give the first batch time to freeze.

Steaming food

It’s good when the housewife has different types of household appliances in her kitchen. This allows each device to be used for its intended purpose. For example, everyone knows that a microwave oven is used mainly for processing foods that contain a sufficient amount of moisture. It promotes the penetration of electromagnetic radiation deep into food, boiling it from the inside. However, its capabilities are not limited to this. So, few people know what delicious cutlets can be cooked in the microwave. It turns out that there are dozens of different ways to do this. The easiest way is to steam the cutlets.

For this you will need:

ready minced meat, salt, onion, a little garlic and ground pepper.

Cooking cutlets in the microwave is easy:

The first step is to prepare the main mixture. To do this, chop the onion and peeled garlic cloves in a blender.
After this, all the ingredients must be collected together.
Form cutlets of the desired size and shape from the prepared mixture.
Place semi-finished products in a special pan. In this case, each layer must be separated from the rest with a fresh cabbage leaf.
Add some water and close the lid tightly.
Place the container in the microwave for 20 minutes.

The cutlets turn out very tasty, and the remaining broth can be used as gravy or made into a sauce.

Cooking dinner

Now there are semi-finished products in the refrigerator, and therefore this process becomes much faster. Yes, and more convenient. Sometimes you can hear the opinion that after defrosting food becomes carcinogenic. But science has not yet found any evidence of this. The only point: if the minced meat already contains onions, then after defrosting gourmets may feel a slight change in its smell. But most people don't feel any difference. Moreover, you can pre-fry the onion and only then add it to the minced meat. Then you will not feel any foreign smell.

Modern ovens also have a defrost function. The product thaws in about 10 minutes. You can create it artificially by setting the temperature to 30 degrees and turning on convection. At high temperatures, defrosting food is not recommended for the same reasons as in hot water.

Defrosting speed

Safety

Preservation of taste qualities

We recommend: Place a raw egg in the freezer overnight – in the morning you’ll have a beautiful breakfast for 5 people

In a slow cooker

Can I use a slow cooker for defrosting? Yes. To do this, place the product on the grill and turn on the steam mode. The lid should be kept open and the meat (fish, poultry) should be turned over periodically. Steam additionally saturates the product with moisture, thereby protecting it from weathering and drying out.

Defrosting speed

Safety

Preservation of taste qualities

On a special defrosting mat

For quick defrosting, special aluminum plates with grooves are produced (Defrost Express and others costing from 500 rubles). Aluminum is an effective heat conductor, and therefore significantly speeds up the thawing process. A chicken fillet weighing 0.5 kg will thaw on a mat in about 45 minutes (or just in a plate - in 2-3 hours).

Defrosting speed

Safety

Preservation of taste qualities

If there are any fried cutlets left

It also happens. Imagine that you fried a whole dish, and then your husband called and invited you to the restaurant. And tomorrow you are going to a corporate party together and you definitely won’t have dinner at home. No problem, you just need to remember how to freeze ready-made cutlets. To do this, place them on a towel to absorb excess fat and cool completely. After this, you can put it in the refrigerator for several hours. Then the structure of the minced meat will become denser and it will be easier to pack them.

And now just a few words about how to freeze ready-made cutlets at home. If you plan to store them in the freezer in advance, then it is better not to fry until cooked, but only to create a golden brown crust on the surface. Then you can stew them in the sauce.

You can use any of the methods listed above. Only silicone muffin tins are not suitable for freezing finished cutlets. If the freezer is empty, simply lay out a plastic bag and lay them out in an even layer. Or use special freezer bags. After this, collect and place in plastic containers. Be sure to sign the date of manufacture, as well as how they were prepared. If the cutlets are fried and ready to eat, then you just need to heat them in the microwave.

Chicken cutlets

People who are on a diet are forced to constantly deny themselves something. There is an interesting option for them on how to cook chicken cutlets in the microwave.

Few products are required for this:

for 400 grams of chicken, 2 teaspoons of flour, 80 grams of loaf or white bread, previously soaked in milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter.

In this case, you need to start with the bird:

Cut the meat off the bone and pass it through a meat grinder several times along with the loaf.
Add melted butter, a little salt and prepare plastic minced meat.
Form thin oval pieces from it and place them in a pan.
Bake for 10 minutes (5 on each side) on high.
Combine the remaining butter with flour, add 75 grams of water and pour this mixture over the products.

In just 4 minutes the tender cutlets will be completely ready. They can be eaten separately or supplemented with some side dish (rice, potatoes, pasta).

How to fry frozen cutlets

Ready-made frozen cutlets can be reheated over low heat without defrosting. You can also stew them in sauce or reheat them in the oven or microwave. The cutlet is already ready to eat; it is simply brought to the desired temperature.

It takes a little more time to cook cutlets that are frozen raw. If you plan to fry them, coat them in breading before placing them in the pan. They are prepared in the same way as fresh ones, only they are defrosted in a frying pan during the cooking process.

Using the tips above, you will no longer rack your brains about what to cook something quick and tasty. We cooked the porridge, took the cutlet out of the freezer - and a quick dinner was ready. Take the time to prepare homemade frozen cutlets, and you will be sure that you are provided with a delicious meat dish for the whole week.

Cutlets are one of the most popular dishes, loved by both adults and children. However, their preparation takes time, and sometimes the question arises: is it possible to prepare them for future use and freeze them? In our article we will tell you whether it is possible to store cutlets in the freezer, and how to make them tasty and healthy after defrosting.

How long to defrost minced meat: in the refrigerator, in water, in the microwave, in the oven

The thawing time of a meat product directly depends on the total mass of the piece, as well as its shape. That is, the more the frozen food weighs, the longer it will take to defrost. The approximate defrosting time in the refrigerator is:

small, thin pieces of pork and beef will take about 12 hours;
a kilogram briquette will be ready for cooking in 24 hours;
a piece weighing a total of two kilograms requires at least 48 hours.

We recommend reading —>>> How to defrost meat

Things will go a little faster if you put the minced meat in water, and for safety they put it in two plastic bags at once. In this case, you can start cooking after five hours. But as it thaws, you should cut the piece into smaller portions to reduce the duration of thawing.

The microwave is the fastest way to defrost semi-finished products. Usually the whole process takes no more than twenty minutes, provided that the piece is large. It takes a little longer for the product to thaw in the oven; on average, it takes a little more than 40 minutes. If you remove the thawed top layers during the process, this will significantly reduce the duration of the heat treatment.

Is it possible to put meat products in the freezer?

Meat products, including cutlets, meatballs, zrazy, whole meat or chicken dishes, can be frozen. After freezing, cutlets do not lose their beneficial properties , and when cooked correctly they turn out juicy and appetizing.
For those housewives who are interested in the question of whether it is possible to freeze chicken Kiev, we will answer in the affirmative. According to the classic recipe, cutlets are made from whole meat, and a piece of butter is placed inside. Both meat and butter tolerate freezing well, and after cooking, the cutlets turn out as tasty as freshly prepared ones.

Do not freeze cutlets made from store-bought minced meat. If the minced meat has already been frozen before, then after re-freezing the cutlets may fall apart and completely lose their beneficial properties.

Typical defrosting mistakes

The main mistake that inexperienced housewives make is storing and defrosting a large piece. The remainder of the product is frozen again, which further destroys the internal structure of the meat and allows bacteria to multiply until the piece freezes again.

Microwave defrosting is often done at high power (to speed up the process). This causes the protein inside the piece to cook. You need to thaw in a special mode or at minimum power, turning on the oven for 1-2 minutes and letting the piece rest for 2-3 minutes between turns on.

To properly defrost chicken in the microwave, you need to take into account the structure of the carcass: there is a cavity inside it. It is better to defrost a whole chicken in advance (at room temperature) or bake it in a partially thawed state.

Advantages and disadvantages

Freezing food has a number of advantages:

food in the freezer lasts much longer than in the refrigerator;
products do not lose their beneficial properties;
There is always an option for a quick homemade lunch or dinner at hand.

The disadvantages of freezing semi-finished meat products include only the need for storage under strict temperature conditions - at least -18 degrees. Otherwise, frozen cutlets do not differ in their properties from freshly prepared ones.

Ways to save

Raw

This option is the fastest, since you do not need to waste time on frying semi-finished products. You prepare minced meat according to your favorite recipe, form cutlets and store them in the freezer.

One convenient way to freeze raw cutlets is to place them in silicone muffin tins. There is no need to grease the mold, but it is better to bread the pieces in flour or breadcrumbs - then they will not stick to the packaging. Place the mold in the freezer for several hours, and when the cutlets harden, take them out and put them in a bag or container in which they will be stored without taking up much space.
If there are no muffin tins, there is another convenient option - place the cutlet blanks on a flat cutting board. The cutlets should not be placed too close to each other so that they do not stick together. They should be covered with cling film on top - this way the semi-finished products will not dry out. When the blanks become sufficiently hard, they can be placed in any convenient container or bag.

When placing the preparations for storage, it is worth sticking or putting a note in the bag with the date when the freezing was done. The shelf life of frozen foods is limited, and such stickers will help you use the necessary semi-finished products in a timely manner.

We invite you to watch a visual video about freezing meat cutlets:

Lightly fried

This is another quick and convenient way to prepare semi-finished products.

The cutlets need to be fried over high heat for a few minutes on each side until a crust appears. It will “seal” all the juice inside, and after defrosting the cutlets will definitely not be dry.
After frying, you can place the pieces on a napkin to absorb excess fat - this will make them less caloric.
Then, when the cutlets have cooled, all that remains is to put them in a convenient package and put them in the freezer.

Only completely cooled pieces should be placed in the freezer. If you have fried cutlets, wait until they cool down and only then put them in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze fully prepared cutlets . Just prepare them in the usual way, cool and place in the freezer in any convenient container. If necessary, it will be enough to defrost and reheat them, which will require very little time - after all, they are completely ready.

A worthy alternative

Those who are not afraid to experiment can try cooking cutlets in the microwave themselves. You can create a recipe for such a dish yourself or trust the experience of professionals. Very tasty, for example, they turn out

To prepare them you will need:

100 grams of hard cheese, half a kilogram of chicken fillet, an onion, 3 tablespoons of potato starch, a glass of kefir, a little salt, a bunch of herbs and spices.

It takes very little time to prepare this dish:

The fillet, onion and cheese should be cut into cubes of different sizes.
Collect all ingredients in one bowl and prepare minced meat.
Pour oil over a baking tray and place the mixture on it in the form of pancakes, using a regular tablespoon.
The process should take place at a power of 450 W. It will take no more than five minutes to process each side.

Before placing the finished products on a plate, you must first cut off the pieces of melted cheese that have flowed from them.