Hamburgers: Do you know what they're made of?

Where to get a cutlet press

Making cutlets is easy, but forming a beautiful and even cutlet, but only for a hamburger, is much more difficult. In this case, an interesting device called a press comes to the rescue.

The press is a round metal form into which the required amount of minced meat is placed and pressed down on top using a lid. The result is a flat and even cutlet with a grooved surface.

You can purchase a hamburger press in online stores or in shopping centers in the kitchen (bar) accessories department.

How to make beef hamburger patties

Ingredients	Quantity
beef -	1 kg
vegetable oil -	2 tbsp. l.
salt and freshly ground black pepper -	taste
Cooking time: 25 minutes	Calorie content per 100 grams: 268 Kcal

In most cases, premium ground beef is used as the meat filling for hamburgers. For example, rump or sirloin. However, minced meat made at home is the most delicious.

Cooking steps:

Cut off the veins of washed meat and remove films. Dry with kitchen paper towels and cut into small pieces. Pass the meat ingredient through a meat grinder at least three times. As a result, the minced meat will acquire the desired consistency: homogeneous and soft. With this filling it will be easier to form beautiful cutlets;
Next, you need to mix the minced meat with your hands, add salt and pepper to taste. Divide into 4 parts of equal weight and form cutlets from each using a press;
Fry over moderate heat on each side for 3 minutes.

During the frying process, under no circumstances should you put pressure on the cutlets. Otherwise, the juice will leak out and they will become dry.

What's in hamburgers and other fast food?

People who have worked in fast food establishments talk about their experiences and the products that are used to prepare fast food. You can read this on the social network Reddit, in which former employees of such establishments expose the secrets of “junk food.”

They say, for example, that when the patties arrive at the diner (raw), they bear very little resemblance to beef medallions, especially the ones advertised portray. That is why they are fried for as long as possible and then topped with different sauces.

They also say that although these establishments have very strict cleanliness standards, their employees are not very strict about following the rules. For example, to complete a task on time, they fry all the hamburgers in the same oil.

Although the largest manufacturer of hamburgers claims that they do not contain any preservatives , in fact, preservatives such as trichloroethane, dieldrin, ethylbenzene and others can be found in them. It is for this reason that a hamburger left “in the fresh air” for a long time does not show signs of rotting.

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Recipe for pork cutlet with cheese

The recipe below is for 12 cutlets. Therefore, it is ideal for preparing hamburgers for a party.

Recipe components:

lean minced pork – 0.5 kg;
bulb;
oil - as much as needed for frying;
white bread crumb – 1 pc.;
cheese – 100 g;
ground coriander to taste;
egg;
flour for frying;
salt and pepper are added to taste.

Cooking time: 40 minutes.

Calorie count: 255 kcal.

Cooking steps:

Finely chop the onion into the prepared minced meat;
Next, beat in the egg and sprinkle with the spices indicated in the recipe;
Soak the crumb in water. Squeeze and add to minced meat;
Grate the cheese and also add to the minced meat;
Next, the filling must be kneaded for a long time and very thoroughly so that the components are well mixed and saturated with spices;
Divide the finished minced pork into 12 (or 10) parts;
Form into balls and roll each one in the flour mixture;
Use a press to shape the cutlets or flatten them with your hand. In any case, the result should be an even cutlet 1 cm thick;
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan;
Add a generous amount of cutlets and fry on each side for about two minutes.

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McDonald's cutlets at home

Everyone loves McDonald's, especially children. The food in the establishment is, of course, delicious, but it’s difficult to call it healthy, since we don’t know what ingredients our favorite fast foods are prepared from. Let's try to make a cutlet similar in taste to McDonald's, but without flavoring additives.

How to fry a minced fish cutlet

Fish cutlets are made from cod, salmon or trout and must be breaded in ground breadcrumbs before frying. In the case of salmon, it is chopped with a sharp knife, then mixed with herbs, onions, grated lemon zest, and lemon juice is poured on top.

At the very end of the process, salt, pepper and add a little starch. The mixture is stirred until completely homogeneous, and put in the refrigerator for about a quarter of an hour.

Fish cutlets are formed in the same way as beef cutlets, but their thickness must be at least two centimeters, otherwise they will fall apart during frying. It is recommended to fry them in olive oil on each side for up to three minutes.

Recipe components:

cod - 0.6 kg;
bulb;
ground pepper and salt;
egg;
white bread pulp - 2 pieces;
milk – 50 ml;
ground ginger – ½ tsp;
dried basil – 1 tsp;
flour – 100 g.

Cooking time: 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Number of calories: 124 kcal.

Cooking steps:

Cut off the fins of the fish, remove the skin and remove the central bone. Grind the fillet in a blender;
Chop the onion;
Soak the pulp in milk;
Place all prepared ingredients in one container, beat in the egg and mix;
Place in the refrigerator;
After an hour, drain the water and form cutlets using a press;
Fry on each side.

Hamburger from Jamie Oliver

There is no need to introduce this famous British chef, whose dishes are renowned for their simplicity but incredible taste.

Jamie Oliver, based on a few simple details, is able to radically change the taste of familiar food, thereby taking it to a new higher level.

Once, while fighting stereotypes, he proved that fast food can be not only tasty, but also healthy. Shall we check?

Recipe components:

lean ground beef – 0.5 kg;
grainy mustard – 1 tsp;
beer – 10 ml;
salt and pepper to taste;
olive oil.

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Cooking time: 35 minutes.

Number of calories: 249 kcal.

Cooking steps:

Add salt and pepper to the minced meat, add the specified amount of mustard and pour in beer, which will make the cutlets juicy;
Mix everything well and divide the meat filling into 4 equal parts;
Roll each into a ball, and use a press or palm to give it a flat shape;
Fry in well-heated olive oil for no more than 4 minutes.

Taste and reviews

The bun is soft and airy. It contains various additives and improvers. The composition states the presence of 100% beef . The pickled cucumber tastes good and crunchy. However, the Hamburger contains only one piece, which weighs little.

Comfortable price. If you can’t spend a lot of money, but want to have a snack, Hamburger is a great option.
Tasty and satisfying . After such a snack, the problem of hunger is solved for a couple of hours. But it is worth remembering that fast carbohydrates do not make you feel full for a long time.

Relatively high calorie content . It is not recommended as a daily snack because it is easily addictive.
A little dry, as there are few fresh and pickled vegetables .
A large number of improvers . Thanks to them, the dish is aromatic, has the right consistency and has a bright taste, but does not provide the body with useful vitamins and microelements.
Allergens . The hamburger contains gluten and mustard. Therefore, people with certain health problems should avoid eating this sandwich.
The appearance is not bad. However, in advertising and in the photo on the menu it looks more appetizing.

Useful tips

Many people think that making the perfect hamburger patty at home is easy. However, it is not. Even fast food, which is familiar to us, requires a serious approach to preparation.

Therefore, in order not to spoil a seemingly easy dish, take into account the following valuable tips if you are an expert in preparing hamburger patties.

Despite the temptation to buy ready-made minced meat at the nearest supermarket, so that when you get home you don’t have to waste time on cooking your own. In this case, it is better to immediately abandon homemade hamburgers, because in 9 cases out of 10 the cutlet will turn out dry. For the perfect cutlet, don’t be lazy to make the minced meat yourself. The main secret of juiciness lies in cutting the semi-finished meat product. The ingredient is cut exclusively across the fibers, but only rolled through a large nozzle;
A hamburger is not a dietary dish, so there is no need to skimp on the amount of fat. The ideal ratio of minced meat to fat is 80% to 20% or 75% to 25%. For example, you can get a tasty cutlet if you mix the shoulder part of beef (2/3) and the flank (1/3). If your goal is to make the cutlets less fatty, then add a small amount of cold water for juiciness;
Ideally, a hamburger patty does not need additional ingredients in the form of onions, garlic, eggs, and certainly not bread crumbs. The classic set of spices is salt and pepper. Chefs recommend peppering the minced meat almost immediately after rolling, but you need to add salt before or during frying. The secret is based on the fact that early addition of salt will make the consistency of the cutlet elastic and dense;
Despite the tautology, an ideal cutlet is a cutlet with an ideal shape. For those who cook hamburgers every week, it is advisable to acquire a very convenient device - a press. In other cases, the device can be replaced with a regular kitchen ring. But don’t forget, during frying, the cutlet tends to fry, which means it becomes smaller in size. Therefore, you need to make it a centimeter larger than the diameter of the bun. If there is not a ring in the kitchen, much less a press, then you can use a cut plastic bottle or can;
Before shaping, be sure to cool the minced meat so that the fat does not stick to your hands and work surface during the process. However, not only the meat ingredient must be cold, but also the table, hands and remaining utensils. Therefore, be sure to keep the culinary ring or press in the freezer, and wipe your hands with an ice cube from time to time. As for the cutlets themselves, they should also be kept in the freezer until frying, and to prevent them from sticking together, place baking paper between them.

Bon appetit!

Why shouldn't you eat hamburgers and other fast food?

If you not only want to eat healthier food, but also care about the environment, the ecology, all the more you need to give up fast food. It is manufactured using toxic chemicals (which cause cancer and chronic diseases) that pollute the environment.

One of the ingredients in the production of hamburgers is carbon hydroxide, which has bactericidal properties. It is pink in color and made from offal. Without it, the hamburger would simply be inedible.

It contains so many additives that are hazardous to health that it is difficult to talk about them in one article. This is one of the reasons why hamburgers should not be eaten. Another reason is that they contain too much fat and extra calories.

Chef Jamie Oliver showed on his TV program that when this “pink foam” (carbon hydroxide) is filled with chicken nuggets or sausages, they become very similar to hamburgers.

On the fast food conveyor belt, animals are kept in terrible artificial conditions. They cannot move, but only eat and gain weight. Taking their lives in slow and painful ways. Chickens are overfed, they hatch chicks in cramped cages. Cows are also kept in confined spaces. They are fed maize or soybeans to help them gain weight faster.

To increase meat production, companies are devastating vast areas of forest and rural areas. In their place, soybeans are grown to feed livestock. Moreover, millions of eucalyptus trees are cut down to pack hamburgers and potatoes . Herds of cows emit large amounts of methane into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. And finally, the packaging is made from materials that do not decompose, but rather add to the trash piles.

Cows receive large amounts of antibiotics and hormones. On the other hand, hamburgers are 50% water. And also from tendons, tongues, gums, tails, intestines, blood.

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