On the eve of the May holidays (Labour Day, on May 1, and Victory Day, on May 9), specialists of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) gave Russians advice on choosing high-quality shashlik meat.
Experts advise buying meat in specially equipped retail outlets. Before buying, you should check its appearance, colour, condition of fat and tendons, consistency and smell. Fresh meat has a thin dry crust of pale red colour, white or yellowish fat, fresh smell, and dense consistency. The pit formed by pressing is quickly levelled.
Low-quality meat has noticeable streaks inside the package, slow alignment of the pit when pressed, whitish bubbles in the muscle tissue, soft and flabby consistency, grey or greenish colour on the cut, grey fat, as well a sour and musty smell. The inner surface of the piece may be sticky or covered with mucus.
When buying a pickled shashlik, it is worth studying its labelling. It is desirable that a grade of meat is prescribed on it. It is recommended to choose the highest or first grade (there will be a lot of tendons in all grades below).
The composition of the “right” semi-finished shashlik:
- pork,
- salt,
- vinegar,
- fresh onion,
- spices (pepper, ginger, coriander, etc.).
It is necessary to pay attention to the composition of the products, including preservatives: make sure that there are no phosphates in the composition. If the composition contains the food additive E450, it is better to refuse to buy such a shashlik, as it contains a moisture-retaining agent.
In addition, experts warn that sellers can soak spoiled meat in vinegar or potassium permanganate to get rid of the stale smell. If the edges of the piece are fuzzy or blurred, then most likely the meat was soaked in vinegar. Pink fat and yellow bones are a sign of soaking in potassium permanganate.
In addition, it is better to take the meat in its original packaging, while there was not too much liquid in it. Chilled good meat absorbs marinade, and frozen meat filled with vinegar, on the contrary, secretes juice.
Besides, vinegar-lemon marinades do not allow the meat to spoil for 3 days, while the meat in mayonnaise-kefir sauce spoils faster. The production marinade can be stored for no more than a week. The lid of the plastic bucket should be slightly concave, not swollen.
Ru-Main, 02.05.2022
Source: Lenta
