Is it possible to freeze fried minced meat cutlets?

It is possible to freeze finished cutlets in the freezer, but it is not advisable. And for several reasons:

• Firstly, during storage they will significantly lose their taste, and in order to enjoy the food and not just fill your stomach, you will have to experiment with sauces.
• Secondly, frying a raw cutlet, albeit frozen, will take the same amount of time as reheating one that is ready to eat but has been lying around for a week or two at sub-zero temperatures.

That is, it makes sense to freeze only the surplus that, for some reason, the family cannot eat immediately after cooking or within the 24 hours allotted for storage in the main chamber of the refrigerator. And for the long term, it is better to prepare products from raw minced meat.

How to freeze cutlets at home?

The freezing process consists of three successive stages:

• Cooling down — the cutlets are transferred from the frying pan to a plate or baking sheet and left on the table. They should remain there until they feel slightly warm to the touch.
• Cooling - cover the container with cutlets with cling film and place in the refrigerator for several hours. During this time, their temperature should approach 0 (from +6°C to +2°C).
• Freezing — cutlets are laid out in one layer at a short distance from each other and left in the freezer. The freezing process at -25°C will take 2.5 to 3 hours.If you have a thermometer with a probe among your kitchen utensils, you can use it - as soon as the device begins to show that the temperature inside the meat product has dropped to -8°C, the freezing process can be considered complete.

You need to put the cutlets in the freezer in zip-lock bags specially designed for this purpose. They almost do not allow outside odors to pass through and preserve the taste of food as much as possible. Cling film and disposable plastic bags from the supermarket are not suitable for this purpose.

Shelf life

The maximum shelf life of fried cutlets at temperatures from -18°C to -25°C is 1 month. Then fat oxidation and other structural changes will begin, significantly affecting the quality of the product.

It is advisable to eat such cutlets within the first week after placing them in the freezer.

Which cutlets cannot be frozen?

The first thing you should pay attention to is the minced meat. If, before being turned into cutlets, it was frozen or prepared from frozen meat, then products made from it cannot be stored in the freezer even after being fully fried. This is associated with the risk of bacterial infections (as is known, when protein products are thawed, microbes become active and begin to multiply rapidly). The temperature inside a cutlet fried in a frying pan reaches +80°C, but this is not enough to destroy all pathogenic microflora.

In addition, the structure of meat from the freezer changes, which affects its taste. Repeated freezing makes this problem worse.

It is also prohibited to freeze meat products that have been stored outdoors or in the main compartment of the refrigerator for a long time. The putrefactive processes in them have already begun, despite the fact that the taste and smell do not yet arouse suspicion.Placing such food in the freezer will not make it fresher, but you can get poisoned by it without much effort.

Adviсe

To make the cutlets really tasty and make you want to eat them yourself, rather than treat stray cats, you should follow the advice of experienced chefs:

• If breading helps meat products frozen raw to retain their shape and not stick together during storage, then in the case of ready-made meat products the opposite is true - the presence of a cracker crust spoils both the taste and appearance of the food that has been in the freezer.
• You need to cook the cutlets from minced meat, onions and spices, then after heating they will retain their fluffiness and softness. The presence of bread in the recipe will make them slightly rubbery, and frozen garlic will start to smell bad.
• It is worth frying not in vegetable oil, but in lard. The fact is that it goes rancid more slowly, therefore, with long-term storage, the taste will be more pleasant.
• Do not complete heat treatment. During the heating process, the cutlets will still reach readiness, but thanks to this trick, their taste will be as close as possible to the taste of the product “from the heat.”

Preparation for use

• Before serving the cutlets, it is recommended to boil them for 5–10 minutes in tomato sauce or meat broth under a closed lid. This method is not suitable for breaded products, as it will flake off.
• You can also fry the cutlets over low heat. Covering the pan will keep them juicy and flavorful. Warm-up time is at least 10 minutes. For cutlets that are half cooked, it increases to 20 minutes.
• Another way to reheat frozen patties is to place them in the microwave.Depending on the power, the whole process will take from 3 to 5 minutes, and half an hour is allotted for eating the product. For longer storage, cutlets need to be heated by boiling or frying.

In general, there is nothing wrong with freezing fried cutlets rather than raw ones. However, you should remember that they will not be as tasty as fresh ones, and you won’t be able to save time this way either.