Forms for making cutlets: types and selection criteria

Various kitchen appliances designed to facilitate the work of the hostess. They help to cook delicious and beautiful food. For example, cutlet forms are a newfangled device with a lot of advantages. With it, your burgers will gain aesthetic appeal.

The principle of construction of all presses for frying meatballs is about the same. There are three elements in the forms:

• top and bottom covers;
• press itself.

Round parts are connected in a single design and represent a full-fledged kitchen fixture that allows you to speed up the cooking process. In the lower part, minced meat is laid and one half of the cutlet is formed. The top cover allows you to form a neat stuffing. The third device is a hand press, which you can flatten minced meat and form a hamburger billet or a classic chop.

The cutlet itself, pressed in this form, is round and flat. This type of cooking is called chunks. It is believed that the thickness of the billet up to 2 cm reduces the roasting time, keeping all the juice and flavor inside. Another type of round meatballs - steak. This product is also round and flat in shape, it differs in cooking methods. At the food enterprises cutlets are molded on a special machine. She molds blanks, paning them, but only on one side. Semi-finished products are finished manually.

It is a ruddy crust on the outside and juicy stuffing inside testifies to the correctness of the cooked patty. Specific requirements for the form of meatballs are in the technology of catering. At home, there is no fundamental need to make oval-shaped blanks, considering them ideally correct.

Like any other household appliances, cutlet forms have their pros and cons.

• The press allows you to cook the perfect cutlets. It’s impossible for a non-professional to do their own work in the kitchen with perfect results. Billets of various sizes can burn in the process of frying or remain raw. The press will provide the same preparation.
• Cooking speed due to the use of the form is reduced. Special labor costs are not required.
• The press assumes wide opportunities of operation. Use of the form is limited only by the culinary skills and imagination of the hostess. Here it is allowed to choose different products for both stuffing and stuffing.
• Modern mold is not difficult to maintain. The structure is disassembled and easy to clean. The device is sold with detailed instructions.
• Compactness. The dimensions of the mold allow its storage in a box with other kitchen accessories. The press does not require special storage conditions.

Manual fixture for the home is not without drawbacks, among which is the low output capacity. Automated devices that are used in enterprises lack this disadvantage. More users have noted the negative characteristics of inexpensive Chinese products. For example, colored dyes that are used in presses react with food. The quality of the material is low, so the forms quickly become useless. Silicone forms have a very unpleasant odor.

Press for meatballs are divided into two main types:

• manual form for modeling;
• automatic device.

The first option is suitable for home use, but if you do not need to cook a lot of meatballs with filling. Hand presses are used in catering points, provided that the burger cutlets need a little here, and they are not the main course menu. The principle of devices is simple, but the designs are solid or separate. The first type has the best quality, and the second one is easier to clean after use. Both devices are suitable for forming stuffed patties, which then can only be put on the pan for further cooking.

The second form option is suitable in case of need of cooking a large number of servings. The look is widely applied in various institutions of fast food. A distinctive feature of the device is the presence of containers for the manufacture of meatballs of various shapes. The diameter of the containers varies from 100 to 130 mm, while the press practically does not require human participation. Just press the button, add stuffing to the machine, and he will do all the work himself. The device is able to produce from 200 to 300 billet for hamburgers per hour. The main disadvantage of an automatic mold is the high price.

Molds can be single-layer, two-layer, three-layer. The latter, in particular, allow to shorten the cooking time with high quality, since they can hold several blanks at once. Single forms should be used for each cutlet separately, but they are very easy to use. The previous version still needs to learn how to use.

Double and triple forms are not detachable. While the single analog has a separate press and body. Some products are complemented by a grooved coating, which adds the cutlet look, cooked on the grill.

Popular cutlet molds - metal, plastic. There are silicone, but the demand for them is small.

• Metal has a longer operational life, therefore, is more popular. If the form of high-quality stainless steel, it will not absorb odors. Metal is considered waterproof and very durable. The main disadvantage of metallic forms is their susceptibility to corrosion. Modern forms with a special coating eliminate this negative quality. A minus of such products is high price.
• Plastic molds not inferior in popularity to the previous version. Responsible manufacturers create products with high-quality and strength characteristics, which are sold at a lower price compared to metal forms. In addition, the plastic does not give in to rust, and the water resistance of the material is the same as that of the metal. Negative qualities: absorbs odors, not as durable as metal.
• Silicone tins for meatballs are not very common. Products do not differ in high quality. In addition, there are a lot of fakes on the market, as manufacturers try to make material cheaper by adding harmful components to it.

Recommendations on the choice of cutlet molds relate to the rules of buying a quality product. There are far from safe presses on the market, so buying a form should be a responsible undertaking. Do not spend money on the first cutlet mold.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of plastic forms. The material should be high quality, food, with special markings. The smell of plastic may be slightly present on the new product, but after the first cleaning with detergents, it should be completely removed.If signs of chemical aromas remain, it means that it is better not to use this form.

High-quality plastic presses must be made by casting. Poor quality fakes will have burrs on the surface, other defects. They are noticeable with careful inspection of the product, therefore Selected options should be carefully considered.

The manual form for cutlets is easy to use and will help simplify the process of cooking for inexperienced housewives. Devices from different materials look almost the same, supplied with identical instructions. The document suggests the following step-by-step steps.

• To begin, all the details are recommended to moisten with cold water. This will prevent the meat from sticking to the surface.
• A portion of stuffing need to lay in the bottom cover. Then the upper part is closed, and the press is needed to pin down the product. With his help, you can create a recess for the filling.
• Then the form must be opened, and in the recess put any products: you can use boiled eggs, cheese, mushrooms, potatoes. It is desirable that the filling was not liquid.
• The second half of the stuffing is embedded in the top cover. The press is closed, and all parts of the cutlets are compressed into a single whole billet. It can be sent immediately to baking or leave for further freezing.

The operations are simple, they are repeated the same way, they take a little time to complete. Cutlets are obtained the same size, usually about 10-12 cm in diameter. Such blanks are designed for use in hamburgers. Recently, molds with a variable size have appeared on the market.

To learn how to use the form for making cutlets, see the video below.