How to check sour cream for naturalness?

Sour cream is one of the best-selling dairy products in Russia. This product is so in demand due to its nutritional qualities.For many, eating such dishes as borsch, salad, pancakes or dumplings is not possible without adding it. It is not only tasty and nutritious, but also extremely useful for the human body.

Many cooks subject to change the recipe of some dishes, replacing creamy and vegetable oils with sour cream. So the dish gets a more delicate and rich flavor. Our article will tell how to check this product for naturalness.

The maximum natural product, as a rule, you can offer only people containing livestock. The products presented in the stores have a lower percentage of naturalness; nevertheless, even on the counter of the supermarket one can find a quality product. There are signs that will help to know low-quality products. Consider them in more detail.

• The tint of natural sour cream is pure white and matte. Excessive gloss indicates that the composition contains a considerable amount of vegetable fat, thickeners and chemical additives used for the manufacture of sour cream product, which, despite the similar name, has no relation to it.
• Natural sour cream has a homogeneous structure and a thick consistency.
• The presence of foreign odor produces a non-natural sour cream product, since the manufacturer often adds all sorts of flavors to its composition.
• Quality products have a slightly sour taste without any kind of impurities.

• Take the time to study the label. Naturalness is often characterized by a limited shelf life, after which dairy products inevitably begin to turn sour. Products whose label convinces you that it is able to be stored for more than a month indicates that it contains a large amount of preservatives. Its use does not bring any benefit to the human body. The allowable shelf life is fourteen days.
• The seller’s permission to try sour cream is a good sign. To determine the taste of substandard products is quite simple, in connection with which the dishonest seller will not take the risk of offering you a spoonful of sour cream. When using a diluted sour product, you can clearly feel the starch or margarine flavor. Their addition to the composition gives thickness.
• As mentioned earlier, even on the counter of the supermarket it is possible to find a natural product. Be attentive to the labels attached to the cream. Even sour cream packaged at the factory contains only cream and leaven. The presence of ingredients such as milk powder, vegetable fats and stabilizers is a sure sign of a diluted sour cream product.

To date, there are several methods for checking the quality of sour cream yourself at home.

• For the first method it is necessary to evenly spread a teaspoon of sour cream over a thin glass. When drying, natural sour cream leaves behind a smooth snow-white trace, while artificially made will leave behind a divorce.
• For the second method, you will need a glass of hot water. To determine the naturalness, you need to add a teaspoon of the product to a glass of hot water. Quality product instantly dissolve. The precipitate will indicate the presence in the composition of the dairy product of various artificial ingredients.
• The third method is widespread among housewives, so there is a chance that you could already hear about it. A small drop of iodine will help determine the quality of sour cream. When added to a low-quality product, iodine provokes a reaction in which sour cream begins to acquire a bluish tint. This is due to the fact that manufacturers often add quite a large amount of starch to dairy products.This is done in order to increase the total weight of the product. Using a similar method, it is permissible to check for naturalness and cottage cheese.
• When smearing sour cream on the back of the hand, the natural product is partially absorbed after a few minutes, leaving behind a fat divorce. For non-natural sour cream it is peculiar to instantly be absorbed into the skin.

Storage of dairy products involves a lower temperature. Typically, this temperature range varies from one to eight degrees above zero.

High-quality impermeable packaging allows the product to remain fit for use over the next ten days. Long term means that the product is unnatural and fake with the addition of preservatives. Quality requirements do not imply this.

Another option for a long shelf life is heat treatment of products. However, talking about naturalness is no longer necessary. For pure, natural, "live" sour cream tend to maintain their nutritional properties only for seventy-two hours. In this connection, it is recommended to store unpacked products for no more than three days.

Storage in the freezer is prohibited. The fact is that freezing and subsequent thawing provoke a change in consistency. This is expressed in the appearance of large clots. In this case, the product is better to get rid of.

Learn more about how to check sour cream for naturalness, you will learn from the following video.