Smoked cheese: calories and recipes, benefit and harm
There are many delicious foods, using which as ingredients, you can cook a variety of dishes. One of them is smoked cheese. Those who love him need to know what his caloric content is, what recipes of dishes you can cook, what the benefits and harms of this product are.
Composition and calories
Smoked cheese is one of the varieties of processed cheese. Produce a product using it rennet cheese, cream, butter, cottage cheese. After mixing the ingredients add spices. Next comes the smoking process. Smoked product has a significant difference from the usual. It has a pronounced smell and taste of smoked meat. Many precisely for these qualities choose this product.
Its caloric content is quite high - for a hundred grams, it is 380 kilocalories. This quantity contains about 25 grams of protein and 30 grams of fat. Depending on the type of cheese, calories may be less, but not less than 300.
Beneficial features
Provided that the product is prepared correctly, in compliance with all the technologies and the use of high-quality components, it will bring only benefit to the body. Smoked cheese differs in calcium and phosphorus, and this is an undoubted benefit for bone tissue. Bones and teeth are strengthened, nail plates and hair bulbs receive the necessary nutrition.
This type of product contains vitamins necessary for the body, including A, E, B, PP, D, which have a beneficial effect on the work of the gastrointestinal tract. A positive effect was noted both in the work of the heart and in the good state of the vessels. The use of this type of cheese has a beneficial effect on the brain and nervous system. The product helps to reduce cholesterol, increase hemoglobin. Experts in nutrition have generally positive effects on the body.
Although the calorie content of the product is quite high, it can be included in small quantities in the menu even to those who follow a diet, it contributes to the removal of toxins from the body. And the amino acids present in the product, prevent premature aging of the body.
Contraindications and harm
Sufficiently high salt content makes it undesirable to use this product in large quantities for those who suffer from hypertension, kidney disease and gall bladder. Therefore, for people suffering from these diseases, the product is contraindicated and very harmful.
It is necessary to carefully study the composition of the product, because poor quality, made in violation of technology and having chemical additives to improve taste and color, it can cause an increase in pressure, as well as swelling and allergic reactions. When buying, you need to carefully study the appearance of the cheese - its surface should be necessarily dry, and the color from light beige to dark brown. The product must be complete, not have cracks and delaminations, when cutting it should not crumble.
How do you make a product?
It can be smoked in two ways - hot or cold. It is covered with a brown or beige crust and there is always the appetizing smell of light smoke. The cold method involves smoking so-called cold smoke, the temperature of which is no higher than twenty degrees. And the process takes from two to three weeks. Time hot smoked can take only a few hours or days, depending on the temperature, which can vary from 40 to 90 degrees.
The main thing in the preparation of the product - is the passage of all stages of natural smoking. Some unscrupulous manufacturers tend to make the product less expensive and use liquid smoke and flavor enhancers, which degrades the quality of the product and makes it less useful.
In stores on the shelves you can find several varieties of smoked cheese.
Everyone knows the cheese called "pigtail".The main component for the preparation is goat's milk, which is heated, then a special starter is added. After reheating, flakes appear, from which yarns are obtained, which are then woven into a pigtail. Next, the product matures in a special brine, after which it is smoked.
Sausage cheese is the most popular among this type of smoked meat. In its composition - hard cheese varieties, butter, curd mass, cream, spices. After mixing all the ingredients, the cheese is melted. Sausages are formed from the resulting composition, sent to special chambers for cooling, and then smoked.
There are a number of good quality smoked cheeses, among them Swiss with a nutty note, Dutch with a creamy tinge, more bland Italian, English with a sour taste.
What can you cook with it?
Smoked cheese is tasty in itself, it is indispensable when making sandwiches, it will decorate any festive cuts. But from it you can cook a lot of interesting dishes, and there are recipes where cheese is one of the main ingredients.
The simple and well-known salad that can be quickly prepared has the following steps:
- cheese (250-300 grams) must be grated or cut into small pieces;
- finely chopped parsley, dill, basil or cilantro (you can add other herbs and spices to your taste), add a couple of garlic cloves and carrots to the cheese;
- mix all the ingredients and season with mayonnaise or sour cream.
Another salad can be prepared in a hurry, it includes the following ingredients: crab sticks, cheese pigtail, canned beans, apples. Cheese, apples, crab sticks are cut into pieces, the beans are washed, allowed to drain. All components are mixed, add spices and mayonnaise.
From the same sort of cheese, you can prepare a salad with chicken, which will decorate any holiday table. You will need chicken fillet, pickled gherkins, three eggs, a pair of medium-sized tomatoes, and cheese. Chicken and eggs should be boiled, then all the ingredients cut into small slices, chopped cheese, mix everything, season the salad with vegetable oil, add salt and pepper.
The original and unusual taste of a salad of smoked cheese, pears, lettuce and walnuts. Ideally, this salad uses Gruyere smoked cheese, which will harmoniously complement such components as a handful of roasted walnuts and a pear sliced into thin slices. All this is mixed, squeezed out the juice of fresh lemon, add casting salad. Olive oil is used as a dressing.
Smoked cheese goes well with ham. Therefore, the salad of them will be very tasty. A good addition to them will be the Bulgarian pepper and fresh cucumber. All components need to be cut into strips, add chopped greens. Gas station can be chosen to your taste. Suitable both olive oil and mayonnaise.
Another snack can be prepared very quickly. They chop cabbage, cut Bulgarian pepper, sausage cheese and boiled eggs in small pieces, finely chop greens, add mayonnaise. Prepare a few peppers, cutting off the tops of them, and filling the resulting mixture. It turns out both beautiful and tasty.
An interesting salad that guests will enjoy can be made from smoked cheese, champignons and shrimps. Mushrooms need to be overcooked with onions, boiled shrimp, mix, cool. In the cold mixture add grated cheese, squeeze a clove of garlic, lettuce leaves. Mayonnaise will work well as a dressing, but you can experiment by adding sauce at your discretion.
How to store?
Smoked cheese is stored much longer than normal. Its shelf life in the refrigerator is about thirty days. Sandwiches with such cheese can be taken on the road, they can spend about two days in the packaging of food film.
The product should be stored in a refrigerator on a shelf where cheeses are usually stored.It should not be placed in the freezer. After thawing the cheese will lose its original qualities. Shelf life is usually indicated on the packaging.
If the cheese is sticky on top or crumbles heavily, it means that it is already stale. To avoid trouble with the stomach, it is better not to eat it.
How to smoke cheese, see the next video.
