8 cooking mistakes that spoil cutlets taste

Grind the minced meat several times

Fine grinding makes the minced meat more liquid and the cutlets denser. This consistency is ideal for making meatballs, or lula kebabs, but not cutlets.

Passing the meat through a meat grinder several times or using a blender causes cutlets to lose their juiciness and fluffiness. Therefore, to make cutlets, it is enough to make minced meat by passing it through a meat grinder once.

Cooking cutlets with only meat

Although cutlets can be made without additional ingredients, technically, it will be a different dish. In addition, the flavor and texture will not be as distinct.

One of the necessary ingredients for making cutlets is dried bread soaked in water or milk. This ingredient absorbs the meat juice and makes the cutlet more tender. It is recommended to use 250 grams of bread per 1 kilogram of meat.

Incorrect ratio of ingredients

One of the main mistakes is the wrong ratio of meat to other ingredients, such as bread, onions, or eggs.

If you add too much bread or other fillings, the patties may become too soft and not hold their shape. If you add too little bread, the cutlets may be dry and tough.

The optimal proportion is 1 part bread to 4 parts meat. This allows you to achieve the perfect consistency.

It is especially important to add the egg carefully, or not at all. Otherwise, the minced meat will become sticky and the cutlets will be tough. It is recommended to add no more than 1 egg per 500-700 grams of minced meat.

Too many spices

It is important to remember that salt and spices should be added in moderation. If you go overboard with salt or pepper, the taste of the cutlets can be overly sharp and even unpleasant.

Also, don't forget that you can add spices as you wish, but it's better not to over-spice the cutlets - they should have a light, natural meat flavor.

Excessive amount of spices worsens the taste of cutlets (illustrative photo: Freepik)

Kneading for a long time

Since other products, such as onions, bread, eggs, garlic, and spices, are often added to the minced meat to diversify the flavor, the mass must be kneaded until it is homogeneous.

However, attempts to make the minced meat better by kneading for a long time will only result in denser mass and somewhat dry cutlets.

Fry the patties immediately after mixing the minced meat

After mixing the minced meat, it is recommended to cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1-2 hours. Then the mass will become more viscous, which will help in forming cutlets.

However, do not leave minced meat with a lot of milk, raw garlic, or onions in the refrigerator for a long time - the taste of the cutlets may deteriorate.

Form patties of different sizes

The size of the cutlets affects the speed and evenness of their cooking. If some of the patties are smaller, they will burn, while others will remain raw inside.

Incorrect temperature of the pan

Cutlets can be tasteless if the pan is not sufficiently or excessively heated. If the pan is too hot, the cutlets will brown quickly but may remain soggy inside.

Fortunately, the dish can then be cooked in the oven or stewed. However, if the temperature is too low, the cutlets absorb excess oil and become greasy.

In addition, we wrote about 9 mistakes in making cookies.

Sources: Vseobrazovanie, culinary resource Hostess, On retirement.