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How to choose the right sour cream
Sour cream is a special product… It is used in many dishes, combining a lot of wonderful qualities and excellent taste. The high fat content is considered by many to be a disadvantage, in fact, natural milk fat is not harmful. And for athletes and other people whose activities are associated with heavy loads, sour cream adds missing calories.
But now the level of technology development allows us to make a product that tastes like sour cream, but is not made from milk. It contains milk powder, thickeners, vegetable fat, soy protein. At the same time, there are practically no useful properties, but there are harmful ones that can affect human health. In order not to buy such “sour cream” due to ignorance, you need to know several signs by which a natural product can be distinguished from a fake one.
Its main characteristic is the percentage of fat. There are several types of sour cream, depending on the proportion of milk fat contained in it. In low-fat it is 10%, in low-fat 15%. It curls up at high temperatures and is not suitable for hot dishes. The most common type is 20%, its density will be the classic one that most people are used to seeing in stores.
Upon reaching 35-45%, the consistency is similar to heavy cream, and if it is even higher, then a spoon will stand in a container with such sour cream. This feature is used by manufacturers who counterfeit a product. A standing spoon doesn’t always mean quality, since with the help of chemical thickeners, any liquid food is given the desired consistency.
How to choose sour cream on the market?
- Smear the product on the glass. The real one will dry evenly, and the fake one with artificial fat will show streaks.
- When a few drops of iodine are added, the resulting blue tint will show the starch content, which should not be there.
- When mixed with hot water, real sour cream will dissolve, and fake or stale will settle to the bottom.
- A low fat product will have a liquid consistency and vice versa. If this condition is not met, then it is not natural.
- Color throughout the mass of white or creamy milky shades, without blotches.
- There should be no lumps in the mass. When pouring it into another container, a “slide” should form, from which waves smoothly depart. If lumps are noticed or the spreading occurs too quickly, this indicates a fake.
- The taste should not have the taste of baked milk. Its presence means the use in the production of vegetable cream or milk powder. The product should not be sour, and the mass, regardless of its density, should spread and envelop the tongue.
How to choose sour cream in the store?
It is more difficult to identify sour cream in a store, when it is impossible to assess the appearance and taste behind the packaging. To reduce the cost and increase the shelf life, manufacturers are deviating from the classical technology, changing the recipe for the preparation of a “capricious” fermented milk product so that it is “alive and fresh” on the shelves of retail chains for a long time without losing its basic qualities. So, in addition to milk, there are many components that have nothing to do with cream.
When choosing packaged sour cream in a store, you should not look at colored advertising slogans, but pay attention to information about its composition. Made in accordance with GOST, it should contain nothing other than whole cream and sourdough. The name should indicate that it is “sour cream”, and not a sour cream product, “sour cream” or “sour cream”… Although manufacturers are prohibited from using such marketing gimmicks, they are still used. In addition, the packaging should contain the following information:
- The term of manufacture and shelf life, as well as the number of microorganisms at the end of this period is not less than 1×107 CFU / g;
- The shelf life does not exceed two weeks;
Having chosen high-quality sour cream, which has an excellent taste and meets all the required indicators, you need to remember the manufacturer and the name, so that next time you do not doubt, but immediately take a product that you can trust.