The golden brown crust on a flavorful cutlet or juicy chop appears as a result of the skillful actions of the cook.

Breading of products before frying plays the role of a protective “blanket”, preserving all the best qualities of the semi-finished product. You can bread not only meat or fish: vegetables, cheese and pieces of fruit, rolled in breadcrumbs or flour, present the world with a new dish with an unexpected flavor range.

What types of breadings are there?

Breading- this is the culinary processing of meat, fish, and vegetable pieces before frying, rolling them in flour or breadcrumbs, and other bulk products. The word "breading" is of French origin, from "paner", literally translated - to sprinkle with bread crumbs. Breading is needed in order to preserve the juiciness of the main product, to give it a new look, aroma, and taste.

Most often, breadcrumbs are used for this type of processing, which are used not only for frying cutlets and other products, but also for some confectionery products, for example, strudel. Breadcrumbs are made from dry white bread, crushed to fine crumbs.

The second most common breading is wheat, buckwheat, millet, corn, rice flour and mixtures thereof. Dishes in such a flour “coat” turn out to be more tender, do not have a hard outer crust, the flour does not interrupt the main taste of the product, it only complements it correctly.

There is a whole range of original breadings that radically change the taste and appearance of familiar dishes. For example, any nuts crushed in a coffee grinder will not only add a new flavor, but also add calories and nutrition to the dish. Carrot, potato or zucchini shavings will also serve as an external decoration for cutlets or boiled cauliflower. To do this, you need to grate the vegetables on a coarse grater and lightly dry them in the oven. This breading will stick well if the cutlets are first dipped in egg wash.

Sesame breading gives oriental charm and unique aroma to pieces of fruit (bananas, apples, pears), meat and fish. Buckwheat, rice, and oatmeal flakes carefully wrap the food in a beautiful lace veil. To do this, you need to roll pieces of meat or fish, cutlets or chicken in flour, dip into the egg and only then into the cereal.

Semolina - tender breading. Chicken meat, seafood, boiled white or cauliflower leaves, breaded with semolina, acquire a unique taste. First, pieces of food are rolled in flour, then in egg or vegetable oil, semolina is sprinkled on top in a very thin stream so that an even coating is formed on the surface of the semi-finished product, without mounds or compactions. After frying, you will get a light crispy crust.

Crackers or chips, crushed into crumbs, can radically change the taste of banal cutlets or meatballs. Cheese breading will add piquancy to the dish: grate the cheese on a fine or coarse grater and roll the food in these shavings. Finely chopped greens can be a spring outfit for pieces of meat, fish or chicken. If you add your favorite spices or oriental seasonings to any of the listed breadings, the dish will sparkle with new facets of taste. There is always a place for experimentation in the kitchen, and a variety of breadings can help with this.

HOW TO CORRECTLY BREAD FOODS

In order for the breading to lie evenly, carefully enveloping the pieces, you need to know a few culinary secrets. Most often, the dish is breaded using egg scramble, the so-called lezon, a mixture of milk and eggs. Sometimes only eggs are used for lezon, without milk, cream or kefir. This is only suitable for those products that have high surface humidity and excess liquid will make it difficult to form a golden brown crust during frying.

Liezon is needed to bind the breading to the main product and promote its good adhesion. The best ratio of eggs and milk is this: for two eggs - fifty milliliters of milk. You can beat only the yolks, the dish will turn a sunny color, or only the whites - meat, fish or cutlets will become tender, and aristocracy will appear.

First, the prepared pieces of fish, meat, chicken, and vegetables must be blotted with a napkin; if the product is too wet, add salt and pepper, and leave for a while to soak in the spices. Then roll in flour, shaking off excess, dip in egg lezone, transfer to a container with breading. After all the preliminary preparations, place the breaded pieces in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil and quickly fry on both sides over high heat.

To get a thicker crust, use double or even triple breading. After the product has gone through the usual breading procedure, it is again dipped into the egg wash and again rolled in breadcrumbs, flour or other types of toppings. This is how, for example, chicken Kiev is prepared.

The final appearance and taste of the prepared dish depends on what breading the cook chooses. It’s enough to experiment with a variety of breadings to get a new unexpected effect from your usual dishes every time.

Breading in semolina:

There are small children at home, so I always have semolina. It’s delicious to bread vegetables in semolina. To do this, just beat the egg. Dip vegetables in egg, roll in semolina and fry over medium heat in vegetable oil.

Breading in flour:

You can bread everything in flour. Plus, you can add cutlets to the listed products. The technology is just as simple. Dip the product in beaten egg, roll in flour and fry. In the case of flour, you can double bread it, it’s tastier. First, roll the desired dish in flour, then dip in the egg. And roll in flour again. Then move on to frying.

Alternatively, you can take not ordinary flour, but flour for making pancakes. This flour contains milk powder and egg powder. And from such breading a full-fledged batter is obtained.

Breadcrumb coating:

This is my favorite type of breading. Its only downside is that the crackers run out quickly, which is why I often use the methods listed above. In this case, take flour, egg and breadcrumbs. The product is first rolled in flour, then dipped in beaten egg, then rolled in breadcrumbs. And onto the frying pan.

You can also use double breading in breadcrumbs. To do this, after rolling your dish in breadcrumbs for the first time, dip it in the egg again and roll it in breadcrumbs again.

And one more little secret that I’ve been using lately. After frying, I put my dish on a napkin so that it absorbs the remaining vegetable oil. This way, it turns out to maintain a crispy crust and reduce the amount of vegetable oil in the final product. Bon appetit!!!

Breadcrumbs are a great way to give a dish a golden crispy crust, underneath which remains the juicy flesh. You can bread vegetables: cauliflower, onion rings, etc., but most often they are used when preparing meat products. Rosy chops, cutlets, chicken drumsticks with a fried or baked crust of breadcrumbs, and even seasoned with various spices - this is a real feast of taste, which you can easily organize for your family. Now we’ll tell you how to make breadcrumbs at home.
This recipe is not only quick and unpretentious, but also extremely budget-friendly, because such crackers can be made from ordinary white bread left over after another meal. Even if the bread slices are a little dry, they are still suitable for cooking!

Ingredients

• white loaf or bread (preferably sliced) - 1/2 loaf;
• turmeric – 1/2 tsp;
• dried garlic – 1/2 tsp;
• ground paprika or red hot pepper – 1/2 tsp.

How to make breadcrumbs at home

You can prepare all the spices yourself at home, and even turmeric, if this plant is grown in your region. Otherwise, just buy them at the store. Add red pepper to your taste: if you like spicy breading, add hot pepper; delicate, slightly sweet and colorful - ground paprika. For breadcrumbs, only white bread is used - rye and black varieties are a little bitter. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and place slices of bread on it. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, heated to a temperature of 80-100 degrees, while leaving its door slightly open.


After the specified time, turn the bread slices over to the other side and dry them for another 30 minutes at the same temperature.


Then remove the baking sheet from the oven, let the bread pieces cool slightly and break them into pieces approximately the same size as shown in the photo.

Place the bread slices in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process until coarse crumbs form. It will take only 5 to 20 seconds.

Check the consistency of the crumbs by touch - there may be large pieces in them!


Add the prepared spices directly to the blender bowl and blend everything together again.


Your spiced breadcrumbs are ready. Store them in a closed container to prevent them from getting damp, and remove them as needed.

Some useful tips:

• A very interesting breading is obtained by mixing crackers with chopped roasted walnuts. The taste of the dish in this breading will be especially piquant. It is recommended to mix 1 part nuts with 5 parts crackers. You can also use pumpkin seeds instead of nuts.
• Different dishes require different grinding of crackers. For example, if you are preparing chicken or fish dishes, then it is advisable to use coarse grinding in breadcrumbs. When working with tender meat fillets, the breadcrumbs should be tender and finely chopped.
• If you don’t have time to make breadcrumbs yourself or go to the store for them, then you can use flour (preferably rye or first grade) or semolina. But let this advice be for the most extreme cases. After all, dishes breaded with breadcrumbs turn out especially tasty.

Speaking in dry and semi-scientific language, breading is a crushed mixture of products that is used to coat meat, fish, vegetable semi-finished products, fruits and cheese before frying. The purpose of breading is to create an appetizing golden brown crust, which improves the quality of dishes and makes them attractive.

Why do housewives love breading?

Breading helps keep the shape of the products during frying, and also protects them from moisture evaporation, so they do not lose their juiciness and softness. Thanks to the protective shell, the semi-finished product does not burn in a hot frying pan, and the finished food retains valuable nutritional properties and acquires new shades of taste. Various types of breading radically change the perception of familiar dishes, striking with an unexpected range of flavors and piquant aroma.

Breading rating

In French, “paner” means “to sprinkle with bread crumbs,” so breading was originally a mixture of ground wheat bread crumbs.

Breadcrumbs– the most common type of coating, which is used for frying meat and fish cutlets, zraz, meatballs, schnitzels and baking confectionery. Bread coating gives a crispy crust and a delicate texture to the finished product.

Flour of all varieties is the second most popular type of breading. It gives a softer crust and does not “interrupt” the taste of the main dish, giving it additional shades.

Liquid breading from beaten egg(sometimes only the white or yolk is used) make the dishes surprisingly tender. If only the yolk is used, the cutlets and baked goods take on a rich, bright yellow hue, and the whipped whites create a snow-white airy layer.

Batter is also considered a variant of liquid breading, and its advantages are that, using the dough, you can get a completely new dish with an unexpected taste.

Chopped nut used in breading fish, seafood, vegetables and fruits. It changes the taste of dishes, increases their calorie content and nutritional value.

Cereals(semolina, oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, wheat, rye flakes) - a great idea for a breading mixture for meat, fish and vegetable cutlets. Such dishes turn out very tasty and original thanks to the “openwork” effect.

Vegetable shavings(pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, zucchini) makes dishes more healthy and gives them a festive look, but grated vegetables should first be dried in the oven. Cheese breading not only tasty, but also transforms the appearance of culinary products.

There are also unusual breading mixtures - crushed chips and crackers, finely chopped fresh herbs, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, mixtures of spices and seasonings. They are suitable for meat and fish products, cheese and vegetables.

Learning to bread correctly

The secret of perfect breading lies in the use of lezon - a scrambled egg with milk, kefir or cream, into which semi-finished products are dipped before breading. This is necessary so that the breading mixture sticks to the cutlets better, however, if you are working with wet “raw materials”, you can get by with just eggs or not use the mash at all, since excess moisture prevents the formation of a golden brown crust.

Semi-finished products breaded in breadcrumbs can be perfectly stored in the refrigerator or freezer for a long time. Flour breading requires immediate frying, otherwise semi-finished products will lose their aesthetic appearance. To obtain a harder crust, double and triple breading is used, which is an alternation of several layers of leison and breading mixture.

This is nothing more than rye or white wheat bread, dried and ground into fine crumbs. They are used for various culinary purposes. Using them you can create a dense crispy crust on vegetables, cutlets, schnitzels and other products. The crust creates a pleasant taste, an appetizing golden color, helps maintain the shape of the fried product, and retains moisture inside it.

Thanks to breading, fried meat dishes turn out juicy on the inside. You can bread products with ordinary flour, but compared to breading with breadcrumbs, flour is not able to create such a piquant, crispy shell on the product.

The word “breading” translated from French means “sprinkling with bread crumbs.”

Sometimes, to prepare various pies and strudels, it is necessary to sprinkle the crust under the filling with breadcrumbs. Rusks absorb excess moisture from berries and fruits, and the filling will not leak out during baking.

The disadvantage of breading from breadcrumbs is that when frying it is prone to burning, and if the product has a smooth surface, it is unlikely that it will be possible to coat it properly and ensure a good seal. Therefore, you should use such breading only when it is stated in the recipe.

Recipe information

• Type of dish: flour products
• Cooking method: in the oven
• 25 min

Ingredients:

• White bread.

Preparation

Cut the bread into small cubes along with the crust. Keep in mind that the taste of crackers directly depends on the type of bread. A richer crumb taste is obtained from rye crackers. Sometimes cooks mix dark and white bread for breading.


Cover a baking sheet with parchment. Place the sliced ​​bread on a baking sheet in one layer. Preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees. Place the bread in the oven for 10-20 minutes until golden brown. Check periodically and stir so that the crackers brown evenly.

If you don’t have an oven, you can dry the crackers in the microwave. But keep in mind that you cannot keep pieces of bread in it for a long time, otherwise they will burn. Depending on the amount of product, drying in the microwave takes an average of 5-7 minutes. Every 2 minutes you need to pause, open the microwave and stir the bread cubes so that they dry evenly. Do not spread the bread pieces in a thick layer, and then they will dry well.


Press the cubes with your finger to check the quality of drying. Absolutely dry bread is hard, but the wet inside bends when pressed with a finger. Cool the finished dried bread.


Grind the bread cubes in a blender or food processor to the desired crumb size. You can grind it very finely or not very much. Professionals recommend using coarse grinding for meat and fish products, and fine crumbs for vegetables. The most optimal is considered to be grits with a diameter of approximately 1.5 mm. It has been noticed that larger crumbs do not hold their shape very well and spread throughout the pan, while too small crumbs strongly absorb the moisture of the product, making the dish dry.

If you don’t have kitchen appliances, it doesn’t matter; you can crumble the crackers using a rolling pin or a glass bottle. In this case, it will be more convenient to put the crackers in a linen bag, tie it, put it on a cutting board, and then press the bag with a rolling pin or bottle. You can also tap the bag with a mallet. Thanks to the bag, the crumbs will not fly away in different directions. As an option, you can pass the pieces of bread through a meat grinder with a fine mesh. The crumbs will be finer if you rub the crushed dry bread through an iron sieve.


That's all, the dry bread crumbs are ready. Use as directed.


Now cook by applying breading.

The breading should be stored in a cool, dry place, away from fresh bread, in an airtight plastic or glass container. If the packaging is “breathable”, the breading can absorb moisture and odors from the surrounding air.

Do not store homemade breadcrumbs for more than a month, otherwise they may acquire a stale taste and unappetizing smell.

If you purchased the breading in a store, pay attention to the expiration date indicated on the product packaging.

On a note

How can you replace breadcrumbs if they are not available, but you want a dish with a crispy crust? Coarse rye or corn flour, semolina, oatmeal or corn flakes crushed in a coffee grinder are perfect for this purpose. A great idea is to use crushed crackers or chips. They can be crushed in a mortar, or placed on a cutting board and rolled over them with a rolling pin. The breading of hard cheese, grated on a fine grater and mixed with your favorite spices, is very tasty.

Breadcrumbs have a higher calorie content than flour breading. Their energy value is close to 400 Kcal/100g. Keep this in mind if you need to strictly count the calories of the food you eat. In addition, when frying a product, breadcrumbs absorb a lot of fat, which is also very high in calories. Therefore, it is recommended to place fried foods on a paper napkin, which will absorb excess oil.

Industrial breadcrumbs must be manufactured in accordance with GOST, taking into account established technology and sanitary standards. For the production of breading, bread (bakery products) of 1st or 2nd grade, without signs of mold or potato disease, can be used. The grains should have a light golden or light brown color, be uniform in size, and without any foreign smell or taste. Ensure the integrity of the packaging. It must indicate the expiration date of the product, which is usually 1 month. To avoid troubles, it is better to purchase the product from a trusted manufacturer.

The longer you store breaded cutlets, fish or vegetables, the less crunchy the crust will be on the surface of the product.

Useful video

If you have a couple of minutes to spare, you can watch this story. Here we also talk about preparing the breading.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Breadcrumbs– dry bread crumbs made by grinding pre-dried white or black bread (see photo). The ingredients of this product are usually flour (wheat or rye), salt, yeast (dry or pressed) and water.

Breadcrumbs come in three types: medium, fine and coarse. However, in cooking, the first option is most often used. This product is used for breading foods during frying. This allows you to maintain the juiciness of the dish, as well as provide it with a crispy golden crust.

In addition to the classic breading mixture, there are colored crackers. They usually contain natural food colors, thanks to which today you can find on sale not only the familiar pale yellow crumbs, but also bright orange, lemon, emerald and dark pink.

Japanese panko breadcrumbs are highly prized in the culinary world. This mixture has a richer and airier texture. Otogi, a Korean bread bread, is also popular. For its preparation, the highest grade of wheat flour is used.

How to select and store?

It is recommended to take the choice of high-quality breadcrumbs very seriously, since some manufacturers make them from moldy bread and various preservatives, which increase the shelf life of the product. First of all, buy breading exclusively from trusted manufacturers. Also, to choose good crackers, inspect them externally. The mixture should be homogeneous, equal in size, without unnecessary impurities.

In the table below we describe in detail the technical requirements that, according to the current GOST, breadcrumbs must meet.

Natural bread coatings typically have a shelf life of thirty days if stored in a dark, cool place.

It is better to use a tightly closed glass jar or plastic container as a container for storing the breading mixture. Keep in mind that this product will quickly deteriorate in unsealed containers. It absorbs moisture and also loses its aroma due to foreign odors.

How to do it at home?

Despite the fact that special grinding equipment is used to produce ground crackers, this bread mixture can also be made at home using a regular blender. There are many ways to prepare this product with your own hands. It can be cooked in the microwave, slow cooker, in a regular frying pan and in the oven. We suggest using the last option and making breading using an oven.

First of all, take the required amount of bread. In this case, you can even take a loaf. Cut it into small slices, place on a dry baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to one hundred and eighty degrees. Dry the bread until it is completely dry and crispy. This usually takes no more than ten minutes. After this, place the dry bread slices into a blender bowl and grind until smooth crumbs are obtained. You can also grind the bread manually using a regular rolling pin, but in this case it is better to first place the dried product in a fabric bag. This way the crumbs will not scatter all over the kitchen, but will gather in one common pile. It is recommended to immediately place homemade fried crackers in an airtight container and put them in a convenient place for further storage.

Note! The breadcrumb mixture should never be frozen. Otherwise, it will become limp and unusable.

Use in cooking

In cooking, ground bread mixture is usually used for breading vegetable, fish and meat ingredients. With its help, it is easy to give the desired shape to the product, as well as maintain its juiciness. When fried, dishes sprinkled with breadcrumbs are covered with a crispy crust of an appetizing golden color. Thanks to this shell, the food does not burn and easily comes off the pan.

Most often, the following dishes are breaded in such breadcrumbs:

• cutlets;
• liver;
• fish;
• fresh caviar;
• baking and much more.

Some cooks add bread breading directly to minced cutlets instead of soaked bread.

There are recipes in which the breading mixture is used as a topping for the filling, for example, when making charlotte or apple strudel. This product can also be found in some curd desserts.

Despite the versatility of ground crackers, they are absolutely incompatible with some foods, for example, cauliflower and dishes such as rump steak.

What can you replace breadcrumbs with?

Surely most housewives wondered what ingredient could adequately replace delicious breadcrumbs, because there are times when this product is not at home, and there is nowhere to buy it. There is more than one alternative to ground breadcrumbs.

• First of all, the ideal replacement for such breading is stale bread. All that needs to be done with it before use is to dry it well and grind it to the desired state. The resulting product is excellent for frying and baking.
• If you don’t have bread, we recommend using wholemeal flour. As a breading, it is well suited for cutlets and fish. In this case, you can use both wheat flour and rye, oat or corn flour.
• To get a more elastic crust, it is better to use semolina. Using it you can prepare all dishes that require frying.

You can also bread the culinary product in any flakes, and it is not necessary to grind them before use. This original breading gives dishes an unusual taste and aroma. In addition, the flakes go perfectly with baked goods, which means that you can even make the filling for apple strudel with them.

As an experiment, instead of breading, you can use crushed nuts, chips, dry cookies, as well as crackers and corn sticks.

Obviously, an experienced cook will always find a worthy alternative to ground breadcrumbs, so don’t worry if you run out of them during the cooking process.

Breadcrumbs are a very popular product in cooking, even though they have a fairly high calorie content!