Sausage cheese has been known since Soviet times and loved by many because of its specific smoked taste and aroma. Store shelves are filled with numerous varieties of cheese; you can find a fermented milk product for every taste and budget. However, many people buy smoky processed cheese. And not only for reasons of economy, but because they are accustomed to it and have long appreciated the taste. Consumers rarely think about the benefits and harms of sausage cheese, and some consider it a second-rate product.

Manufacturing features

If the manufacturer did not deviate from the standards of preparation, the product cannot be unambiguously called harmful to humans. It is made from expired varieties of rennet cheese with the inclusion of natural additives - butter and cream. In its manufacture, food melting salts and food additives are used - and sodium phosphate. These ingredients help to achieve a semi-soft texture and prevent the cheese from becoming hard.

The product is packaged in polyethylene films or paraffin, then the final stage takes place - smoking low-resinous tree varieties (birch or alder) on charcoal. Unscrupulous manufacturers use smoky flavored food additives instead of smoking, which significantly impairs the beneficial properties of the product.

Composition and calories

It contains vitamins - A, D - and a number of essential elements - calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. The calorie content of smoked cheese is somewhat less compared to hard varieties and is 270 kcal. The high protein content makes it suitable for people who play sports and limit the amount of carbohydrates in the diet. It contains organic acids.

Is sausage cheese healthy?

Many will be surprised, but sausage cheese is more easily absorbed by the body than hard varieties, and also contains less "bad" cholesterol. The Rolzateevo.ru resource has carefully studied the properties of the product. Because melting occurs at 95°, some of the nutrients are lost during processing. Despite this, it retains the substances necessary for the body.

Benefits for the human body:

• strengthens bone tissue;
• helps in the transmission of nerve impulses;
• improves brain activity:
• supports the work of the heart muscle;
• prevents iron deficiency anemia;
• has a positive effect on the skin and the appearance of hair and nails.

Prepared according to the technology, the product is a prophylactic against heart attack and stroke, restores the acid-base balance, improves metabolic processes. But only cheese containing mainly natural ingredients can boast of commendable qualities. The amount of artificial additives should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise, instead of a healthy treat, there may be a product that adversely affects health on the table.

The harm of sausage cheese

The harmful effect is due to chemical components and the replacement of milk fat with cheap vegetable oils.

• The inclusion of palm oil negatively affects the state of blood vessels, clogging them with cholesterol. To determine the presence of harmful fat, it is enough to “forget” a piece of processed cheese on the table. If it dries quickly and cracks, then the manufacturer has sacrificed quality. During cutting, such cheese crumbles easily.
• High sodium content contributes to the accumulation of fluid and the appearance of edema, increased blood pressure. So, a 100-gram piece of cheese contains almost a daily allowance of table salt, so people with impaired kidney function and hypertensive patients should not get carried away with it.
• Fragrances and dyes can trigger an allergic reaction in the body. You can roughly determine the excess of food additives by color: for a quality product, it will be white or creamy. Yellow products indicate the presence of dyes.
• Some manufacturers use food additives instead of smoking to create a smoky flavor. In this case, not only the outer shell is subjected to chemical treatment, but also the cheese mixture. Of course, such a product is harmful to humans. "Liquid smoke" is the strongest carcinogen and irritates the mucous membrane of the digestive system.

Before buying cheese, carefully read what is written on the label. Choose a natural smoked product with a short shelf life - no more than a month. It should contain cheese, cottage cheese, butter and melters. Other ingredients must be absent. Yantar cheese is considered to be of the highest quality.

Contraindications

Since phosphates and citric acid can cause irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, smoked cheese should not be eaten by people with gastritis and peptic ulcers. Due to melting and high sodium content, it is contraindicated for those suffering from kidney and liver diseases. Flavor enhancers and "liquid smoke" flavoring are the strongest allergens, because of this, some people have increased sensitivity to the product.

The presence of cheap vegetable oils clogs blood vessels and leads to atherosclerosis, therefore, it is not recommended for lipid metabolism disorders and high cholesterol.

For diabetes and pancreatitis

The opinions of experts on the use of sausage cheese in diabetes differ. On the one hand, it contains the valuable milk protein casein, a small amount of carbohydrates, a number of vitamins and unsaturated acids, which is useful for patients with diabetes. On the other hand, high calorie content and the presence of additives will not benefit the body, but this cannot be considered a contraindication. Doctors recommend buying a quality product and studying its composition in the store. An acceptable serving is 1-2 slices per day.

Processed and smoked foods are contraindicated for patients with pancreatitis: they have a high extractive effect and are dangerous for the health of the pancreas.

So, sausage cheese, the beneficial and harmful properties of which we examined in detail, is recommended for healthy adults in moderation. It should not be included in the child's diet; it is better to give the baby low-fat and non-spicy varieties of the dairy product.

Despite the fact that the history of cheese smoking goes back over a thousand years, the production of smoked cheese on an industrial scale began in the late 19th century. There are two main ways to smoke cheese - cold and hot. Cold smoking is carried out at low temperatures (up to 40 degrees) and lasts for a long time - from several hours to several days. Hot smoking takes place at a high (up to 80 degrees) temperature and occurs very quickly - several tens of minutes. At such high temperatures, the cheese melts quickly, so the industrial method of smoking cheese is fully automated. In addition, rapid hot smoking imposes more serious requirements on food safety, since at such temperatures hazardous components are present in the smoke, which requires additional smoke filtering in such smokehouses. The capacity of large industrial smokehouses is up to several hundred kilograms of product per hour.

How to make smoked cheese at home

Hot smoking of cheese at home is problematic, so you need to use cold. There are several methods of smoking at home. With the help of each of them, you can smoke any type of cheese - both purchased and homemade. Varieties can also be any: the main thing is that the cheese is hard. You can use Dutch cheese, parmesan or feta. Consider some of the ways to make smoked cheese:

• Use of a stationary smokehouse. The cheese is first cut into pieces 10x10x5 cm. Thicker ones are undesirable, since the smoke will not completely saturate it. After that, the cheese is placed in the refrigerator in an open form, for example, on a baking sheet, where it is aged for a day. After that, we take it out of the refrigerator, and for an hour the cheese is at room temperature. This will help get rid of excess moisture. Next, the cheese is placed in a smokehouse and aged there for the required time. As a rule, it is several hours. Wood chips, fragrant twigs or special granules act as a source of smoke. In the process, the pieces must be turned over at least 1 time. After cooking, smoked meat is placed in the refrigerator for several days, where it comes to condition.
• Using the grill or barbecue. For this method, you will need 1-2 kilograms of ice. Preliminary preparation of the product is the same as in the previous method. Raw materials are placed on the bottom of the grill to produce smoke and the grill is ignited. A grate with pieces of ice is placed on top - they will help maintain a low temperature during smoking. It is necessary to provide for the possibility of replacing the ice when it melts. Above the ice is placed a grill with cheese. The top of the grill is covered with a lid, in which there should be holes for the smoke to escape. Smoking lasts from half an hour to 6 hours. At the same time, it is necessary to regularly maintain the fire by adding coal and changing the melted ice.
• Using a homemade smokehouse. If you do not have the desire to buy a smokehouse, you can make it yourself. An empty 200l barrel can be used as a smokehouse. Fragrant twigs or wood chips are placed on its bottom, the layer thickness is not more than 1-2 cm. The cheese is located on top of the barrel on a grate attached at a height of about a meter from the bottom. As a rule, the cheese on the grill is on a baking sheet or a large frying pan. From above, the barrel is closed with a wet rag so that the smoke from the twigs has longer contact with the cheese. A fire is made under the barrel and, in fact, smoking begins. The cheese is turned several times during the process. The criterion for readiness is the coloring of the crust in dark yellow or brown.
• Using an old refrigerator. An old refrigerator can be used as a smokehouse. An electric stove is placed at its bottom, on which a frying pan with wood chips or twigs is installed. It is advisable to equip the refrigerator with an internal thermometer, since its thermal insulation allows even with a minimum heater power to reach high temperatures. Cheese is placed in a special dish (pot, pan or baking sheet) on the refrigerator grates. If it is not enough, then placement on the bottom shelf is desirable. Smoking at a temperature of 40 degrees lasts several hours. You can shorten this time if you increase the temperature to hot smoking, but you should not do this at home - the smoky material decomposing at such temperatures contains a large number of phenols harmful to humans.

Is smoked cheese healthy?

The use of cheese in cooking is very wide - from a simple snack to beer and salad components to entering recipes for serious meat and fish dishes. Smoked cheese is useful only with high-quality production. At the same time, all useful microelements that are part of milk should be preserved. These are such important components as phosphorus and calcium; they are necessary for normal hair and skeletal growth, as well as for maintaining healthy nails and teeth.

The high nutritional value of smoked cheese is achieved due to the fact that the fats included in its composition, during heat treatment, change their structure for the better and are evenly distributed throughout the volume of the product. This adds calories, while maintaining a supply of almost all vitamins, proteins and amino acids. When smoked, vitamins A and D are preserved. The calorie content of a good smoked cheese is from 320 to 420 kcal / 100 g.

If the composition includes various food additives with the prefix E, or it was smoked using the so-called. "liquid smoke", then the useful qualities of such cheese are in great doubt. A large part of these additives are harmful to the liver, and liquid smoke is completely carcinogenic.

How long does smoked cheese keep

Unlike ordinary, non-smoked cheeses, the storage of which is limited to 4-6 months (and the cheese can transfer this period if it is in intact packaging and under special storage conditions), smoked cheese is stored much longer. Due to the partial polymerization of fats, as well as natural antioxidants that enter the cheese during smoking, its shelf life is increased. So, for example, ordinary sausage cheese in cling film can be stored for up to 4 months. If the cheese was not unpacked after it was smoked, then its “life” can be up to a year. For example, Adyghe homemade cheese has a shelf life of about 30 days, but if it has been smoked, it can be eaten after a few years.

We hope you enjoyed our article on cheeses. If you want to add some new information or some recipe - share it with us in the comments block.

Hot, as it turned out, on the one hand, is a simple process, and on the other, it requires experience and knowledge. In this article, I will share with you my first experience of smoking cheese in a hot smoked smokehouse.

Hot smoking cheese

• hard cheese,
• table white napkins,
• culinary thread.

The process of smoking hard cheese

First of all, the cheese must be cut into not thick pieces of 200-250 grams, for better penetration of the smoky flavor. Almost all hard cheeses are suitable for smoking, I had Russian and Dutch 0.5 kg each. Each piece must be wrapped in 3 layers of napkins and wrapped with thread.

Before smoking, the smokehouse must be thoroughly cleaned so that excess aromas do not penetrate the cheese. For cheese smoking I used alder and cherry sawdust from the partner koptim.com.ua - about 3 small handfuls. The process of smoking cheese consists in the fact that at first the smokehouse is charged empty, without cheese, we put it on fire, fill in the water seal and bring it up until dense smoke comes out of the smokehouse. After, we open the smokehouse, put the cheese on the grate or hang it, smoke from one to four minutes. The smoking time depends on the temperature in the smokehouse, the saturation of the smoke, the size of the pieces of cheese, the quantity and quality of the wood chips. For the first time, the cheese stood for 2 minutes, then I took off the napkins, placed the already smoked cheese in an airtight container. The cheese should spend at least a day in the refrigerator, during which time the smoked flavors are evenly distributed over the pieces of cheese.

Hot smoked cheese in a hot-smoked smokehouse, it has the aroma of a fire, the taste is smoky, Russian hard cheese turned out to be more saturated in taste and aroma. Smoked cheese is well suited for making pizza, hot sandwiches, salads. For your optimal smoking recipe, you first need to smoke cheese several times of different varieties, after that you will find a way to smoke cheese at home that is already suitable for you.

Separately, I recommend that you get acquainted with the technology of quick smoking without pickling and smoking large fish in a hot smoked smokehouse. Below is a video instruction for smoking hard cheese with tips and tricks from the author of the blog.

Unlike fresh cheese, smoked cheese has a nutty smoke flavor. Since cheese can form condensation at temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, it is better to use the cold smoking method. To do this, you can purchase a cold smokehouse, but you can also use improvised means and make the task easier.

Steps

Cheese preparation

Wait for a cool day. In order for the cheese not to melt, it must be cold smoked. Although we will try to keep the temperature low, it will be easier for you to achieve the desired effect if the air temperature is no higher than 15 degrees.

• If you decide to do this on a warm day, use a small batch to prevent the cheese from melting as much as possible. A store-bought cold smoker is the best method for warm days.

1. Cut the cheese of your choice. Any cheese can be smoked, as long as it is not too soft and will fall out through the bars. Gouda, Cheddar and Gruyère are popular options. To smoke the cheese completely, use pieces no larger than 10 cm x 10 cm x 5 cm so that the smoke completely soaks them.

   • If you want the cheese to be smoky on top but soft on the inside, use large chunks.

2. Dry the cheese and warm to room temperature. Unwrap the wrapper and leave the cheese in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, take it out of the refrigerator and wait until it warms up to room temperature. So part of the moisture will evaporate, and it will be easier for you to achieve the effect of a smoked crust. Remove moisture from the surface of the cheese with a paper towel.

   Consider purchasing a cold smoker. You can buy a cold smoker adapter if you already have a regular one, or you can purchase a separate unit. The price varies greatly (from 2000 to 6000 rubles). However, when using a cold smoker, the risk of cheese melting is minimized, and the process itself becomes much easier.

   • Some cold smokers are small, low heat, and run on a special wood dust fuel. Such a device can be placed in the lower part of a conventional smoker and used as directed in the instructions.
   • Other cold smokers have special slots for connecting to a hot smoker. If the manufacturer is different, you may have to make the connection yourself. With some models, you may even need a drill and bolts with nuts, but it's best to find out before buying.
   • In any case, once you have the cold smoker in place, cook the cheese over wood chips or pellets for 1-6 hours, turning at least once, then remove from the smoker and refrigerate for 1-4 weeks. See the Hot Smoker section for more tips.

3. You can also make your own cold smoker. It depends on what tools you have available:

   • To make a cold smoker yourself, you can use two methods: a regular (hot smoker) or a closed grill. You can use an ice pot or create a small smoke source with a tin can. Both methods are described in the Hot Smoker section.
   • If you don't have a smoker or grill and don't intend to buy one, you can try smoking cheese over a kitchen heating element in your refrigerator. The method is successful, but complicated, as it requires additional control and special attention to fire safety.

   Smoking cheese over a hot smoker or grill

   1. Smoke the cheese over a saucepan of ice. This is the easiest way to keep cheese cold when smoking in a hot smoker or grill. Put a wire rack on the pan and put the cheese on it. Then proceed to the step Ignite the Fragrant Smoke Source. If there is not enough room for an ice pot or you are afraid that the process will slow down a lot, try the next step.

      • If space permits, fill a colander with ice and place it over a pot to collect the melted water. This will make it easier for you to replace the ice.
      • Read the section on preparing cheese if you haven't already.

   2. You can also use a tin can. Use a clean, large tin, such as a soup can (300 ml). With a can, you can make a small chimney and keep the fire and temperature low.

      • If you have a large smoker, you may need a large coffee can to get enough smoke.

   3. Ignite a source of fragrant smoke. If you are using ice, start the fire as usual using 3-4 small charcoal briquettes (or the heating element of an electric smoker). To create smoke, place a pot of aromatic wood chips or pellets on a heat source (see the Tips section for more information). If you are using a tin can, then you have two options:

      Make holes for ventilation. There should be enough smoke, but the burning process should be slow and gradual.

      Put in the cheese. Once you have a source of smoke at the bottom of the smoker or grill, place the cheese on the grate at the top. Close the smoker or grill.

      Check cheese often. When using these methods, you should check the cheese every 15-20 minutes, especially if you are doing this for the first time. Please note the following problems and fix them:

      • Maintain the fire by adding charcoal, wood chips or pellets every 30-40 minutes (if using the first method, add dry and wet wood chips).
      • If there is moisture on the cheese, it will soon begin to melt. Reduce the number of vents or refrigerate the cheese using the following methods.
      • If using an ice pot, replace the ice with fresh ice. If the day is cool and the fire is not strong, you can not do this.

   4. Smoke for 0.5-6 hours, turning occasionally. Cheese absorbs flavors easily, so it doesn't have to be smoked for as long as meat. Turn the cheese every 15-30 minutes or at least once during the smoking process. Wait until a darker ring of smoke forms around the cheese before removing it from the heat.

      • Soft cheese in a warm smoker will be ready in 30 minutes if you prefer cheese with a lighter flavor. Most cheese is smoked for one to two hours.
      • Thick pieces of hard cheese on a cold winter day need to be smoked for 4-6 hours. For the first time, it is recommended to do this for 3 hours, so as not to interrupt the real taste of the cheese.

   5. Let the cheese stand before eating. Remove from smoker and wrap in wax or parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator for at least a week to soften the smoke flavor. The cheese will taste best after 2-4 weeks of aging in the refrigerator.

   Smoking cheese in an empty fridge

   Select a refrigerator that will be used only for smoking. The refrigerator can be saturated with the aroma of smoke, so it must be completely empty. It should be installed in a fireproof location, such as a garage or basement with a concrete floor and no combustible materials nearby. The refrigerator does not have to be functional.

   • Before you continue, reread the cheese preparation instructions at the top of the article.

   1. Place a hot plate at the bottom of the refrigerator, preferably with temperature control.

   2. Set the saucepan with wood chips. Use a small bread pan, tin can, or other non-flammable container. Fill it with wood chips or pellets that are smoked or made from pure wood without toxic additives.

      • See Tips for more information on wood scents.

The data obtained as a result of a general blood test will help doctors of various specialties: therapist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist. With their help, you can make the correct diagnosis and treatment. It is widely believed that such an analysis is needed on an empty stomach. But is it?

Is it possible to eat anything before a general blood test

Ideally, such an analysis as a UAC really needs to be taken on an empty stomach. Many doctors say that the last meal should be at least 8 hours before blood sampling. And some sources say that this period of time should be at least 12 hours. It is also undesirable to drink tea or coffee before the analysis. Thirst must be quenched with ordinary water, which will not affect the result of the analysis.

If you can’t stand it, drink a glass of water in the morning, take a sandwich or fruit with you so that you can have a little refreshment immediately after taking a blood test.