What are cheese sticks, how are they prepared? Nutritional value and chemical composition, benefits and harms to human health. Cooking Uses and Product History.
Cheese sticks are a versatile snack, a modified version of Italian grissini. Texture - hard, crumbling, crunchy; color - light or pronounced golden, depending on the degree of roastiness. The taste and smell depend on the method of preparation, the recipe for the dough and the addition of spices. Sizes vary: they can be as thick as an index finger or a pencil, very short or up to 12-15 cm. Currently, snack products are produced based on fibrous cheeses.
How are cheese sticks made?
There are many options for making cheese sticks, but everything can be divided into 3 groups. The first includes products made from cheese dough with flour, the second - without flour, and the third - without kneading. The product is so popular that special equipment is already being installed for its production, which makes it possible to obtain products with an ideal shape and uniform structure.
The problem of how to prepare cheese sticks on an industrial scale is solved as follows. The industrial line includes a digester, where the feedstock, after heating through an inclined chute, is transferred to an extruder. Products of the desired configuration are fed to the conveyor, and from there to the oven, where they are dried and fried.
Then they are cooled in a special cooling system when they arrive at the filling machine and loaded into trolleys. No pre-sale preparation is required. When passing from the extruder to the oven, sprinkle with spices or sweet flour - nut, poppy, etc. is carried out.
If cheese cala was used as a raw material, then the texture of the final product is fibrous, like the cheese of the filata pasta group. For beer lovers, such products are in particular demand. Unfortunately, to reduce the cost of production, casein, starch and palm oil are used as ingredients.
Homemade cheese sticks can be made according to the following recipes:
- With flour … To knead the dough, sift 220 g of flour and knead with your hands with 150 g of butter and salt - 1-2 pinches. Pour in grated hard cheese, preferably Eden, knead, then add sour cream - 6 tbsp. l., as well as 1-2 tsp. Sahara. You need to get an elastic soft dough that does not stick to your hands. They are rolled into a layer, more conveniently a square shape, greased with whipped protein and sprinkled with grated cheese and spices - paprika, dry garlic, black pepper. Lay out on parchment in one layer, bake at 180 ° C for 25 minutes.
- Express recipe with flour … If guests come, you can surprise them in 15 minutes. Pour 2-3 tbsp into cold milk. l. hard cheese, pour in 6 tbsp. l. ice water and enough wheat flour to knead a tight dough. Add salt to taste. The sticks are formed in the same way as in the first recipe, but they are brought to readiness in a different way - by deep-frying. It is advisable to put the finished products on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
- Rice sticks … A mixture of two types of cereals - brown and wild or dark and regular long - is boiled until tender and cooled. Stir in one whole chicken egg and the yolk of the second, seasoning to taste. Black pepper, lemon salt, a mixture of different types of peppers, or just paprika are ideally combined with rice. Stir in flour - 4-5 tbsp. l. To get an elastic mix, you can add water - but not more than 1 tbsp. l. Dutch cheese is cut into long sticks, wrapped in rice dough, breadcrumbs and deep fried. As in the previous recipe, blot with a paper towel before serving to get rid of excess grease.
- Original cheese sticks … Oatmeal, 200 g, pour 100 ml of milk and leave to swell. Add 80 g of butter, 100 g of wheat flour, pepper and salt. Knead soft dough, roll out into a layer 3-4 mm thick, sprinkle with grated hard cheese. The layer is doubled, rolled out again, cut into strips about 0.5-0.7 cm wide and 3 cm long. Spread on a baking sheet covered with oiled parchment. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180 ° C.
- Flourless baked goods … The dough is kneaded with the following ingredients: cottage cheese, preferably pasty, 300 g, 2 eggs, 150 g cheddar and crushed garlic, 2 prongs. Sticks are formed, rolled in breading made according to your own taste. If baked in the oven, grease with a beaten egg. To speed up cooking, you can fry in a pan in oil - sunflower or butter, until crisp. These sticks are served both warm and cold. To improve the taste, dried dill and parsley are added to the dough.
- Cheese sticks for the Ducan diet … Cut suluguni into cubes, beat 1 egg separately, do not add salt. For breading, wheat bran is mixed with dried herbs. The taste of Provencal herbs, oregano, basil and rosemary is successfully combined. Each piece is dipped in a beaten egg, then in a breading, again in an egg and again in bran with herbs. Spread on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Put in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for 10 minutes. Breaded cheese sticks can be deep-fried in a pan, but then they cannot be used in a weight loss diet.
Ducan's sticks belong to the third group. They are cooked in breadcrumbs, without kneading. The products have a special taste - crispy crust and delicate stretching filling.
Composition and calorie content of cheese sticks
In the photo, cheese sticks
The energy value of baked goods depends on the recipe used for cooking.
The calorie content of dietary cheese sticks is 251 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Protein - 17 g;
- Fat - 16 g;
- Carbohydrates - 7 g.
Such a dish can be safely introduced into the Ducan diet. The only negative is the bland taste, but thanks to the crunchiness you don't even remember it.
The calorie content of spicy cheese sticks made on the basis of cottage cheese with a fat content of 18%, hard cheese with a 20% fat content, eggs, dill, parsley, sunflower oil and salt is 351 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Protein - 14 g;
- Fat - 28 g;
- Carbohydrates - 2.5 g.
To reduce the calorie content, it is enough to make a dough based on 3.5-5% cottage cheese.
Vitamins per 100 g
- Vitamin A - 200 mcg;
- Retinol - 0.2 mg;
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.03 mg;
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.2 mg;
- Vitamin B4, choline - 54.7 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 0.3 mg;
- Vitamin B6, pyridoxine - 0.1 mg;
- Vitamin B9, folate - 19.3 mcg;
- Vitamin B12, cobalamin - 0.7 mcg;
- Vitamin C, ascorbic acid - 4.4 mg;
- Vitamin D, calciferol - 0.4 μg;
- Vitamin E, alpha tocopherol - 5.8 mg;
- Vitamin H, biotin - 4.8 mcg;
- Vitamin PP - 2.5 mg;
- Niacin - 0.2 mg
Macronutrients per 100 g
- Potassium, K - 110.1 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 302.8 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 24.8 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 236 mg;
- Sulfur, S - 28.2 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 222.2 mg;
- Chlorine, Cl - 74.6 mg.
Microelements per 100 g
- Iron, Fe - 0.9 mg;
- Iodine, I - 3.3 μg;
- Cobalt, Co - 2 μg;
- Copper, Cu - 54.4 μg;
- Molybdenum, Mo - 3.5 μg;
- Selenium, Se - 9.7 μg;
- Fluorine, F - 19.2 μg;
- Chromium, Cr - 0.6 μg;
- Zinc, Zn - 1.2305 mg.
If it is necessary to control its own weight, it is necessary to take into account when introducing into the menu that the composition of cheese sticks contains cholesterol - from 107-108 mg per 100 g. In structure, this substance differs from that contained in cheese. It appears during cooking due to the use of frying oil and can therefore have a negative effect on overall health. Thus, it is recommended to bake the dietary product on a baking sheet, on baking paper. This reduces fat and cholesterol to 92 mg per 100 g.
Useful properties of cheese sticks
With crunchy pastries, you can quickly satisfy your hunger. It is very convenient in "field" conditions. The reserve of nutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary for the normal functioning of the human body is replenished. You can use 1-2 culinary products as a snack - this will help to avoid disruption of the diet.
Making cheese sticks has a positive effect on the development of children. Cutting into strips and twisting into spirals develops fine motor skills.
A variety of spices and herbs are used to give the original taste - more often dill and parsley, which have a healing effect. They increase bile secretion, normalize metabolic processes. The incidence of constipation is reduced. But the benefits of cheese sticks are not limited to the above properties.
Let's consider a useful action in more detail:
- Stimulates the production of saliva. The likelihood of caries is reduced, the activity of pathogenic flora colonizing the gum pockets and the surface of the tonsils is inhibited.
- They excite the taste buds located on the tongue. This creates pleasant sensations, impulses are transmitted to the brain, the production of hormones responsible for good mood - serotonin and norepinephrine - increases.
- Due to its crunchy texture, the product not only does not stick to the teeth, but also has a cleansing effect. Fungi and bacteria do not accumulate on the surface of the teeth, the decomposition of which produces an unpleasant odor.
- The high calcium content in cottage cheese and cheese strengthens bone and cartilage tissue.
Note! Flour-free baked goods can be added to the diet for people with celiac disease.
