Preparation of Sausages

PREPARATION OF SAUSAGES

  • Sausages are ready- to- cook or ready- to- eat meat fast foods.
  • They are prepared by stuffing the salted, ground meat in natural or synthetic casings.
  • Natural casings are the processed parts of the alimentary tract of cattle, sheep, goat, pig and horses and urinary bladder of pig and cattle.
  • Sausage may be defined as a meat product which is prepared from minced and seasoned meat and formed into cylindrical shape by natural or synthetic casings.

Classification of sausages

The popular classifications of sausages are

  • Based on the degree of chopping
    • Coarse ground sausage
    • Emulsion type sausage
  • Based on moisture content
    • Fresh sausage
    • Smoked uncooked Sausage
    • Cooked sausage
    • Dry and semi -dry sausage
  • Based on fermentation
    • Fermented sausage
    • Non-fermented sausage
  • Consumers eat sausages because of convenience, variety, economy and nutritional value.
  • Sausage products can be prepared very quickly, with some sausages being ready to serve, and others need to be just warmed before serving.
  • Sausages contain significant amounts of high quality protein and are good sources of several essential minerals and vitamins.
  • Sausages can be prepared from the cheaper meat cuts which have poor consumer demand.
  • Thus value is added to cheaper meat cuts after the preparation of sausages.

Processing steps

The various steps in the preparation of sausage are:

  • Grinding or mincing
    • Lean meat and fat are minced separately in a meat mincer.
  • Mixing
    • Mixing is done to produce coarse ground sausages and is carried out in a mixer.
    • Meat and fat are mixed uniformly in a mixer.
    • Extenders, condiments and spices are also added during mixing for even distribution. 
  • Chopping and emulsifying
    • Chopping is done to produce emulsion type sausages and is carried out in a bowl chopper.
    • Lean meat is first chopped for few minutes in a bowl chopper with salt to extract the myofibrillar proteins.
    • This is followed by the addition of fat and running for a few minutes again to get the desired emulsion consistency.
    • Then the other ingredients including the condiments and spices are added for uniform distribution.
    • The entire operation is conducted at low temperatures by adding ice flakes during chopping and emulsification.
  • Stuffing
    • Sausage emulsion or batter is fed into a sausage stuffer.
    • The casings are used to fill the emulsion.
    • One end of the casing is applied on the stuffing horn and the emulsion is evenly stuffed into the casing.
  • Linking and tying
    • In small sausages, the encased mass is twisted to produce links either manually or mechanically whereas, in large sausages, the encased mass is tied with a thread at regular intervals.
  • Smoking and cooking
    • Sausage links are hung inside the smoking chamber.
    • The temperature of the smoking chamber is maintained at 68 - 70°C.
    • The sausage links are smoked which causes coagulation of the sausage emulsion, cooking and drying.
  • Chilling
    • The cooked product is showered with chilled water to an internal temperature of about 4°C.
  • Peeling and packaging
    • In large sized sausages, the casings are peeled off before packaging.
    • In small sized sausages with natural casings, the casings need not be removed.

Formulation of coarse ground fresh pork sausage  

Ingredients

Quantity

Lean pork trimmings

35.0 Kg

Back fat

15.0Kg

Table salt

1.0 Kg

White pepper

125.0 g

Sugar

75.0 g

Ginger powder

15.0 g

Formulation of Frankfurters (cured, emulsion type)

Ingredients

Quantity

Beef trimmings

30.0Kg

Pork trimmings

20.0Kg

Ice flakes

15.0 Kg

Table salt

1.2 Kg

White pepper

111.0g

Nutmeg

25.0 g

Cardamom

25.0g

Ginger powder

25.0 g

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

25.0 g

Sodium erythroblast

20.0 g

Sodium nitrite

7.5 g

Formulation of salami (Fresh, emulsion type)

Ingredients

Quantity

Pork trimmings

20.0 Kg

Pork cheek meat

10.0 Kg

Pork hearts

10.0 Kg

Pork stomachs

5.0 Kg

Ice flakes

5.0 kg

Table salt

1.2 kg

Black pepper

115.0 g

Sodium erythrobate

25.0 g

Garlic powder

25.0g

Sodium nitrite

5.0 g

Formulation of chicken sausage (emulsion type)

Ingredients

 Quantity

Chicken meat

30.0 Kg

Vegetable Oil

7.5 Kg

Ice flakes

5.0 Kg

Condiments

3.0 Kg

Bread powder

3.0 Kg

Table salt

1.2 Kg

Whole egg liquid

1.0 Kg

Spices Mix

800.0 g

Sodium nitrite

5.0 g

The other common types of sausages are

  • Bologna: It is an emulsion type sausage prepared from the meat of older animals.
  • Hot dog: It is a fairly spicy sausage in broader casings.
  • Mortadella: It is a sausage prepared in cattle bladder or artificial broader casings.
Last modified: Thursday, 12 April 2012, 7:02 AM