SAUSAGE INTRODUCTION

 

Sausages

                                                     

A sausage consists of ground meat, animal fat, salt and spices and sometimes other ingredients such as herbs; usually packed in a casing. Sausage making is a very old food preservation technique. Historically, the casing has been the intestines of the animal, though it is now generally synthetic. Sausage may be fresh or preserved by curing or smoking. Besides being eaten in its own, sausage is also used as an ingredient in other foods.

Sausage is a natural outcome of efficient butchery.

History: It is mostly assumed that sausages were involved by Sumarian, i.e. in Iraq today. Around 3000 BC, Chinese sausage Lachang, which consists of goat and lamb meat was first mentioned in 589 BC. Evidence suggests that sausages were already popular both among ancient Greeks and Romans.

 

Sausages may be served as horsd’oeuvre, or as a sandwich in a bread roll or as hotdog, or wrapped in a tortilla (A tortilla is a type of thin flatbread, typically made from nixtamalized corn or wheat flour), or as an ingredient in dishes such as stews and casseroles. Sausage without casing is called sausage meat and can be fried or used as stuffing for poultry or in the wrapping foods like scotch eggs. Similarly, sausage meat encased in puff pastry is called sausage roll.

 

Classifications: Sausages may be classified in many numbers of way, for instance by the % age of meat and other ingredients they contain or by their consistency.

In English speaking world, the following distinction between fresh sausages, cooked sausages and dry sausages seems to be more or less accepted.

 

·         Cooked sausages are made with fresh meats and then fully cooked. They are either eaten immediately after cooking or must be refrigerated. Examples include hot dogs, Braunschweiger, and liver sausage. Meat-and-grain sausages such as goetta, scrapple, and kishka are also cooked sausages.

·         Cooked smoked sausages are cooked and then smoked or smoke-cooked. They are eaten hot or cold but need to be refrigerated. Examples include kielbasa and mortadella. Some are slow cooked while smoking, in which case the process takes several days or longer, such as the case for Gyulai kolbász.

·         Fresh sausages are made from meats that have not been previously cured. They must be refrigerated and thoroughly cooked before eating. Examples include Boerewors, Italian pork sausage, siskonmakkara, and breakfast sausage.

·         Fresh smoked sausages are fresh sausages that are smoked and cured. They do not normally require refrigeration and do not require any further cooking before eating. Examples include Mettwurst and Teewurst which are meat preparations packed in sausage casing but squeezed out of it (just like any other spread from a tube).

·         Dry sausages are cured sausages that are fermented and dried. Some are smoked as well at the beginning of the drying process. They are generally eaten cold and will keep for a long time. Examples include salami, Droë wors, Finnish meetvursti, Sucuk, Landjäger (smoked), Slim Jims, and summer sausage.

·         Bulk sausage, or sometimes sausage meat or skinless sausage, refers to raw, ground, spiced meat, usually sold without any casing.

·         Vegetarian sausages are made without meat, for example, based on soya protein or tofu, with herbs and spices. Some vegetarian sausages are not necessarily vegan and may contain ingredients such as eggs.

 

The distinct flavor of some sausages is due to fermentation by Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, or Micrococcus (added as starter cultures) or natural flora during curing.

Other countries use different systems of classification. Germany, for instance, which produces more than 1200 types of sausage, distinguishes raw, cooked and precooked sausages.

 

Raw sausages are made with raw meat and are not cooked. They are preserved by lactic acid fermentation, and they may be dried, brined or smoked. Most raw sausages will keep for a long time. Examples include Mettwurst and salami.

 

·         Cooked sausages (Brühwurst) may include water and emulsifiers and are always cooked. They will not keep long. Examples include cervelat, Jagdwurst, and Weißwurst.

·         Precooked sausages (Kochwurst) are made with precooked meat but may also include raw organ meat. They may be heated after casing, and they will keep only for a few days. Examples include Saumagen and Blutwurst.

 

In Italy, the basic distinctions are:

·         Raw sausage (salsiccia) with a thin casing

·         Cured and aged sausage (salsiccia stagionata or salsiccia secca)

·         Cooked sausage (wuerstel)

·         Blood sausage (sanguinaccio or boudin)

·         Liver sausage (salsiccia di fegato)

·         Salami (in Italy, salami is the plural of salame, a big, cured, fermented and air-dried sausage)

·         Cheese sausage (casalsiccia) with cheese inside

 

The United States has a particular shelf stable type called pickled sausages, commonly sold in establishments such as gas stations and delicatessens. These are usually smoked or boiled sausages of a highly processed hot dog or kielbasa style plunged into a boiling brine of vinegar, salt, spices, and often a pink colouring, then canned in Mason jars. They are usually packaged in single blister packs or jars.

 

Manufacturing process:

Meats are rinsed / soaked in cold water to eliminate traces of blood.

• Meats are simmered below the boiling point for 3-4 hours until they can be separated from bones. As you may cook different size sausages in the same vessel some stirring is required to expose cooked products to uniform temperatures. A wooden spoon with a long handle will perform this duty neatly. The resulting stock should be saved for two reasons:
  It is added to head cheese and forms the jelly.
  It is used as a cooking medium.
• Meat is separated from bones and cut manually.
• Liver is ground and emulsified. Livers must not be cooked. Back fat should be diced into ⅜” (1 cm) pieces and then boiled for about 30 minutes. Skins should be boiled until soft but not overcooked. Tongues are scalded for a few minutes in hot water in order to remove the skin and to clean them. Then they are boiled.
• Meats are mixed with other ingredients; often the meat stock is added.
• Sausages are stuffed loosely with a horn and a ladle.
• Sausages are poached at about 176° F (80° C).
• Sausages are cooled and stored under refrigeration.

Vegetarian Sausages:

Vegetarian and vegan sausages are also available in some countries, or can be made from scratch at home. These may be made from tofu, seitan, nuts, pulses, mycoprotein, soya protein, vegetables or any combination of similar ingredients that will hold together during cooking. These sausages, like most meat-replacement products, generally fall into two categories: some are shaped, colored, flavored, and spiced to replicate the taste and texture of meat as accurately as possible; others such as the Glamorgan sausage rely on spices and vegetables to lend their natural flavor to the product and no attempt is made to imitate meat.