SAUSAGES: STEPS IN ITS MAKING

 

Steps in Making Sausages

Sausage making has been used for hundreds of years to preserve meat. 

 

Comminution (Particle Reduction) Comminution is the process by which meat is ground, chopped, diced, emulsified, or reduced to minute particles for incorporation into sausage.

 

Grinding: Lean meat and fat are ground to form a uniform mixture separately by using a machine which has screw, rotating blades and the grinder. The size of the holes determines the final product thickness.

 

·         Mixing: Cylinder of fat and meat are mixed together to form a homogenous mixture.

·         Chopping: It is done in a machine which has a metal bowl and a rotating knife also called as Silent Chopper or Flier. RPM (Rotation Per Minute) of bowl and speed can be adjusted as per the required texture.

 

Emulsification - If a meat mixture is comminuted with salt in a bowl chopper or silent cutter, a finely chopped sau­sage batter is formed. In the presence of salt a meat emulsion can be formed. In meat emulsions, lean meat and fat particles are dispersed in a complex of water, proteins, cellular components, and a variety of spices and seasonings.

 Blending - Ground meat or chopped meat, but not meat emulsions, can be placed in a mixer/blender to evenly dis­tribute the lean and fat particles and any cure ingredients that are in the mix­ture. After blending, the mixture may be added to the revolving metal bowl of a chopper, where rotating knife blades cut through the meat mass and mix in seasonings and other ingredients. In this application, time in the bowl chopper is short and emulsification is not the desired result. After a short time in the chopper, meat to be used in ground products goes directly into the stuffer to be formed into sausages.

 Forming - Some processed meat products, such as fresh pork sausage, may be sold in bulk, in chubs or formed into patties. Others are molded into loaves, but most are stuffed into cas­ings. Emulsified sausage stuffing/filling is also called as sausage dough or batter mince which is transferred into a Stuffer for filling into casing. Comminuted products are placed in casings to give them a characteristic shape (like that of a wiener), to hold the product together, and to allow for further processing.

 Tying - According to the type of meat product and the particular casing, the sausage may be tied at each end with string or fastened with metal clips. With smaller sausages, such as frankfurters casings are normally twisted or draw together either by hand or mechanically to produce links as identical in shape and size as possible.

 Smoking: All sausages are not smoked (with artificial casings). It is the last step in which the sausages are smoked in smoke-trolleys or tree.

 Packaging: After smoking, they are sent for packaging.