Theory

Sausage term was derived in the ancient times from the latin word ‘salsus’ meaning salt. It was literally coined to refer to ground meat which was salted and stuffed in animal casings. Presently, 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. Though sausages originated in the western world, these products acquired universal popularity due to variety and convenience to the consumers. Sausages are economical also because these are generally prepared from cheaper cuts of meat and by-products of industry.

Sausages in general are allowed 50 % minimum meat content of which at least 50 % lean content is required.

  • Beef sausage- Beef sausages are allowed 50 % minimum meat content of which at least 50 % lean and 50 % minimum beef content are required.
  • Pork sausage-Pork sausages must have 65 % minimum meat content of which at least 50 % lean and 80 % pork are allowed.
  • Pork/beef sausage-Pork/beef sausages are allowed 50 % minimum meat content of which at least 50 % should be lean and 80 % pork and beef.

Requirements: -

Meat mincer, sausage filler, spices, casing, chopper, salt, stainless steel pans, etc

Processing Steps

 1.      Grinding or mincing Lean meat and fat are minced separately in a meat mincer. The choice of mincer plate or sieve depends on the type of meat.
2.      Mixing Meat and fat to be used for the preparation of coarse ground sausage are mixed uniformly in a mixer. Extender, condiments and spices should also be run in the mixer for even distribution.
3.      Chopping and emulsifying For emulsion preparation, lean meat is first chopped for few minutes in a bowl chopper with salt to extract myofibrillar proteins. This is followed by addition of fat and running for a few minutes again to get desired emulsion consistency. Now, all other ingredients are added and chopper is run for some time for uniform distribution. The entire operation is conducted at low temperature by addition of ice flakes in place of chilled water.
4.      Stuffing Sausage emulsion or batter is taken to stuffer for extrusion into casings. The casings are first collected on the stuffing horn or nozzle and released to coincide with the extrusion.
5.      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 thread at regular intervals.
 6.      Smoking and cooking Sausage links are hung on the smokehouse trolley and transferred to smoke house. The temperature of smokehouse is usually maintained at 68-700C which is enough for coagulation of sausage emulsion, cooking and requisite drying of sausages.
7.      Chilling The cooked product is showered with chilled water to an internal temperature of about 40C.
8.       Peeling and packaging While artificial or synthetic casings are peeled off before the product is packed, small sized natural casings need not be removed. The product is generally unit packed for retail outlets.

Other examples of popular sausages

  • Bologna: It is an emulsion type sausage prepared from the meat of old animals
  • Hot dog: It is a fairly spicy sausage in broader casings, usually weasand in India.
  • Mortadella: It is a dry sausage prepared in cattle bladder or artificial broader casings.