Fresh sausages are not heat treated and they are sold in a raw state. In principle, fresh sausages are not cured. Fresh sausages actually comprise the mixtures of meats, fat and spices stuffed into casings with the intention that the consumer himself cooks them prior to serving. In many countries they are manufactured on request in butcher shops.
The basic raw materials used in fresh sausage manufacture are pork and beef, including their trimmings. Veal is also often processed, especially for higher quality products. Meat and fat are generally coarsely ground. The ratio of lean to fat has a decided bearing on the quality of the product, particularly in controlling the shrinkage that occurs during cooking. The leaner formulae show less shrinkage than formulae with more fat. The addition of a small amount of water or milk (3 to 5 percent) facilitates the stuffing operation. Occasionally, however, dry or sticky meat can cause stuffing and linking problems which can be avoided by the addition of more water. A meat temperature of 2 to 4°C at stuffing and good fluid properties of the meat mass are the best conditions for preparation of fresh sausages for stuffing. If any binder is used at all, its amount should not be more than 1–3 percent of the weight of the meat. A mechanical mixer is highly desirable for larger quantities.
Fresh sausages are normally stuffed in pig or sheep casings. The casings are washed with water prior to being placed upon the stuffing horn. They are filled to maximum capacity. Medium size casings are preferably used for pork sausages, especially if they are stuffed into links. Narrow casings are more suitable for fresh beef sausages. The stuffed casings are divided by linking into shorter units. This is carried out by giving the stuffed casing a twist at regular intervals. The sausage units are of various length depending upon local market demands. After stuffing and linking, fresh sausages should be dried at room temperature for a short time and chilled rapidly. Chilling should be done by hanging sausages in a chiller.
Fig. 23 GRINDING OF BEEF FOR SAUSAGE PRODUCTION
(Photo taken in the Food Research and Development Centre
at Serdang, Malaysia)
The most common seasonings are salt, dextrose, pepper, mace, red pepper, sage, chili, garlic, ginger, lemon bark, cinnamon, onion, cumin, monosodium glutamate, celery salt etc. The binders, which provide satisfactory control of shrinkage in cooking, are wheat flour and rusk and isolated soy protein, either alone or in combination with wheat flour. The rusk should have a good colour, be free of any odour, and be able to absorb moisture. The rusk is added in the cutter or mixer either in a dry or presoaked state. Other edible binders, such as nonfat milk solids or soy protein concentrate, fail to provide the necessary control of shrinkage in the consumer's kitchen.
The point which is of utmost importance to enhance the keeping life and to improve tha quality of the product is that all fresh sausage operations must be carried out quickly and in strictly hygienic conditions. All equipment must be scrupulously clean.
Sausage products in this group include fresh pork and beef sausages.
In many tropical and subtropical countries, fresh sausages are often produced from warm slaughtered or prerigor meat. This practice can only be encouraged since prerigor meat is an excellent raw material for these products. While the high water holding capacity of prerigor meat improves the structure and yield of coarse ground fresh sausage, the reduced myoglobin state is of even greater value. Typically, the colour of fresh sausages, made from chilled meats, fade from a red colour to a brownish-grey colour in a short time exposed to light, salt and oxygen. Fresh sausages manufactured with prerigor meat will maintain a red colour in the presence of salt and light for up to 5 to 6 days of refrigerated storage and some weeks with frozen storage.
If prerigor meat is used in making fresh sausages, considerable savings in refrigeration costs may be realized. Because of contamination potential, very strict sanitation procedures are required. Handling hot meat is essentially different from handling chilled meat and this practice is well known in tropical and subtropical countries.
Fresh sausages are more perishable than other types of sausages and should be handled with special care. Fresh sausages deteriorate relatively rapidly due to both microbial spoilage and oxidative rancidity. Fresh sausages muust be kept in a refrigerated room at a temperature close to 0° to 4°C. Fresh sausage storage life at refrigerator temperatures above freezing is usually 2 to 4 days. Freezing protects the product successfully against bacterial spoilage but not against oxidative rancidity, assisted by the catalytic activity of the salt.
Exposure of the fresh sausages to temperatures between 20° and 40°C is detrimental to the product which may not be immediately visible. The practice of mild smoking of some kinds of fresh sausage will not give longer protection. The proper circulation of air in a fresh sausage storage room is a subject requiring considerable study for each individual installation. Most processors consider that a moderate circulation of air will satisfactorily extend the shelf life of a product but if the air circulation is too rapid, an excessive shrinkage will occur associated with surface skin formation.
Air humidity in a storage room has much if not more influence than air circulation on surface spoilage, mould, shrinkage, and the appearance of fresh sausages. Air circulation in a sausage storage room must be kept reasonably dry. A humidity of 75 to 80 percent seems high enough with a temperature of 6° to 8°C to prevent excessive loss of moisture and low enough to keep the product for some days and to avoid the formation of mould.
In fact, one of the chief difficulties encountered in sausage storage is moulding. This can be controlled to some extent by practising extreme sanitation in all operations and by control of stocks carried by retailers. In cleaning operations, a final wash of sodium hypochlorite is recommended.
Another difficulty associated with fresh sausage storage is the oxidative rancidity, particularly if sausages are kept in a frozen state or made from previously frozen raw materials. This phenomenon can be controlled, to a limited extent, by practising extreme low air circulation in the storage room, by avoiding processing of long stored frozen meats and fats, by the use of antioxidants and by proper selection of spices. A way to slow down rancidity is to avoid excessive dehydration of the product. The use of prerigor meat is also a method of reducing excessive dehydration and oxidative rancidity. Insofar as antioxidant addition is concerned, both the fat-soluble type (butylated hydroxy anisol, butylated hydroxy toluene) and the water-soluble type (ascorbic acid, citric acid) are effective.
Different techniques and formulae are used in manufacturing fresh sausages in various couuntries. The following fresh sausage formulae and methods of preparation have been selected, among many others, and submitted primarily as a guide. Numerous other formulae, generally similar, will give satisfactory results if recommended procedures regarding processing and handling are fully respected. The sausage formulations which follow require the addition of from 2 to 3.0 percent of a binder to any fresh pork sausage formula and 1 to 2 percent of binder to any fresh beef sausage formula. Spice levels as indicated in the following formulae may be increased slightly if it is determined that flavour is lost duuring precooking. The addition of extra dextrose or corn sugar to the spice formula is helpful in browning the sausage rapidly on recooking.
In developing any product, the manufacturer must consider these formulations only as a basic suggestion and he must spend considerable time in testing, modifying and adjusting them according to local preferences and conditions.
Fresh pork sausages are a very popular breakfast item in many European and American homes as well as restaurants and throughout the years have been a leading pork product.
This kind of sausage consists only of ground seasoned pork and its manufacture involves only a few operational steps. Seasoning formulae vary widely with particular market and regional preferences, but generally speaking, there are two seasoning extremes: a sage and sugar flavour and, on the other hand, a hot seasoning.
FORMULATION No. 1
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
90 kg fresh pork trimmings (60 to 70% lean)
10 kg fresh pork backfat
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
18.0 g salt
1.5 g white pepper (ground)
1.0 g mace
2.0 g sage
1.0 g sugar
0.4 g savoury
18.0 g salt
2.4 g pepper
1.1 g sage
1.5 g ginger
0.02 g chili
0.2 g monosodium glutamate
Casing
Pig rounds: narrow (under 28 mm)
FORMULATION No. 2
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
60 kg side pork (belly)
40 kg lean pork
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
18.0 g salt
2.0 g pepper
1.0 g mace
1.0 g ginger
0.4 g cardamom
1.0 g lemon bark powder
0.1 g fresh garlic
Casing
Pig casing: narrow (26 to 28 mm)
Processing and handling
Pork is sprinkled with the seasoning mixture before grinding. The pork trimmings are put first through a 13 mm plate and then through a 5 mm plate grinder and seasoning is added and mixed. If Formulation No. 1 is applied, 2 to 3 percent of milk may be used. The mixture is stuffed into previously soaked casings.
It is considered that a highly acceptable fresh pork sausage can be produced by formulating the product to a 35 percent fat level.
These sausages are by far the most widely manufactured restaurant or grill sausages in some Arab countries. They are often sold in small butcher shops where they are also produced on request in desired qualities. It is almost impossible to give a standard recipe for fresh beef sausages for grilling since selection and proportions of individual ingredients used depend upon the type of meat available and a variety of other factors.
The use of cereal binders in this type of sausage is not a necessity but it sometimes occurs. Rusk or other binders used are added in the mixer or cutter either in a dry or presoaked state.
FORMULATION
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
85 to 90 kg lean beef or lean beef trimmings (one-third beef may be substituted by mutton, if desired)
10 to 15 kg selected beef or mutton fat
0.5 to 3.0 kg rusk is sometimes added to improve binding
2 to 3 kg salted water may also be added to facilitate stuffing
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
20.0 g salt
0.5 to 1.0 g red pepper
0.01 to 0.02 g chili
0.2 to 0.6 g cardamom
0.2 g ginger
0.1 to 0.5 g fenugreek
0.2 to 0.6 g sugar
Casings
Sheep or goat casings of different diameter: wide (22 to 24 mm), medium (20 to 22 mm), narrow medium (18 to 22 mm) and narrow (16 to 18 mm).
Processing and handling
The meat and the fat are run separately through the coarse plates of the grinder: meat through a 6 to 8 mm plate, fat through a 5 to 6 mm plate. Both types of grinded material are then mixed for a few minutes while the above-mentioned seasonings are added. The mixture obtained can be regrinded through a 5 mm plate and finally stuffed into presoaked salted goat or sheep casings.
The stuffed casings are generally divided in units by twisting. The length of sausage units or links varies widely but short links of 5 to 7 cm and long links of 10 to 15 cm are common lengths.
The finished sausage should be either immediately used in the kitchen or stored at 0° to 4°C for a maximum of two days.
This type of fresh sausage is often made on request in butcher shops. The basic ingredient formulation for this sausage varies considerably. The curry flavour must be pronounced.
FORMULATION No. 1
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
85 kg beef flank
15 kg beef fat (brisket fat, fat beef trimmings
or zebu boss1 fat) or mutton fat (tail fat)
Characteristics seasoning formula per 1 kg
18.0 g salt
2.0 to 2.2 g curry powder
0.5 g sugar
2.0 g pepper
Casings
Goat or sheep narrow casings (16 mm) and collagen casings.
1 A protuberant part on the theraco-cervical region of zebra cattle (the hump).
FORMULATION No. 2
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
45 kg lean beef
35 kg lean meat or lamb
20 kg beef or mutton fat
40 kg lean beef
20 kg mutton
20 kg beef trimmings
20 kg zebu boss fat, beef brisket fat
or mutton fat
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
22.0 g salt (or to taste)
2.0 g curry powder
1.0 g red pepper
0.2 g cinnamon
Casings
Goat or sheep casings or edible collagen casings: narrow (under 18 mm) or very occasionally narrow medium (18 to 20 mm).
Processing and handling
The chilled meat is grinded through a plate having holes 10 mm in diameter. Then it is mixed in a mixer 2 to 3 minutes with the salt, curry powder and other spices and the mix is passed through a 5 mm plate. The stuffer is filled with mix and the mix tamped tightly to eliminate air pockets. Further handling of sausages is as described in the instructions for fresh sausages for grilling.
Technologically hamburgers are typical fresh beef sausages that are not stuffed in casings. However, stuffing hamburgers into appropriate casings may be advantageous for small scale manufacturers.
Hamburgers are made of ground seasoned beef, without addition of others meats. Prerigor meat is an excellent raw material for hamburgers and it should be removed as soon as possible from the carcass and coarse ground through a plate having holes of 12 mm or even larger. Mixing with salt gives a product of high water binding capacity.
FORMULATION
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
85 kg fresh beef (flanks, shanks, necks etc.)
10 kg beef fat
Additional ingredients
3 to 5 kg sausage binder
1 to 3 kg ice
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
20.0 g salt
0.6 g monosodium glutamate
1.0 g ground white pepper
0.6 g sugar
onion - to taste
Casings
Cellulose casings of 60 mm in diameter.
Processing and handling
The meat should be thoroughly trimmed of fat and connective tissue. Normally meat is ground twice: once through a coarse plate (8 to 12 mm) followed by addition of the binder and after mixing, the second grinding is performed through a finer plate having holes of 2 to 4 mm in diameter.
The meat is mixed until the desired degree of binding is obtained. The mass is immediately stuffed into casings of about 6 mm in diameter, then chilled or frozen as soon as possible. After freezing the sausage is cut by machine or by hand into slices (hamburgers) of the desired thickness.
If hamburgers are for immediate use, a binder may be added (egg, protein, starch), so the product may be more easily sliced and marketed or kept under refrigeration.
The keeping quality of frozen sausage-burgers is limited to 1 to 2 weeks. The use of soy protein as an extender is discussed under the heading “Nonmeat sausage ingredients”.
Merguez is an all-beef sausage that throughout the years has been one of the leading meat items served in all types of restaurants in many North African countries.
Various formulated ingredients, different qualities of raw materials and different processing variables utilized in the production of merguez sausages affect the overall quality of this popular product.
Prerigor meat is an excellent raw material for merguez manufacture. There is not much doubt that in hot climatic conditions, the use of prerigor meat is associated with reduced microbiological load of the product and is in full accordance with local habits and customer resistance to chilled or frozen meats.
FORMULATION No. 1
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
50 kg lean beef
35 kg beef trimmings
13 kg brisket fat
2 kg ice
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
20.0 g salt 2.0 g red pepper (hot) 0.4 g garlic, fresh 5.0 g onion
Casings
goat or sheep casings: narrow (16 to 18 mm) and narrow medium (18 to 20 mm).
FORMULATION No. 2
Basic ingredients for 100 kg
75 to 80 kg lean meat
20 to 25 kg fat
Characteristic seasoning formula per 1 kg
20.0 g salt
11.0 g spice mixture containing 4 parts ground pepper,
2 parts chili powder, 1 part monosodium glutamate,
1 part fresh garlic and 1 part red pepper.
Casings
goat or sheep casings: narrow (16 to 18 mm)
Processing and handling
The fat is run through a 4 mm plate while the meat ingredients are ground through an 8 mm plate of the grinder. An alternative is chopping in the cutter (without previous grinding) and mixing with the spices, salt and ice for 1 to 2 minutes. The mixture is then stuffed into animal casings.
Merguez sausages are twisted at regular intervals, producing links of 4 to 7 cm lengths.
