Handbook of Meat Processing

Cooked Sausages 317

product is calculated on the basis of the

actual (varying) fat contents of the assort-

ments. Water (ice) is a substantial ingredient.

It is added at a level of 20% – 30% of the total

weight of the batter.

The ideology of making sausages has

always required a wide range of ingredients

to be added to the sausage. The booklet

compiled by Donald Kinsman (1980) lists a

great variety of different ingredients: meat

from different species, edible byproducts,

milk constituents, vegetables, mushrooms,

cereals, potato starch, and spices are used,

depending on cultural traditions and the

role of sausages in the diet. In some coun-

tries, there are mainly all - meat sausages, and

their prices are higher than average carcass

meat price, but in many other countries, sau-

sages contain lower - quality meats and

nonmeat ingredients as extenders, and those

sausages offer an inexpensive option for

meat consumption.

About a fi fth (salt only) or a third (salt

and phosphates) of salt - soluble myofi brillar

proteins become solubilized (Grabowska

and Hamm 1979 ), and the remaining myofi -

brillar system swells and keeps much of the

water provided by the ingredients and water

added in formulation (Hamm 1972 ). Salt,

content and connective tissue content, which
may or may not be positively correlated.
According to industrial practices, usually fi ve
to ten different assortments (trimmings) are
sorted out from one carcass type. They differ
from each other based on connective tissue
content and/or fat content, starting from
lean meat without thicker connective tissue
membranes, to fat trimmings, in many cases
also containing much connective tissue. This
allows the preparation of a wide range of
different types of sausages just by varying
the relative proportions of different assort-
ments from different animals and carcass
types. When carcasses are deboned, usually
the largest and most valuable muscles (like
loins and rounds) are not included in sausage
assortments but sold as such in raw state or
used in whole - meat products like hams.
The varieties have previously only been
visually sorted, but modern large - scale pro-
duction requires standardized ingredients.
Therefore, batches of assortments are fi rst
coarsely ground, mixed in large blenders, and
the fat content is quickly determined. The fat
content can then be adjusted to the standard
value by adding fat or lean. Alternatively, the
fat content given will be used in dynamic
formulation, and the fat content of the fi nal

Constant

formula

Dynamic

formulation

Analyzing

Homogenizing

Cutting

Pre-blending Blending

Stuffing Chopping

Drying Smoking Cooking Cooling

(Peeling)

Packaging (Slicing)

Consumption

Figure 17.2. Unit operations in the preparation of cooked sausage.