Handbook of Meat Processing

Cooked Sausages 319

such factors as the proportion of the ingredi-

ent in the formulation, added water and fat

levels, other ingredients, salt content, whether

or not phosphates are added, and freeze

storage of assortments, in addition to the

natural variation of a biological material

(Pouttu and Puolanne 2005 ). Therefore,

certain safety margins for water/fat holding

must always be used. Regardless, the quality,

indicated as desired fi rmness rather than

water/fat - holding, is usually the most critical

characteristic.

Comminution

The main determinant of structure in sau-

sages is the extent of comminution, that is,

the size of the meat particles in batter. The

batter is prepared by chopping with a bowl

cutter (Fig. 17.3 ) or by an emulsifi er - type

continuously working cutter (Fig. 17.4 ). The

phrase “ emulsion ” is incorrect in this context,

as there is not a liquid - liquid situation; actu-

ally, the batter structure is a “ suspension, ” a

mixture of protein particles and solid fat par-

ticles that are dispersed in a continuous water

phase with solubilized protein. The particle

size varies from coarsely ground (kidney

blade) to fi nely comminuted batter. These are

not regarded as sausages in all cases, although

dynamic linear programming, in which the
availability of assortments and their daily
prices are used as variables, and the detailed
chemical composition of the product is fi xed.
The optimal target function is that the end -
product price will be minimized.
When linear programming is used, there
are also technological limitations involved.
Within the set chemical composition, the
batter should hold all the formulation water
and fat and maintain fi rmness within the
acceptable limits. Usually, the bind values
have been determined using meat, fat, and
water mixtures. Since Hansen (1960) pre-
sented the emulsion hypothesis for fi nely
chopped cooked sausages, salt - solubilized
protein content and the emulsifying capacity
of proteins have been used as technolo -
gical traits for meat trimming (Carpenter
and Saffl e 1964 ). The bind value is also
determined by fi rmness (Tuominen and
Honkavaara 1982 ) or by added fat or
water binding using centrifuging or cooking
(Grabowska and Hamm 1978 ). Pouttu and
Puolanne (2005) presented a method to deter-
mine the water - holding capacity of sausage
ingredients in a multicomponent system.
Whatever method is used, it should be kept
in mind that the ingredients do not have a
constant bind value, as it will vary along with

Figure 17.3. Bowl chopper. (Photograph courtesy of Pertti Leino.)