SAUSAGES

DEFINITION OF SAUSAGES

Any mixture stuffed into a casing (traditionally the large or small intestines of domestic animals) is known as a sausage.

Sausage is any meat that has been comminuted and seasoned.

While sausages are some times made with chicken or real white fish or shellfish sausages are a gastronomic conceit often based on luxury ingredients such as lobster or sea scallops . They usually take the form of fish mousselines stuffed in a casing .

Both the delicate bondin blance of France , made from pork , chicken or real and sometimes eggs and cream and the heartier bondin noir or German blutwurst made of blood, spices and onions are examples of semi cooked.

The distinctive French andouille made of Pig’s intestines stuffed one inside the other combines smoking , drying and cooking in its fabrication.

TYPES OF SAUSAGES

As per USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) specifications:

  • Binders and Extenders must be prominently labeled.
  • The finished products will contain no more than 3.5% of these additives.
  • Raw sausages may contain up to, but not more than, 3% water to facilitate chopping, mixing or the dissolving of curing or flavouring ingredients, based on the total ingredients of the formula.
  • Cooked sausages (polish sausages, cotto salami, braunschweigher, etc) May contain no more than 10% added water in the finished product, intended to give the product its characteristic texture.

There are many varieties of sausages:

  1. Fresh sausage
  2. Cooked sausages
  3. Uncooked-smoked sausages
  4. Cooked-smoked sausages
  5. Dry and/or semi-dry sausages

COMPONENTS OF SAUSAGES

MEAT INGREDIENTS:

—Lean meat: Pork & Beef

—Fatty meat: Jowl fat is mostly used.

—Variety meat: Heart, Kidney, liver, Tongue etc.

NON-MEAT INGREDIENTS: 

—Water

—Curing agents: Sodium Nitrate & Sodium Nitrite

—Curing accelerators: Ascorbic acid, Citric Acid etc.

—Sensory enhancers: Salt, Colour,  Flavorings, sweeteners, Bacterial cultures, enzymes, phosphates etc.

—Stability enhancers: Already found in curing agents (Antioxidants & Antimicrobials)

Extenders & Binders: Animal/Fermentation/Cereal based