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P R 0 C t ” S S I N G OF E R Y A N D S E M I D R Y SAUSAGES

W I L L I A M J. SHANNON

M E A T I N D U S T R Y C O N S U L T A N T O M A H A . N E B R A S K A

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When we consider the t o t a l subject of sausage o r dry sausage and semidry sausage we have, of course, t o go back to Europe where sausages of t h i s type primarily developed. And as you know, when you go in to I t a l y you have a hot climate and there we have sausages which were pr imari ly of the dry category. They were made i n order t o preserve the food and of course the basis of these was ra ther elementary-low moisture, high sal t and i n many cases a reduction i n pH t o the point where product would keep without any r e f r ige ra t ion . A s y ~ u move north through Europe you go in to Switzer- land and you f ind d i f f e r e n t types of sausages being made. Here again i t ’ s in t e re s t ing t h a t we do have a typ ica l dry sausage and i n some cases t h i s sausage i s made by d o i n g it high i n the Alps which is qui te i n t e re s t ing and w a s the method of preserving foo3 i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r s t r i p of country. A s we go in to Germany we f ind the sumner sausages and as you know, they were made i n the winter with the thought i n mind t h a t they would keep f a i r l y wel l and would be cansumed diiring the sum-er period. We c a l l these summer sausages, thuringer , etc. These sausages keep pr imari ly because of the re- duction i n pH of the meat mass, and a f a i r l y high s a l t content. When we consider the raw materials t h a t a r e avai lable t o us i n sausage making we can go to p rac t i ca l ly any source of lean meat and the f a t i s usual ly t h a t of pork. A s you know, i n %he New York City area we had a l i t t l e trouble with people bringing 3orse meat i n and label ing it as b u l l meat. We had people i n New York Laking saL4sage out o f this meat 60 the l i m i t s as f a r as red meat or l ean meats a re concerned a r e qui te wide. You can make it out of horse meat, donkey meat i f you vieh to and almost anything e l se I suppose i f it i s ava i lab le . Cur government, of course, helps us s t ay i n l i n e and we have a good supply of beef and a good supply of pork. We don’t have the problems t h a t s3me of the a t h e r people have.

I thought it might be in te res t ing t o t e l l you how we make dry I think by ta lk ing t o you i n t h i s way I can give you some of the sausage.

problems t h a t w i l l help you understand where we a r e . In the f i rs t place, there i s very l i t t l e technical information avai lable t o us . In the semidry sausage, where our products keep ‘Zecause of pE we have had some good work performed by the American Keat I n s t i t u t e Foundation i n the development of a s t a r t e r cul ture which we mix i n with the trimmings to give us an ear ly beginning of the correct type of bac te r ia , and the correct drop i n pH. Not everyone uses the s t a r t e r cul ture i n t h e i r sausage making. Ma,ny of our p lan ts s t i l l r e ly on the normal presence of the desirable bac ter ia i n meat. One point t h a t I s t r e s s with sausage makers around the world i s r e a l simple and t h a t i s t h a t you cannot make good sausage out of meat t h a t i s e i t h e r old or has a high b a c t e r i a l load o r has a de f in i t e chemical age a f t e r slaughtering. In ta lk ing i n Europe, and t h i s i s an in te res t ing l i t t l e s ide- l i n e t h a t shows you how things happen, I am working i n Germany, Switzerland and I t a l y . I am I r i s h and here I a m i n the United S ta tes ta lk ing sausage

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making t o the people t h a t s t a r t e d it a l l . f u r t h e r ahead i n technical problems. In ta lking i n Germany, f o r example, with the sausage makers there , they t e l l us that i f you a re going to make good dry sausage the meat should be t h a t of a sow t h a t has had a t l e a s t seven l i t t e r s of pigs . In other words, they want the older meat, the more mature meat f o r t he manufacture of sausage. So we have t o keep i n mind t h a t the b a c t e r i a l load must be very low i n the beginning r a w materia1,the chemi- ca l age from the standpoint of possible rancidi ty must a l so be controlled.

That i s because we are a l i t t l e

In the making o f sausage we prefer t o use the c u t t e r method. The c u t t e r i s a piece o f equipment of varying capacity. The bowl ro ta tes and a t the same time the bowl ro ta tes we have very sharp knives t h a t ro t a t e which a re f i t t e d very t i g h t l y t o the bowl t o give us a very sharp cu t t ing of the meat. Now the important thing i n drying sausage i s t h a t the pieces of meat be reduced t o d i sc re t e p a r t i c l e s i z e without the smearing of the f a t across the lean . So i n our cu t t ing operations we control the tempera- ture so that our meat mass i s about 26 t o 28 degrees. We a re using German cu t t e r s and of course cu t t e r s that a re made i n t h i s country. The German cu t t e r s do a very excel lent job. stead of the la rge number t h a t we use i n the emulsion type product and our chopping cycle is controlled r ig id ly by e i t h e r a revolution counting o r by time. And again the important thing is the reduction of the meat t o the desired s i z e without the smearing of f a t . is normally put in a t the very l as t p a r t of the chopping cycle. This i s i n d i r e c t opposition t o the manner i n which we make emulsion type sausage. We do not want t o have any extract ion of t he actomyosin from the lean meat i n the manufacture of the dry sausage. We want t o minimize what we would c a l l the charac te r i s t ic bind o f an emulsion type sausage. After the meat has been removed from the c u t t e r we prefer today, and t h i s i s in contrast with the way many people a r e doing it, w e p refer now t o s t u f f the meat d i r e c t l y in to the su i tab le natural o r animal casing o r i n the new synthet ic casings t h a t a r e being used. We a r e using a casing i n Germany, f o r ex- ample, which has a high amount of s i l k f i b e r i n it which seems t o give us b e t t e r drying. mize the smearing of the fa t over the lean. which i s a s t u f f e r which employs a semi-vacuum type pr inc ip le t h a t works qui te well . The pis ton type s tu f f e r s t h a t we have i n the p lan ts a r e a l so very good. The important thing again is the temperature of the meat which has t o be qui te cold, down t o 26 t o 28 degrees. makers today, who w i l l take t h i s mass of meat and spread it in to pans t o a depth of about 4 inches and they age the meat i n aging pans.

We run them usual ly with three knives in-

And the seasoning, by the way,

The type o f s t u f f e r used should be one t h a t tends t o mini- We a r e using the V made s t u f f e r

You can s t i l l f ind sausage

Now we a r e going away from t h i s because we a r e finding too much We o f a bacter iological contamination when we go through t h i s procedure.

prefer , therefore , t o s tu f f i n to su i tab le casings. This depends on diame- t e r , market and a l l the r e s t o f it. Then the product i s moved in to the f i rs t s tage of fermentation. We have a very excel lent sausage smokehouse which comes from John Kraus. One of the c l i e n t s i n New York has a smoke- house and he is s e l l i n g them i n t h i s country. It i s a very excel lent piece of equipment. They have excel lent refr igerat ion; the r e l a t ive humidity can be controlled very, very accurately as can the temperature.

In making sausage on t h i s pa r t i cu la r type of equipment, we s e t t he temperature a t 68 degrees F. with a r e l a t ive humidity of 95 percent.

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We hold the sausage with about f i v e a i r changes pe r minute and we hold the sausage a t t h i s very high humidity and the temperature i s 68' f o r a period of 24 hodrs. A t the end of 24 hours we begin a l i g h t cold smoke and we continue t o hold the sausage a t 68 r e l a t ive humidity, qu i te high, f o r a period of approximately 6 days. This i s a procedure when not using the s t a r t e r cu l ture . After the sausage has been i n the aging room or green room a color w i l l develop. We usual ly cut the sausage and see how the color has held up. If the color i s good, looks br ight , e t c . , our chemical reactions a r e going along; the pH i s dropping and the color development due t o the react ion of the n i t r i t e with the opy-hemoglobin is progressing qu i t e s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . The sausage i s then moved t o the drying room o r the drying area and we hold the drying room very closely t o 53 t o 55' F. with a r e l a - t i v e humidity of 80 t o 82 percent. The sausage i s l e f t i n t h i s drying chamber f o r a period of three days t o several weeks if necessary, depending upon the type of sausage tha t we a r e making. This w i l l give us a character- i s t i c dry type sausage. If we take it out i n three days we can have the semidry, l i k e thuringer and summer sausage.

One of the c r i t i c a l points t h a t we have i n the United S ta tes which is d i f f e ren t from i n Europe i s the problem with t r i ch ina . Our pork i s not f r e e from the t r ich ina pa ras i t e and therefore, our processors have t o take t h i s into consideration. We recommend i n the smaller operations t h a t we use c e r t i f i e d pork which has been held under re f r igera t ion f o r a prescribed number of days a t a prescribed temperature to k i l l the Faras i tes . We pre- f e r t h i s method t o following the longer drying cycle o r t o use the heating up t o over 137'. semidry sausages, we have many places where we do not use c e r t i f i e d pork and we do br ing the temperature up t o 142' F. in the f inished product.

In the case of thuringer i n summer sausage, which a r e

J u s t a quick discussion c f how we make some of these products. When we go in to Europe and look f o r qua l i ty sausage we f ind t h a t the No. 1 product, the bes t product manufactured i n Europe, i s primarily pure pork. The No. 2 dry sausages a r e pork and beef. When we come t o the United S ta tes , we have a va r i e ty of sausages depending upon where you a r e . In Pennsylvania you a r e dealing with the charac te r i s t ic pure beef type sausage t h a t i s handled i n a similar xanner. You ge t out i n the Northwest and you f i n d someone who wants t o hunt deer and the next thing you know he i s making some dry sausage by mixiDg i n some pork bu t t s and things l i k e t h i s and cold smoking it, allowing it t o stand f o r a number of days with high s a l t con- cent ra t ion . We have had some trouble with the home sausage makers where they have decided t o make t h e i r own sausages because they apparently a r e not aware of the need f o r k i l l i n g the t r ich ina pa ras i t e . We have had some trouble i n Wisconsin a s well as o ther pa r t s of the United S ta tes with home made sausage. Now I could stand here and t a l k t o you f o r qu i te some time about the va r i e ty of sausages we a r e making. Eut I would p re fe r not t o do t h a t and would l i k e to leave it more o r l e s s t h i s way - t h a t the f i e l d of dry sausage i s an in te res t ing one; i t ' s one i n which there i s l i t t l e in- formation ava i lab le . You can read the technical journals and you w i l l f i nd very l i t t l e information. The people here i n the United S ta tes , and we have people here i n the audience whose companies do make good dry sausage, usual ly f e e l t h a t t h e i r methods and procedures a r e highly sec re t and they a r e not made ava i lab le . I ge t accused of simplifying sausage raking because I t e l l you the manufacture of dry sausage i s a simple procedure, and it i s . A l l you have to do i s control ycur bacter iologic p ic ture , control the a i r

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movement, the r e l a t ive humidity, the temperature i n the product and you have no t rouble . And, of course, I wish it were t h a t simple.

We go t o the west coast and in to San Francisco, the one c i t y i n the United S ta tes where the consumption of dry sausage is very high. f i nd another pecul iar thing out there is t h a t you must have a mold growth on the outs ide of the dry sausage o r you can ' t s e l l it. This mold t h a t develops is a pecul ia r mold; i t ' s very white and gives the sausage a pecul ia r appearance; bu t t h i s i s necessary on the w e s t coast . If you move t o Europe, f o r example, you w i l l f i nd a var ie ty of sausages depending upon the area you are in . Seasoning i s very bland; i n most cases much blander ac tua l ly than we have i n the United S ta tes .

We

D r y sausage i s coming back i n t h i s country; we are making more It was replaced here f o r a while with the emphasis on of it every year .

rapid turnover and automation. ou t t h a t dry sausage is a wonderful thing t o e a t . York and Chicago and many of our c i t i e s ; you w i l l f i nd the delicatessens a r e s t a r t i n g up again and we a r e handling r e a l good dry sausage and r ea l good semidry sausage. have been consuming weiners and bologna t h a t we over-emulsified and over- simplified and over-automated t o the point where it i s hardly possible t o recognize them from the o r ig ina l meat with which we s t a r t ed . I heard it might be a l r i g h t t o have discussions and questions a t t h i s time.

People a r e going back once more f inding So you can go t o New

It i s qui te a t r e a t t o have these products when you

NEIL WEBB: I would l i k e t o open t h i s very in te res t ing discussion f o r questions a t t h i s time. I have one o r two, but I would l i k e t o open it f o r you f irst . Anyone have any questions?

G. H. WELLINGTON, Cornell: Dr. Shannon, j u s t thinking very general ly now, we of ten say t h a t there is l i t t l e s c i e n t i f i c information avai lable on these processes i n sausage making and pa r t i cu la r ly i n d r y sausages, I a m wondering, s t i l l i n general terms, if you would want t o express your opinion as t o which d i rec t ion we would be most productive in di rec t ing our research on dry sausages.

WILLIAM SHANNON: I would say t h a t one place where w e i n t h i s country a re def ic ien t is the understanding of the chem- i s t r y t h a t is going on; the changes in pH that we a r e running in to , and the influence of the pH in the animal t h a t i s being used t o manufacture sausage. In the company I am working with i n Germany, f o r example, we measure the pH of every hog. Every s ingle hog comes by and they check the pH of the ham and separate out the animals with the lower pH a s being the most i dea l f o r the manufacture of dry sausage o r the manufacture of Westphalian ham. i s bas i ca l ly t h i s , t h a t as the pH drops i n the drying cycle, you a r e beginning t o approach the i so-e lec t r ic point of protein which is down around 5.4 o r 5.5. A t that point the sausage meat

Now the important thing i n good drying, as you people know,

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gives up i t s moisture most readi ly and i n a good drying operation you have t o dry f r o m the inside outward. I t ' s i n t h i s area of the chemistry of drying that there i s l i t t l e information avai lable t o us . I w a s fascinated i n Germany t o rea l ize the emphasis which they are placing on pH of the various meats used i n sausage making and we set up a research pro jec t on j u s t t h i s last January, which we a re going t o run f o r a period of one year and the influence of breed of hog and pH of meat on the f inished Westphalian ham as well a s the qua l i t y of t he dry sausage we a r e ge t t ing . So t h i s is an area which I think could be very productive. The o ther one would be from the mechanical engineering standpoint and tha t is a b e t t e r understanding of the a i r movement, r e l a t ive humidity and temperature control i n our smokehouse. The g rea t e s t development we have had i n our t o t a l meat processing industry in the l a s t f i v e years has been improved smokehouses t h a t have been brought ou t , where we have a i r changes now as high as 15 times a minute with tremendous a i r ve loc i ty and very, very high heat capaci t ies . This area, of course, is qui te in te res t ing t o us .

We have some people doing work studying the pH of meat.

NEIL WEBB: Are there any other questions?

DR. BRATZLER, Michigan S ta t e : Do the Germans object t o the pork with the low pH and s o f t watery pork?

W I L L I A M SHANNON: The hogs t h a t we a re using i n Germany a re not the cha rac t e r i s t i c watery s o f t pork t h a t we f ind i n cer- t a i n areas o f Denmark. The low pH seems t o give us the bes t product. Where we have, take ham f o r example, t h a t f a i l t o dry properly f o r some reason, the pH has stayed high. In o ther words, the pH i s around 6, f o r example, i n the o r ig ina l meat. We have a cut off point of 6. put i n to Westphalian hams o r dry sausage and t h i s apparently is i n l i n e with some work being done i n Germany. pork, I can say I have not run in to very much i n Germany o r i n Switzerland.

In other words, anything over 6 we w i l l not

But of the watery

NEIL WEBB: Any other questions? Yes Fred.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: D r y sausage, i n my opinion, i s the most d i f f i c u l t thing t o make and t h a t i s why it i s so sec re t . After 16 months of work I don ' t think we would t e l l anybody how we make it because there was a l o t of money involved and I think B i l l knows you c a n ' t do it overnight. It i s easy t o say a i r change and humidity but there seems t o be a l o t of things and nobody knows why they work. bu t it might take you years t o h i t it t h a t way.

Final ly you j u s t h i t it l i k e t h a t

W I L L I A M SHANNON: I could add t o t h a t , because I re- member s t a r t i n g out about 20 years ago and decided to make thuringer. Now thuringer i s r ea l ly easy to make. There's nothing t o it, believe me; bu t the only t rouble was t h a t w e couldn't do it. So we f i n a l l y ended up buying an old p lan t i n Chicago t h a t was i n the Union Stock Yard area known as the Double 0 Sausage

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Plant. I don ' t know whether i t was imagination o r whether we cross seeded and got the r igh t cul ture going by accident. But there i s a l o t , too, t o the dry sausage operation and the people who are making it a success wouldn't believe me. are doing. The reason f o r t h a t is frequently t h a t they a re not qu i te sure themselves.

We went down there t o f ind out how t o make thuringer.

Now I w i l l t e l l you what they

NEIL WEBB: Anyone e l s e have a question? I think i n the i n t e r e s t of time I would l i k e t o turn t h i s over t o Bob a t t h i s point .

ROBERT SAFFLE: Thank you, D r . Shannon f o r t h i s very f i n e session. (Applause) Our four th area is e n t i t l e d Adjust- ments, Weights, and Ratios i n B t a Analyses. This cer ta in ly has some bear- ing on the committee on processing, it perhaps has more bearing on carcass evaluation, however. As we worked out the time schedule w e f e l t t h a t t h i s was the bes t s l o t t o put t h i s pa r t i cu la r subject i n . So without addi t ional information w e w i l l ask Charles Henderson, Professor of Animal Science with a spec ia l iza t ion i n animal breeding and population genetics, t o present t h i s information, We have Ralph Boulware from Louisiana S ta te University t o lead the discussion.

Thank you Neil and B i l l .

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