Processing of Dry and Semidry Sausages

Processing of Dry and Semidry Sausages

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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 YC O N S U L T A N T
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When we consider t h e t o t a l s u b j e c t of sausage o r d r y sausage and
semidry sausage we have, of course, t o go back t o Europe where sausages of
t h i s type primarily developed. And as you know, when you go i n t o I t a l y you
have a hot climate and t h e r e we have sausages which were p r i m a r i l y of t h e
d r y category. They were made i n o r d e r t o preserve t h e food and of course
t h e basis o f these was r a t h e r elementary-low moisture, high s a l t and i n
many cases a reduction i n pH t o the p o i n t where product would keep without
move north through Europe you go i n t o Switzerany r e f r i g e r a t i o n . A s y ~ u
land and you f i n d d i f f e r e n t types of sausages being made. Here again i t ’ s
i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t we do have a t y p i c a 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 t h e Alps which i s q u i t e i n t e r e s t i n g
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 i n t o Germany we f i n d the sumner sausages and a s 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
w e l l and would be cansumed diiring the sum-er period. We c a l l these summer
sausages, t h u r i n g e r , etc. These sausages keep p r i m a r i l y because of the reduction i n pH of the meat mass, and a f a i r l y high s a l t content. When we
consider t h e raw materials t h a t a r e a v a i l a b l e t o us i n sausage making we
can go t o p r a c t i c a l l y any source of l e a n meat and t h e f a t i s u s u a l l y t h a t
of pork. A s you know, i n %he New York C i t y area we had a l i t t l e trouble
with people bringing 3 o r s e meat i n and l a b e l i n g it as b u l l meat. We had
people i n New York Laking saL4sageout o f t h i s meat 60 t h e l i m i t s as f a r as
red meat or l e a n meats a r e concerned a r e q u i t e wide. You can make it o u t
of horse meat, donkey meat i f you vieh t o and almost anything e l s e I suppose
i f it i s a v a i l a b l e . Cur government, of course, helps u s s t a y i n l i n e and
we have a good supply of beef and a good supply of pork. We don’t have t h e
problems t h a t s3me of the a t h e r people have.
I thought it might be i n t e r e s t i n g t o t e l l you how we make dry
sausage. I t h i n k by t a l k i n g t o you i n t h i s way I can give you some of t h e
problems t h a t w i l l help you understand where we a r e . I n the f i r s t place,
t h e r e i s very l i t t l e technical information a v a i l a b l e t o u s . I n t h e semidry
sausage, where o u r 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 t h e development o f
a s t a r t e r c u l t u r e which we mix i n with the trimmings t o give us an e a r l y
beginning of the c o r r e c t type of b a c t e r i a , and t h e c o r r e c t drop i n pH. Not
everyone uses the s t a r t e r c u l t u r e i n t h e i r sausage making. Ma,ny of o u r
p l a n t s s t i l l r e l y on t h e normal presence o f the d e s i r a b l e b a c t e r i a i n meat.
One p o i n t 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
o l d or h a s a high b a c t e r i a l load o r has a d e f i n i t e chemical age a f t e r
slaughtering. In t a l k i n g i n Europe, and t h i s i s an i n t e r e s t i n g l i t t l e s i d e 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 t a t e s t a l k i n g sausage
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making t o t h e people t h a t s t a r t e d it a l l . That i s because we a r e a l i t t l e
f u r t h e r ahead i n t e c h n i c a l problems. I n t a l k i n g i n Germany, f o r example,
with the sausage makers t h e r e , they t e l l u s that i f you a r e going t o make
good dry sausage t h e 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 p i g s . I n o t h e r words, they want t h e o l d e r meat, t h e more
mature meat f o r t h e manufacture of sausage. So we have t o keep i n mind t h a t
t h e b a c t e r i a l l o a d must be very low i n t h e beginning r a w materia1,the chemic a l age from t h e standpoint of possible r a n c i d i t y must a l s o be controlled.
In t h e making o f sausage we p r e f e r 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 r o t a t e s and
a t t h e same time t h e bowl r o t a t e s we have very sharp knives t h a t r o t a t e
which a r e f i t t e d very t i g h t l y t o t h e bowl t o give us a very sharp c u t t i n g
of t h e meat. Now t h e important thing i n drying sausage i s t h a t t h e pieces
of meat be reduced t o d i s c r e t e p a r t i c l e s i z e without t h e smearing of t h e
f a t across the l e a n . So i n our c u t t i n g operations we control t h e temperature so t h a t o u r meat mass i s about 26 t o 28 degrees. W
e a r e using German
c u t t e r s and of course c u t t e r s t h a t a r e made i n t h i s country. The German
c u t t e r s do a very e x c e l l e n t job. We run them u s u a l l y with three knives i n stead of t h e l a r g e number t h a t we use i n t h e emulsion type product and our
chopping cycle i s controlled r i g i d l y by e i t h e r a revolution counting o r by
time. And again the important thing i s t h e reduction of t h e meat t o the
d e s i r e d s i z e without the smearing of f a t . And t h e seasoning, by t h e way,
i s normally put in a t t h e very l a s t p a r t of t h e chopping cycle. This i s
i n d i r e c t opposition t o t h e manner i n which we make emulsion type sausage.
We do not want t o have any e x t r a c t i o n of t h e actomyosin from t h e l e a n meat
i n the manufacture of t h e dry sausage. We want t o minimize what we would
c a l l t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c bind o f an emulsion type sausage. A f t e r t h e meat
has been removed from t h e c u t t e r we p r e f e r today, and t h i s i s i n c o n t r a s t
with t h e way many people a r e doing it, w e p r e f e r now t o s t u f f the meat
d i r e c t l y i n t o the s u i t a b l e n a t u r a l o r animal casing o r i n the new s y n t h e t i c
casings t h a t a r e being used. We a r e using a casing i n Germany, f o r example, 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. The type o f s t u f f e r used should be one t h a t tends t o minimize t h e smearing of t h e f a t over t h e l e a n . We a r e using the V made s t u f f e r
which i s a s t u f f e r which employs a semi-vacuum type p r i n c i p l e t h a t works
q u i t e well. The p i s t o n type s t u f f e r s t h a t we have i n the p l a n t s a r e a l s o
very good. The important thing again i s t h e temperature of t h e meat which
has t o be q u i t e cold, down t o 26 t o 28 degrees. You can s t i l l f i n d sausage
makers today, who w i l l take t h i s mass of meat and spread it i n t o pans t o a
depth of about 4 inches and they age t h e meat i n aging pans.
Now we a r e going away from t h i s because we a r e finding too much
o f a b a c t e r i o l o g i c a l contamination when we go through t h i s procedure. We
p r e f e r , t h e r e f o r e , t o s t u f f i n t o s u i t a b l e casings. This depends on diamet e r , market and a l l t h e r e s t o f i t . Then t h e product i s moved i n t o the
f i r s t s t a g e of fermentation. W
e have a very e x c e l l e n t sausage smokehouse
which comes from John Kraus. One of t h e c l i e n t s i n New York has a smokehouse and he i s s e l l i n g them i n t h i s country. It i s a very e x c e l l e n t piece
o f equipment. They have e x c e l l e n t r e f r i g e r a t i o n ; t h e r e l a t i v e humidity can
be controlled very, very accurately as can t h e temperature.
In making sausage on t h i s p a r t i c u l a r type of equipment, we s e t
t h e temperature a t 68 degrees F. with a r e l a t i v e humidity of 95 percent.
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We hold the sausage with about f i v e a i r changes p e r minute and we hold t h e
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 t h e sausage a t 68 r e l a t i v e humidity, q u i t e 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 c u l t u r e . A f t e r t h e sausage has been i n the aging room or green
room a c o l o r w i l l develop. We u s u a l l y c u t the sausage and s e e how t h e
c o l o r has held up. If the c o l o r i s good, looks b r i g h t , e t c . , our chemical
reactions a r e going along; t h e pH i s dropping and the c o l o r development due
t o t h e r e a c t i o n of t h e n i t r i t e with t h e opy-hemoglobin i s progressing q u 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
a r e a and we hold the drying room very c l o s e l y 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 t h r e e days t o s e v e r a l weeks if necessary, depending
upon the type of sausage t h a t we a r e making. This w i l l give u s a characteri s t i c d r y type sausage. If we take it out i n t h r e e days we can have the
semidry, l i k e t h u r i n g e r and summer sausage.
One of the c r i t i c a l p o i n t s t h a t we have i n the United S t a t e s which
i s d i f f e r e n t from i n Europe i s t h e problem with t r i c h i n a . Our pork i s not
f r e e from t h e t r i c h i n a p a r a s i t e and therefore, o u r processors have t o take
t h i s i n t o 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 r e f r i g e r a t i o n f o r a prescribed
number of days a t a prescribed temperature t o k i l l t h e F a r a s i t e s . We pref e r t h i s method t o following t h e longer drying cycle o r t o use t h e heating
In the case of thuringer i n summer sausage, which a r e
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 b r i n g t h e temperature up t o 142' F. in the f i n i s h e d product.
J u s t a quick discussion c f how we make some of these products.
When we go i n t o Europe and look f o r q u a l i t y sausage we f i n d t h a t the No. 1
product, t h e b e s 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 t h e United S t a t e s ,
we have a v a r i e t y of sausages depending upon where you a r e . I n Pennsylvania
you a r e dealing with the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c pure beef type sausage t h a t i s
handled i n a similar xanner. You g e t o u t i n t h e 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 b u t t s and things l i k e t h i s and cold
smoking i t , allowing it t o stand f o r a number of days with high s a l t conc e n t r a t i o n . We have had some trouble with t h e 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 i c h i n a p a r a s i t e . We have had some
trouble i n Wisconsin a s well as o t h e r p a r t s of the United S t a t e s with home
made sausage. Now I could stand here and t a l k t o you f o r q u i t e some time
about t h e v a r i e t y of sausages we a r e making. Eut I would p r e f e r not t o do
t h a t and would l i k e t o 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
d r y sausage i s an i n t e r e s t i n g one; i t ' s one i n which t h e r e i s l i t t l e i n formation a v a i l a b l e . You can read the t e c h n i c a l journals and you w i l l f i n d
very l i t t l e information. The people here i n the United S t a t e s , and we have
people here i n t h e audience whose companies do make good dry sausage,
u s u a l l y f e e l t h a t t h e i r methods and procedures a r e highly s e c r e t and they
a r e not made a v a i l a b l e . I g e t accused of simplifying sausage raking because
I t e l l you t h e manufacture of dry sausage i s a simple procedure, and it i s .
A l l you have t o do i s c o n t r o l ycur b a c t e r i o l o g i c p i c t u r e , c o n t r o l the a i r
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movement, the r e l a t i v e humidity, t h e temperature i n t h e product and you have
no t r o u b l e . And, o f course, I wish it were t h a t simple.
We go t o t h e west coast and i n t o San Francisco, t h e one c i t y i n
t h e United S t a t e s where t h e consumption of dry sausage i s very high. We
f i n d another p e c u l i a r t h i n g o u t t h e r e is t h a t you must have a mold growth
on t h e o u t s i d e of the dry sausage o r you c a n ' t s e l l i t . This mold t h a t
develops i s a p e c u l i a r mold; i t ' s very white and gives t h e sausage a
p e c u l i a r appearance; b u t t h i s i s necessary on t h e w e s t c o a s t . If you move
t o Europe, f o r example, you w i l l f i n d a v a r i e t y of sausages depending upon
t h e a r e a you are i n . Seasoning i s very bland; i n most cases much blander
a c t u a l l y than we have i n t h e United S t a t e s .
D r y sausage i s coming back i n t h i s country; we are making more
of it every y e a r . It was replaced here f o r a while with t h e emphasis on
rapid turnover and automation. People a r e going back once more f i n d i n g
o u t t h a t dry sausage i s a wonderful thing t o e a t . So you can go t o New
York and Chicago and many of our c i t i e s ; you w i l l f i n d t h e 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 e a l
good semidry sausage. It i s q u i t e a t r e a t t o have these products when you
have been consuming weiners and bologna t h a t we over-emulsified and oversimplified and over-automated t o t h e point where it i s hardly possible t o
recognize them from t h e o r i g i n a l meat with which we s t a r t e d . 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.
NEIL WEBB: I would l i k e t o open t h i s very i n t e r e s t i n g
discussion f o r questions a t t h i s time. I have one o r two, b u t I
would l i k e t o open it f o r you f i r s t . Anyone have any questions?
G. H. WELLINGTON, Cornell: Dr. Shannon, j u s t thinking
very g e n e r a l l y now, we o f t e n say t h a t t h e r e i s l i t t l e s c i e n t i f i c
information a v a i l a b l e on these processes i n sausage making and
p a r t i c u l a r l y i n d r y sausages, I a m wondering, s t i l l i n general
terms, i f you would want t o express your opinion as t o which
d i r e c t i o n we would be most productive in d i r e c t i n g 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 r e d e f i c i e n t i s t h e understanding of t h e chemi s t r y t h a t i s going on; t h e changes in pH that we a r e running
i n t o , and t h e influence of the pH in t h e 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 t h e pH of every hog. Every
s i n g l e hog comes by and they check t h e pH of t h e ham and separate
o u t t h e animals with the lower pH a s being t h e most i d e a l f o r
t h e manufacture of dry sausage o r t h e manufacture of Westphalian
ham. Now t h e important thing i n good drying, as you people know,
i s b a s i c a l l y t h i s , t h a t as t h e pH drops i n t h e drying cycle,
you a r e beginning t o approach the i s o - e l e c t r i c point of p r o t e i n
which i s down around 5.4 o r 5.5. A t that point t h e sausage meat
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gives up i t s moisture most r e a d i l y and i n a good drying operation
you have t o dry f r o m the i n s i d e outward. I t ' s i n t h i s a r e a of
t h e chemistry of drying that t h e r e i s l i t t l e information a v a i l a b l e
to us. W
e have some people doing work studying t h e pH of meat.
I w a s f a s c i n a t e d i n Germany t o r e a l i z e the emphasis which they
are placing on pH of the various meats used i n sausage making
and we s e t up a research p r o j e c t on j u s t t h i s last January, which
we a r e going t o run f o r a period of one y e a r and t h e influence of
breed of hog and pH of meat on t h e f i n i s h e d Westphalian ham a s
well a s the q u a l i t y of t h e dry sausage we a r e g e t t i n g . So t h i s
i s an area which I think could be very productive. The o t h e r one
would be from t h e mechanical engineering standpoint and t h a t i s
a b e t t e r understanding of t h e a i r movement, r e l a t i v e humidity and
temperature c o n t r o l i n o u r smokehouse. The g r e a t e s t development
we have had i n o u r t o t a l meat processing industry i n the l a s t f i v e
years has been improved smokehouses t h a t have been brought o u t ,
where we have a i r changes now as high as 15 times a minute with
tremendous a i r v e l o c i t y and very, very high heat c a p a c i t i e s .
This a r e a , of course, i s q u i t e i n t e r e s t i n g t o u s .
NEIL WEBB:
Are t h e r e any o t h e r questions?
DR. BRATZLER, Michigan S t a t e : Do t h e Germans o b j e c t
t o t h e pork with t h e 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 r e using i n Germany
a r e not t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c watery s o f t pork t h a t we f i n d i n cert a i n areas o f Denmark. The low pH seems t o give us t h e b e s 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, t h e pH has stayed high. In o t h e r words,
t h e pH i s around 6, f o r example, i n t h e o r i g i n a l meat. We have a
c u t off p o i n t of 6. In o t h e r words, anything over 6 we w i l l not
put i n t o Westphalian hams o r dry sausage and t h i s apparently i s
i n l i n e with some work being done i n Germany. B u t of t h e watery
pork, I can say I have not run i n t o very much i n Germany o r i n
Switzerland.
NEIL WEBB:
Any o t h e r questions? Yes Fred.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: D r y sausage, i n my opinion, i s
t h e 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 s e c r e t .
After 16 months of work I d o n ' t think we would t e l l anybody how
we make it because t h e r e 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 s a y a i r
change and humidity b u t t h e r e seems t o be a l o t of things and
nobody knows why they work. F i n a l l y you j u s t h i t it l i k e t h a t
b u t it might take you years t o h i t it t h a t way.
W I L L I A M SHANNON: I could add t o t h a t , because I remember s t a r t i n g out about 20 years ago and decided t o make
thuringer. Now thuringer i s r e a l l y easy t o make. There's nothing
t o it, believe me; b u t t h e only t r o u b l e was t h a t w e couldn't do
i t . So we f i n a l l y ended up buying an o l d p l a n t i n Chicago t h a t
was i n t h e Union Stock Yard area known as t h e Double 0 Sausage
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Plant. We went down t h e r e t o f i n d o u t how t o make thuringer. I
d o n ' t know whether i t was imagination o r whether we cross seeded
and got t h e r i g h t c u l t u r e going by accident. But t h e r e i s a l o t ,
too, t o the dry sausage operation and t h e people who are making
it a success wouldn't believe me. Now I w i l l t e l l you what they
are doing. The reason f o r t h a t is frequently t h a t they a r e not
q u i t e sure themselves.
NEIL WEBB: Anyone e l s e have a question? I t h i n k i n
the i n t e r e s t of time I would l i k e t o t u r n 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) Thank you Neil and B i l l . Our f o u r t h a r e a i s e n t i t l e d Adjustments, Weights, and Ratios i n B t a Analyses. This c e r t a i n l y has some bearing on t h e committee on processing, it perhaps has more bearing on carcass
evaluation, however. A s we worked out the time schedule w e f e l t t h a t t h i s
was t h e b e s t s l o t t o put t h i s p a r t i c u l a r s u b j e c t i n . So without a d d i t i o n a l
information w e w i l l a s k Charles Henderson, Professor of Animal Science with
a s p e c i a l i z a t i o n i n animal breeding and population genetics, t o present
t h i s information, We have Ralph Boulware from Louisiana S t a t e University
t o l e a d the discussion.
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