According to the generally accepted definition, a sausage product is a food product made from chopped meat, most often beef and pork, or some types of offal. As auxiliary ingredients, spices and spices, lard, eggs, milk, sugar and so on are usually added.
Thus, the raw materials used may be different. Depending on this, and also in connection with different production technologies, the following types of sausages are distinguished (photo in the text):
- cooked sausage;
- boiled ham;
- sausages and sausages;
- half-smoked and cooked smoked sausages;
- raw smoked sausages;
- smoked meat;
- meat delicacies;
- zelets and pastes.
Each type of sausage and sausage products should be considered separately, since they all deserve attention.
Boiled products
Cooked sausages include products made from well-salted minced meat and cooked at a temperature of about 80 ° C. May contain a significant amount of plant material - soy. They are not subject to long storage, since they have a lot of water.
In general, the technological scheme of manufacturing these products looks like this:
- at the first stage, the meat is crushed on machines specially designed for this;
- then it is subjected to salting and subsequent ripening;
- on special shpigorezki cut bacon;
- they cook directly sausage meat, grinding all the components on special equipment;
- if it is a structureless product, then the workpiece is again subjected to grinding by means of emulsifiers;
- sheaths are filled with prepared meat, using a syringe;
- then there is a heat treatment of the product - cooking;
- finally the product is cooled.
The following types of cooked sausages are distinguished:
- Structural - sausages, on the slice of which you can notice pieces of bacon or meat. Such famous sausages include Stolichnaya, Veal, and others.
- Unstructured - sausages having a uniform consistency. This is one of the most common types of sausages, the names of which everyone knows: “Dairy”, “Doctor's”, “Ostankino”.
Sausages and sausages
Many people like sausages or sausages. These are certain types of sausages, which are prepared from ground meat. This product is usually consumed preheated. The manufacturing process is as follows:
- meat is minced using special equipment;
- then it is subjected to salting and subsequent ripening;
- repeated grinding and mixing of minced meat with bacon and seasonings;
- forming products - using a syringe, sausage casings are stuffed with minced meat;
- sediment, that is, keeping the product in a cool room for a certain period of time (according to technology);
- heat treatment - cooking and subsequent cooling.
Smoked sausages or sausages are sometimes produced. In this case, they are subjected to processing in a smoking chamber before cooking. Like cooked sausages, sausages can be structural or structureless. In addition, they are classified by type of casings of sausages. They can be natural and artificial. The most popular food product of this category is sausages “Dairy”, “With cheese”.
Smoked and cooked smoked sausages
Among all types of sausages, cooked smoked and semi-smoked products occupy a special place. This is due to the fact that this is the most extensive category. If you sort these sausages by variety, you can distinguish the following:
- cooked smoked sausages, which are made according to a traditional recipe;
- cooked smoked sausages, which have their own characteristics of production (they include the well-known “Salami”, as well as “Cervelat”);
- semi-smoked sausages, which are produced according to classical technology;
- semi-smoked products like “Drohobych classics”.
However, there are still certain common features of production. For the manufacture of cooked-smoked products use only ripened minced meat. For this, the meat is ground and treated with salt, after which it is left to ripen in brine (from 12 hours to two days). The main differences relate to the method of grinding and mixing the stuffing.
In general, the preparation of any semi-smoked sausage is carried out in several stages: drying, smoking, boiling and sometimes additional smoking after cooling.
The manufacture of cooked-smoked type products is performed as follows: drying, smoking, boiling and then re-smoking and drying after cooling.
Ham
Not a single photo of the types of sausages can do without an image of ham. Almost everyone loves this product. Is not
surprisingly, for the preparation of ham use only high-quality raw materials. Production of boiled ham involves the following steps:
- meat preparation;
- grinding of raw materials on special equipment;
- ripening prepared raw materials and kneading ham;
- molding of products - distribution of minced meat over shells and pressing;
- heat treatment.
Dried products
Such sausages are made from raw meat and bacon without preliminary heat treatment. The technology of their production is based on fermentation and drying of raw materials. Such products have a long shelf life.
Stage of manufacture:
- preparation of bacon and meat and their freezing;
- dehydration of meat;
- minced meat preparation;
- molding of products;
- long ripening in special installations under certain temperature conditions.
Uncooked smoked sausages are also prepared in a similar way. The only difference is that raw meat is smoked before ripening.
Seltz
Seltz is made from boiled meat of pork heads, tongue, liver and other offal. As a gelling substance, a broth from cooking ingredients is used. As a rule, chopped meat parts are mixed with those that have been minced to minced meat, poured with broth and filled with this mass of shell.
Smoked meats
Smoked meats are not sausages, contrary to popular belief. They are made from whole pieces of meat. They can be either cooked smoked or raw smoked. In any case, the raw materials are injected with syringes into brine and then further processed. These products typically have a long shelf life.
Sausage casings
Sheaths play an important role in the production of sausages. There are many variations at the moment. Each is worth staying separately. In modern production, the following types of sausage packaging are used:
- Natural. As the name implies, they are made from natural raw materials. For this, parts of the intestines of cattle and small cattle, as well as pigs, are taken. Naturally, this raw material is carefully processed. The result is an edible mesh consisting of connective tissue. It is highly durable. Sausages in this shell have a short shelf life.
- Collagenic. Despite the fact that formally such casings are considered artificial, they are made from natural raw materials. Such shells are also edible, and at the same time they have more positive properties than natural ones. They are more durable and flexible, while allowing less moisture to pass through. They can be either colored or transparent.
- Cellulose. Their advantages are environmental friendliness, as well as good elasticity. The disadvantage is high moisture permeability, so they are suitable for sausages with a low liquid content. Today they are used in connection with the popularity of the retro style.
- Textile. Produced from colored viscose fabric coated with a polymer material. Textile casings in the manufacture of sausages are popular. They allow you to save the taste of the product, and also provide its aesthetic appearance.
- Polyamide. These days they are the most common. They are made from synthetic materials. This shell prevents the penetration of bacteria into the product and thereby increases its shelf life. But at the same time, it does not let steam and moisture pass, which is why flavorings have to be added to sausages.
Additives
Unfortunately, not every sausage is useful. Products made at home, of course, out of competition. After all, everything in them is natural, which can not be said about those that are sold in the store. In the production of sausages, as a rule, chemical components are added to the stuffing. For example, sodium nitrite, which protects them from pathogenic bacteria, and also improves color. Inosinate or monosodium glutamate improves the taste of sausages, and stabilizers and water with salts increase its weight, thereby reducing the cost of production. For unscrupulous producers, the percentage of meat content in such products is reduced to an insignificant figure.
How to choose sausages
To purchase a quality product, you need to consider some features. The main thing is to choose a sausage product, the main component of which will be meat, and not fat and other additives. There is a common misconception that a product of bright red color is more natural. In fact, this shade is obtained by adding dyes and nitrate. Natural thermally processed meat has a grayish tint. Therefore, the most natural sausages will be pale.
In addition, the surface of any sausage product must be dry, the casing must not move away from the product. Also, there should be no influx of minced meat, damage and punctures. There cannot be too low a cost. If you see anything at a suspiciously low price, soy isolate is most likely added to the product.
If you decide to try a new type of sausage, it is better to buy a small piece first and carefully study it, and then try it. This is especially true for meat delicacies, which are quite expensive.