How Is Sausage Made?

Types of Sausage

• Sausage is made from a wide variety of meats including beef, duck, chicken, seafood and pork. Pork is the most common. The meat typically contains between 20 and 30 percent fat by weight. Some varieties use meat containing 50 percent fat by weight. Types of sausage include fresh sausage such as bratwurst, uncooked smoked sausage such as pork sausage, cooked smoked sausage such as kielbasa, semi-dry sausage such as summer sausage, dry sausage such as pepperoni and cooked meat specialties such as meat loaf.
  
  

Grinding and Mixing

• Grinding and mixing are the first steps in making sausage. The meat is coarsely ground in a machine called a meat grinder, then mixed with a combination of salt, water and spices. The salt provides flavor, acts as a preservative by killing bacteria and dissolves a type of protein, called globular protein, from the meat. This protein helps hold the meat together when the sausage is cooked. Spices vary but black pepper is among the most common. For example, basic Italian sausage is made from pork, salt and pepper. Other spices include garlic, chile pepper, fennel, marjoram and sage. After the spices and salt are added, the sausage maker regrinds the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
  
  

Stuffing

• Fresh sausage can be shaped into patties or left in bulk form. Most sausage, however, is stuffed into a casing. Natural casings are made from the digestive tracts of pigs, sheep and cattle. Artificial casings are made from plastic, cellulose and collagen. Generally, natural casings are used for Italian sausage, liverwurst, salami and haggis. Artificial casings are typically used for some salamis, cold cuts, skinless frankfurters and spreadable sausages such as braunschweiger.
  
  

Preserving

• Sausages are preserved by drying, cooking or smoking. Dried sausage is hung in cool, circulating air. Fully dried sausage can be stored unrefrigerated for weeks. However, before it is fully dried, the meat can spoil. Spoilage is avoided by adding a curing salt, such as a mixture of salt and sodium nitrite called Prague powder. The nitrite prevents the formation of botulism-causing bacteria and keeps the meat from turning gray. Some dried sausages are also fermented with a bacteria such as lactobaccilus. Lactobaccilus creates a chemical called lactic acid, which preserves the meat and gives it a tangy flavor. Sausages are cooked in 170-degree water until their internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Smoked sausage is prepared in a barbecue-like box called a smoker or smokehouse. Smoking gives sausage a smokey flavor and preserves the meat by giving it a tough outer layer called the pellicle and adding preservative compounds found in plants called phenols.