Further Processing

Overview

• What is Further Processing
• Seasoning Overview
• Sausage Making
• Jerky

What is Further Processing?

• Further Processing
• Action of using trimmings or meat that is not used/sold for retail cuts and is then used to make other products
• Sausage
• Jerky
• Ground Beef
• Ground Pork
• Snack Sticks
• Summer Sausage

Why Are Sausages So Popular?

• Fit Conveniently into Our Modern Quick Lifestyle
• Appetizer for Entertaining
• Quick and Easy Meal
• Easy Protein Addition to a Meal
• More Than 250 Varieties of Sausages are Sold Today
• Great Source of Protein, Amino Acids, Minerals, and Vitamins
• They Can be Made From ANY Protein

Adds Value to Your Business

Making Sausage?

• What Kind of Sausage are you Making?
• Are you Making any Variations?
• What Do You need?
• Meat Block
• Casings
• Seasonings
• Stuffing Horn

Protein Extraction:

- During the Mixing Process as Seasonings are Being Added and the Binding Process Starts

- Protein Extraction = Mixed Grind🡪 Sticky and Tacky

Fresh Sausages:

• Coarse or Finely Ground Meat Product From 1 or More Kinds of Meat or Meat and Meat By-Products( Kidney, Heart, Liver…)
• Can Not Contain More than 3% Water of the Total Amount of Ingredients
• Content of Fresh Sausages:
• Fresh Pork Sausages
• Fresh Beef Sausages
• Breakfast Sausages
• Italian Sausage Products

Cooked and/or Smoked Sausages:

• Cooked and/or smoked sausages are made of one or more different kinds of chopped or ground meats which have been seasoned, cooked and/or smoked.
• By-Products May be Used
• Binders and Extenders May Be Used
• Cure is Used

Dry and Semi-Dry Sausages:

• Largest Category of Dried Meats
• Typically Fermented by Bacterial Growth and Produce a Tangy Flavor
• Dry Sausages:
• Require More Time to Make Than Other Sausages and Are a More Concentrated Form of Meat
• 60-80% of their Original Weight Before Drying🡪 Lose about 40% of Weight
• Semi-Dry Sausages:
• Heated in the Smokehouse to Fully Cook the Product and Then it is Partially Dried
• Smoke Can be Applied As an Option

• Protein:
• 60-80% Quality Lean Proteins
• 70% Lean Protein is Desired
• Depends on the Product:
• Lean Pork Protein
• Lean Beef Protein
• Fat:
• 20-40% of Fat
• 30% Fat is Desired
• Pork Back Fat is the Best Fat to Use for Sausage Making
• Pork Loin Trimmings
• Hard Fat that can with stand cooking

Meat Blocks:

Wild Game Meat Blocks Typically Will Require More Fat in the Meat Block: 60/40

Grinding:

• What is the sausage texture you are looking for?
• Emulsified vs. Small Particles vs. Large Particles
• 1^st Grind
• Larger Plate🡪 3/16
• 2^nd Grind
• Smaller Plate🡪 1/8

Fresh Sausage Classifications:

• Breakfast Sausage:
• Cannot Contain no more than 50% fat by weight
• Can Contain Pork By-Products
• Product Example: Fresh Pork Breakfast Sausage

Fresh Pork Sausage:

• May not contain any pork byproducts and may not contain no more than 50% fat by weight
• Product Example: Fresh Brats

Fresh Beef Sausages:

• May not contain any beef byproducts and may not contain no more than 30% fat by weight
• Product Example: Fresh Potato Sausage

Italian Sausage Products:

• Cured or Uncured Sausages containing at least 85% meat, or a combination of meat and fat, with the total fat content constituting not more than 35% of the finished product.
• It contains salt, pepper, fennel and/or anise and no more than 3% water.

Fresh Sausage Characteristics:

• CANNOT Contain ANY Cure (Nitrite or Nitrate)
• Should Not Contain Any Phosphates
• Fresh Pork Sausage Typically Have High-Fat Content🡪 50%
• Fresh Beef Sausages Typically Have Lower Fat Content🡪 30%
• Small Amounts of Water or Ice May be Added to Assist in Mixing and Ingredient Dispersion 🡪 Cannot Add More Than 3% Water

6 Main Components of Sausage:

1. Protein
2. Fat
3. Aromatic
4. Seasonings and/or Cure Mixture
5. Spices
6. Herbs

Steps When Making Fresh Sausage:

1. Select Meat Block
1. Use Trimmings
2. Grind Meat Block
• Chill Ground Meat Block for At least 20 Minutes
3. Mix Seasonings and Water
• Add Water and then Seasonings
4. Stuff Sausage Mixture
5. Chill or Freeze

Forms of Sausage:

Bulk

Fresh

Stuffed

Patty

Breakfast Sausage

Italian Sausage

Breakfast Links

Fresh Brat Variation

Breakfast Patty

Brat Patty

Storing Sausage

Seasonings/Casings

Where Do Spices Come From?

• Different Parts of Plants, Bushes or Trees
• Bark
• Cinnamon
• Root
• Ginger
• Onion
• Garlic
• Buds🡪 Before Fruit/Berry
• Cloves
• Saffron
• Seeds
• Dill Seed
• Yellow Mustard
• Sesame
• Steams
• Dill Weed
• Leaves
• Bay Leaf
• Berry
• Pepper
• Fruit🡪 Tropical Plants and Trees
• Allspice
• Paprika

​

Salt:

• Ancient Preservative
• Ate Foods Without Refrigeration
• Added to Enhance Flavors/ Seasonings
• Draws Moisture Out
• Helps Binds the Meat Together

​

MSG🡪 Monosodium Glutamate:

• Sodium Salt of the Amino Acid🡪 Glutamic Acid
• Flavor Enhancer
• Alternative to Salt
• Not Unhealthy to Consumers
• Needs to Be Stated on the Label
• Naturally Occurs in:
• Yeast
• Soy Extracts
• Tomatoes
• Cheeses

​

Myths About MSG: Busted

• MSG🡪 BAD FOR YOU
• Stated BAD FOR YOU in a Professional Journal Entry in 1968
• Got a Headache
• No Further Studies Conducted
• No Considered a Allergen🡪 Just a Sensitivity
• 3-4% of US Population are MSG Sensitive 🡪 They get a Headache

Pepper:

• Common Kinds of Pepper Used:
• Black Ground Pepper/Black Peppercorn
• Most Commonly Used Pepper
• Bold Bite, Pine, Pungent, and Aromatic
• White Ground Pepper
• Not as Strong as Black Pepper
• Floral, Fruity, Bite, Pungent
• Not as Desirable as Black Pepper
• Use in Conjunction with Black Pepper
• Red Pepper
• Similar to Black Pepper
• Bold Bite, Pungent, Sweet, and Aromatic
• Green Peppercorn
• Not Ripe Black Peppercorn
• Zesty Brightness

Sugar:

• Secondary Ingredient
• Common in Semi-Dry and Fermented Sausages
• Dextrose and Brown Sugar 🡪 Common in US
• Beet Sugar🡪 Common in Europe
• Counteracts Salt🡪 Can make a salty product less salty
• Add Too Much🡪 Creates a Sour Tasting Product
• Enhances Flavors in Products
• Aids in Lowering pH of Cured and Smoked Products
• Can Reduce Shelf Life of Cured Meats🡪 Provides Food for Bacteria, Yeast, and Molds

Water:

• Most Used Ingredient in Meat Processing
• Ice is also added🡪 Keeps Product From Over Heating
• Crucial Ingredient in Sausage Making
• Keeps Products From Sticking Together
• Helps Distributes Ingredients

High Temp Cheese:

• Don’t Loose Their Form/Doesn’t Melt Fast During Cooking and Smoking
• Starts Melting at 400˚ F
• ¼” Pieces
• Used in
• Brats
• Fresh
• Cooked
• Summer Sausage
• Snack Sticks
• Comes in Many Different Flavors
• Swiss
• Cheddar
• Mozzarella
• Pepperjack
• Bleu Cheese

Fruits:

• Need to Use Dry Fruits
• Fruits are Natural Meat Tenderizers 🡪 Protein Denature
• If Fruits are Fresh🡪 Meat Around the Fresh Fruit turn to Mush and Brown
• Examples of Dried Fruit Used in Meat Products:
• Craisins
• Jalapeno’s
• Apples
• Bell Pepper
• Pineapple

Sausage Casings:

• Natural:
• Sections of the Small Intestine From Different Species:
• Lamb: Breakfast Links 🡪 Long and Narrow Products
• Beef: Ring Sausages
• Pork: Most Common- All Frankfurters, Brats, or other Sausages
• Conforms to the Sausage
• Edible
• “Snap” or “Bite” as you Eat the Product
• Expensive
• Prone to Blowouts🡪 Breakage in the Casing🡪 Over Stuffing

Sausage Casings:

• Artificial (Cellulose):
• Made of Cellulose and other Synthetic Materials
• Plant Cellulose
• Inedible
• Resistant to Breakage
• Cheaper than Natural Casing
• Easy to Handle
• Uniform in Size and Shape
• Uses: Skinless Hot Dogs

​

Sausage Casings:

• Fibrous Casings:
• Make of Synthetic Materials
• Paper Like Product that is Extremely Durable
• Main Product:
• Summer Sausage
• Comes in Many Different Colors
• Pre-Cut Lengths
• 12” to 24”
• Larger Diameter Casing
• 1.5” to 2.9”

Sausage Casings:

• Artificial (Collagen):
• Made from Collagen Proteins from the inside of Beef Hides
• Edible
• Shrinks with Products
• Cheaper than Natural but has Similar Benefits as Natural Casings
• Comes in a Variety in Size and Forms
• Does Not Break As Easily as Natural Casings
• Comes in Different Colors
• Uses: Snack Sticks

​

​

Common Sausages

Bratwurst Characteristics:

• Other Common Names: Variation Names
• Common Casing Types:
• Skin-On: Natural or Collagen
• Skinless: Not Very Common
• Color: Pink-Grayish
• Texture: Coarse
• Product Make-Up:
• Pork and Pork Fat
• Cannot Contain More than 45% Fat for Smoked Brats
• Smoked or Non-Smoked:
• Can be Smoked or Fresh
• Size:
• Uniform in Length and Diameter
• Length: 4.5-5.5”
• Diameter: 1.25” – 2.0”

Summer Sausage:

• Other Common Names: Summer Sausage Variations
• Common Casing Types: Cellulose or Fibrous🡪 Non-Edible
• Color: Brighter Pink with Mixture of Fat
• Texture: Courser Grind Used
• Product Make-Up:
• Fat Content Range 30-40%
• Common Meat Used Pork and Pork Fat
• Add Other Ingredients Like Cheese, Jalapeno, Wild Rice, Cranberry…
• Can use:
• Wild Game with Pork Fat
• Beef with Fat
• Smoked :
• Cooked/Smoked
• Size:
• Average Diameter: 60mm

​

​

Snack Sticks:

• Other Common Names: Snack Stick Variations
• Common Casing Types: Collagen Casing
• Color: Pink- Red
• Texture: Coarse to Fine
• Product Make-Up:
• Fat Content Should not be More than 30%
• Common Meat Used Pork and Pork Fat
• Add Other Ingredients Like Cheese, Jalapeno, Wild Rice, Cranberry…
• Can use:
• Wild Game with Pork Fat
• Beef with Fat
• Smoked or Non-Smoked:
• Cooked/Smoked
• Size:
• Average Diameter: 19mm

​

Frankfurter Characteristic’s:

Other Common Names: Hot Dog, Wiener, or Frank

Common Casing Types:

• Skin On: Natural or Collagen Casings
• Skinless: Cellulose Casing

Color: Pink

Texture: Emulsified🡪 Fine Textured

Product Make-Up:

• Pork or Beef
• Must be Identified if Using Beef

Smoked or Non-Smoked:

• Cooked/Smoked

Size:

• Uniform in Length and Diameter
• 5.0-6.0 “ in Length
• 1.0” in Diameter

Fresh Sausage Lab

Jerky

Jerky Production:

• At Home Production:
• Very Popular🡪 Wild Game
• Home-Dried Jerky
• Potential Foodborne Illness
• Dehydrator doesn’t kill bacteria
• Commercially Produced:
• Uses Nitrites
• Exposed to Thermal Processing
• Kept 12 Months

Jerky Can be Any Flavor🡪 Endless Flavor Opportunity

Jerky Types:

Natural Style Jerky (Whole Muscle Jerky)

• Sliced into thin pieces from a whole muscle
• Easiest to Slice Partially Frozen or Firm Meat into
• ¼” Thick
• Spices, Nitrite, and Salt is Mixed
• Can Also have a Jerky Marinade

Jerky Ground and Formed (Restructured Jerky)

• Meat is ground, molded, and pressed into strips
• Grind Lean through ¼” (6mm) Plate
• Add all ingredients including cure and a little bit of water
• Stuff Grind into a Jerky Gun or put into a Mold to Create Strips
• ¼” Thick
• 6” Long
• 1” Wide