TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS OF STERILIZED SAUSAGE PROCESSING

Producing meat, fish, sausage, or any other product on an industrial scale requires specific processes to easily control quality and manage supplies to avoid loss. The technological process of processing sterilized sausage goes through many stages.

Technological process of sterilized sausage processing

Flow chart of sterilized sausage production process

Production and processing process of sterilized sausage

Sterilized sausage production process

Defrosted pork ingredients

The defrosting process has the effect of raising the temperature to the required temperature during the processing of sterilized sausages.

When frozen, the meat’s center temperature usually reaches from -18 to -20°C . At this time, the meat freezes into a very hard mass, making it very difficult to put it in the blender and perform the grinding process. Therefore, when defrosting the meat temperature gradually increases, the ice crystals melt, leading to changes in the meat structure and making the meat softer, making grinding easier.

When the meat center temperature reaches from-2 to 0 °C and the time is about 24 hours from the start of defrosting, it ends.

Roughly grind, mix and marinate the meat

Coarse grinding: this process changes the size of the meat block as required to create a large exposed surface of the meat, facilitating easy salting.

Mixing: ground meat and nitrit sodium are mixed evenly after a mixing time of 3-5 minutes.

Marinating: This process is very important, it determines the quality of the meat in terms of the ability to stabilize and color the marinated meat, the ability to extract proteins, and the ability to inhibit harmful microorganisms to improve the sustainability of product. Finally, it has the ability to create a unique taste and aroma for pasteurized pork sausages.

The coarse grinding stage must be performed continuously because, during the grinding process, the meat temperature will increase due to the mechanical activity of the machine. Use a meat spiral with a hole diameter of 8mm.

The time allowed for mixing to reach homogeneity is about 3-5 minutes. If there is not enough time, the meat and salt will be uneven. Too much time will affect the temperature of the marinated meat.

Puree the emulsion

The mashing process is also very important, this is the stage where all the ingredients, spices, and additives are crushed, mixed, and coalesce into a homogeneous mass to create a durable emulsion mixture.

To create this durable emulsion, in addition to the main principle of the meat after being salted with nitrile, additives such as polyphosphate, soy protein, and modified cornstarch,… are used as an emulsifier based on nitrit sodium on their special molecular structure.

Meat after being marinated and pureed must have a center temperature of more than 5°C . All ingredients, spices, and additives must be based on the above order and must be within the temperature range of 4-7 ° C. This is the optimal temperature range for the activation of properties in the ingredients.

After completing the pureeing, the emulsion is stored in a cart with a PE bag. If not used within the day, it is transferred to a cold room with an appropriate temperature to avoid increasing the emulsion temperature.

Currently, on the market, there are product lines available with pre-mixed seasonings and additives such as Bio Meat, Bio Binder M, Bio Binder F, Bio Meat Line 18 Plus,… which will help make product tough, absorb water, and create emulsions. good and partially replaces meat to help optimize production costs.

Stuff to create a sausage

Emulsion block -> put into stuffing machine, knead into packed.

Stuffing is the wrapping process to shape the sausage.

The stuffing process helps protect food from changing properties or being penetrated by environmental agents.

The sterilization process is easy because the emulsion is covered with a wrapper that is heat-stable and waterproof, creating a unique characteristic for pork sausages.

To avoid mechanical damage due to increased emulsion temperature, it must be regularly checked during the stuffing process. If there is a problem, it must be fixed quickly.

Regularly check the amount of sausage to adjust the dosing pump. Check all details and promptly correct any discrepancies.

Pasteurize

The sterilization process is not only cooking the food but also the high temperature, prolonged time and high pressure will cause the ingredients in the sterilized pork sausage to be activated. The sausages are steamed evenly and are not deformed in water.

With the right temperature and time, most microorganisms existing in sausages are completely destroyed, including highly tole.

The sterilizer operates in a pre-programmed mode with all the following parameters: keep heat 

t° center of sausage= 121°C

P°_{center of sausage} = 2,3 kg/cm²

T_{keep heat} = 12 minutes (40g plant); 17 minutes (70g plant)

T_{keep heat} = 50 minutes

T_{keep heat} = 45 minutes

Number of trays = 20-24 trays

Machine operators must regularly check the working mode of the sterilizer to promptly fix problems when problems occur.

Blow dry both ends of the clip

After sterilization, the sausage is placed in the oven to dry.

During the sterilization process, the sausage will expand in a water environment, so when put into storage, microorganisms will localize, grow, and penetrate the sausage where there is high humidity. The drying process dries, limiting damage to the product.

The drying oven operates in a pre-programmed mode with all the following parameters:

t°_{sausage center} = 50 ÷ 55°C

t°_drying = 1 hour 45 minutes

The arrangement of sausages into plastic baskets must be reasonable because placing too many will cause the sausages to dry unevenly.

Finalize and present products

Sausage after drying

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Let cool

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Dry and clean

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Labeling

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Packed into PE bag

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Into the cardboard box

After drying, sausages must be allowed to cool completely to stabilize their structure before being labeled as finished products.

Labeling workers check the hardness, elasticity, and dryness of both ends of the clip, then use a clean towel to dry the sausage for a while before labeling. It is necessary to remove soft, bent sausages, etc. Depending on the level, they should be recycled or put into appropriate treatment measures.

Quality standards for sterilized sausages

A clear understanding of standards will help ensure product quality before bringing it to market, based on the following criteria:

For ingredients

Fresh pork ingredients, when used to process sterilized sausages, have been frozen and the meat core temperature is -12°C.

The meat must not be bruised, red, greenish-gray, etc.

The meat does not have the rancid smell of degenerated meat or of fat starting to oxidize

The meat does not have a strong pork smell, preservatives, antibiotics, etc.

Cold meat pH = 5.3-6.0

Cold meat has a high concentration of NH3 ≤ 40mg/100g

– H2S reaction: negative

Microbial standards:

• Total aerobic bacteria count ≤ 106 /g
• E.coli ≤ 100 colonies/g
• Staphylococcus aureus ≤ 10 colonies/g
• Salmonella ≤ 0 colonies/g

For pasteurized sausage products (pork)

Sensory standards

• Appearance: cylindrical shape, 16-17cm long, the wrapper is evenly stretched, no wrinkles or curls
• The sausage is soft, not mushy
• The slices are smooth, the flesh is elastic
• Color: Rose red to pink
• Flavor: typical aroma without strange flavors, sweet taste of sausage
• Biochemical criteria
• The product has pH = 5.5-6.2
• The content of nitrate sodium, nitrates of Na and K ≤ 500ppm
• NH3 content < 400mg/100g
• H2S reaction: negative
• Biological criteria
• Total aerobic bacteria count <3.10 5 /g
• E.coli < 10 colonies/g
• Staphylococcus aureus < 10 colonies/g
• Salmonella: negative

The above technological process of producing sterilized sausages, will help R&D and factory owners know what to do to have the best quality products. Contact Biozym is a unit specializing in providing solutions for food technology, chemical technology, and all kinds of additives, preservatives – flavor, and color production materials. Biozym is currently a strategic partner of large domestic and foreign enterprises. With a team of RDs with many years of experience, we always provide customers with optimal solutions + products for production.