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SMOKED PRECOOKED SAUSAGE PRODUCTION
Smoked precooked sausages comprise a heterogeneous class of sausages. They are smoked and/or air heated, often cured, but not fermented. Due to their formulation and the necessity, in general, of additional cooking before serving, smoked air-cooked sausages are usually classified together with fresh sausages but differ from the latter by considerably longer shelf life.
Smoking is normally performed immediately after stuffing. The sausages are generally precooked in a smokehouse in two phases: (a) steaming for 3–5 or more minutes to an internal temperature slightly above 50°C and (b) dry heating to an internal temperature of 64–65°C. Following this procedure quick chilling is advisable. The chilling operation contributes to the texture, appearance and overall consumer acceptability of the final product.
The shelf life of sausages depends to a large extent on the methods of processing that are employed. A long and slow process and any delay in operations lead to the development of extensive microflora. On the contrary, if the bacterial count of raw materials is low and kept to a moderate number during processing subsequent smoking and precooking may inhibit or kill most of the bacteria. When such a product is held at lower temperatures and lower relative humidity, a progressively smaller proportion of the bacterial contaminants is able to grow and their growth occurs at a lower rate. This is the reason why fresh sausages, produced in strict accordance with hygienic and technological requirements and then slightly smoked and only partly cooked, may be stored for a prolonged period even in tropical conditions.
The contents of salt and fat and the addition of rusk and soy protein reduce to a certain extent water activity of the product, contributing to its shelf life. The microbial numbers decrease as the level of fat increases and increase with reduced meat particle size.
The precooked sausages are usually recooked by consumers from the chilled or thawed state by grilling for 3–5 minutes. If in a frozen state, they should be cooked for 8–10 minutes.
In the class of smoked precooked sausages a particularly special position belongs to the group of Chinese sausages.