Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage by Warren R. Anderson Page A
Authors: Warren R. Anderson
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the “dwell time.”) Below, for reference only, is a list of dwell times approved by USDA/FSIS for meat products that do not contain poultry:
• 130° F (54.4° C)….. 121 minutes
• 135° F (57.2° C)….. 37 minutes
• 140° F (60.0° C)….. 12 minutes
• 145° F (62.8° C)….. 4 minutes
• 150° F (65.6° C)….. 72 seconds
• 155° F (68.3° C)….. 23 seconds
• 160° F (71.1° C)….. 0 seconds
Most commercial sausage processors use the lower temperatures with appropriate dwell times when “fully cooked” sausage (or solid meat, such as ham, for example) is being produced. Unfortunately, the expensive processing equipment required for this is not available to the person who makes sausage in the kitchen at home. You may see sausage recipes in books, magazines, and on the Internet that specify lower internal temperatures, but I believe food safety is paramount. Consequently, in this book, cooking instructions follow the USDA recommendations for the normal consumer preparing food in a common residential kitchen.
Sausage Cooking Technology 101
Let’s look at what is happening inside a sausage while it is cooking. This will help us to understand the best ways to cook it.
• Animal fats do not have a specific melting point. First, they soften as the temperature rises, and then they gradually turn to liquid. Poultry fats and wildfowl fats have low melting points, and if these fats are being used in the sausage, some of these bird fats will become semi-liquid when the internal temperature of the sausage reaches about 70° F (21° C). Medium hard fat, such as pork back fat, is more desirable because it melts at a higher temperature.
• The minced muscle-meat particles inside the sausage casing are coated with a protein called myosin; salt used in the sausage draws the myosin to the surface of each particle. When the temperature of the sausage mixture reaches 120° F (50° C), this protein begins to coagulate, causing these muscle-meat particles to stick together. This coagulation is complete at about 130° F (55° C), and the result is that the coagulated meat particles surround both fat particles and liquefied fat. When the fat continues to melt and juices are produced, the coagulated meat particles will help to retain them. This step is best accomplished slowly, with moderate heat.
• Pathogenic microbes, if any are present, will begin to be killed as the internal temperature rises above 130° F (55° C). The killing is faster as the temperature rises and the dwell time increases.
• If the sausage has been cured with a curing powder containing sodium nitrite, the pink or rosy color of the meat will be fixed when the sausage mixture reaches about 135° F (57° C).
• Trichinae in pork, and in meat from other susceptible animals, are killed when the sausage reaches 137° F (58° C).
• At 140° F (60° C), the sausage mixture begins to shrink, but it is unlikely that the juices and melted fats will be lost if there are no holes in the casing. If the sausage was not cured with a nitrite curing powder, the red meat in the mixture will begin to change to pink, and pink meat will begin to change to gray-brown.
• At 150° F (66° C), the meat in the sausage continues to shrink and a little fluid may be lost. Uncured meat that was originally red will begin to change from pink to gray-brown.
• Salmonella, E. coli O157, and all other pathogenic microbes are killed by the time the sausage reaches 155° F (68° C). At this point, the sausage is fully cooked and safe to eat. However, to provide an extra margin of safety, cooking should continue until an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C) is reached. However, the USDA recommends 165° F (74° C) for all sausage containing ground poultry. (Please use this temperature as the target temperature if the sausage contains fowl and you wish to follow the USDA recommendation.) There will be more shrinking, and there will be some loss of juices and melted fats.
•
• 130° F (54.4° C)….. 121 minutes
• 135° F (57.2° C)….. 37 minutes
• 140° F (60.0° C)….. 12 minutes
• 145° F (62.8° C)….. 4 minutes
• 150° F (65.6° C)….. 72 seconds
• 155° F (68.3° C)….. 23 seconds
• 160° F (71.1° C)….. 0 seconds
Most commercial sausage processors use the lower temperatures with appropriate dwell times when “fully cooked” sausage (or solid meat, such as ham, for example) is being produced. Unfortunately, the expensive processing equipment required for this is not available to the person who makes sausage in the kitchen at home. You may see sausage recipes in books, magazines, and on the Internet that specify lower internal temperatures, but I believe food safety is paramount. Consequently, in this book, cooking instructions follow the USDA recommendations for the normal consumer preparing food in a common residential kitchen.
Sausage Cooking Technology 101
Let’s look at what is happening inside a sausage while it is cooking. This will help us to understand the best ways to cook it.
• Animal fats do not have a specific melting point. First, they soften as the temperature rises, and then they gradually turn to liquid. Poultry fats and wildfowl fats have low melting points, and if these fats are being used in the sausage, some of these bird fats will become semi-liquid when the internal temperature of the sausage reaches about 70° F (21° C). Medium hard fat, such as pork back fat, is more desirable because it melts at a higher temperature.
• The minced muscle-meat particles inside the sausage casing are coated with a protein called myosin; salt used in the sausage draws the myosin to the surface of each particle. When the temperature of the sausage mixture reaches 120° F (50° C), this protein begins to coagulate, causing these muscle-meat particles to stick together. This coagulation is complete at about 130° F (55° C), and the result is that the coagulated meat particles surround both fat particles and liquefied fat. When the fat continues to melt and juices are produced, the coagulated meat particles will help to retain them. This step is best accomplished slowly, with moderate heat.
• Pathogenic microbes, if any are present, will begin to be killed as the internal temperature rises above 130° F (55° C). The killing is faster as the temperature rises and the dwell time increases.
• If the sausage has been cured with a curing powder containing sodium nitrite, the pink or rosy color of the meat will be fixed when the sausage mixture reaches about 135° F (57° C).
• Trichinae in pork, and in meat from other susceptible animals, are killed when the sausage reaches 137° F (58° C).
• At 140° F (60° C), the sausage mixture begins to shrink, but it is unlikely that the juices and melted fats will be lost if there are no holes in the casing. If the sausage was not cured with a nitrite curing powder, the red meat in the mixture will begin to change to pink, and pink meat will begin to change to gray-brown.
• At 150° F (66° C), the meat in the sausage continues to shrink and a little fluid may be lost. Uncured meat that was originally red will begin to change from pink to gray-brown.
• Salmonella, E. coli O157, and all other pathogenic microbes are killed by the time the sausage reaches 155° F (68° C). At this point, the sausage is fully cooked and safe to eat. However, to provide an extra margin of safety, cooking should continue until an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C) is reached. However, the USDA recommends 165° F (74° C) for all sausage containing ground poultry. (Please use this temperature as the target temperature if the sausage contains fowl and you wish to follow the USDA recommendation.) There will be more shrinking, and there will be some loss of juices and melted fats.
•
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