Chapter 1

Equipment Selection, Sanitary Care, and Usage

Topics Covered

• Equipment guidelines

• Sanitation in sausage making

• Professional tools

Guidelines• Ensure equipment is in excellent condition

• Evaluate and check machines before use

• Consider functionality and safety features– Sharpen grinder plates and knives– Check cords and plugs for damage

• Store equipment in safe and clean environment

Guidelines (cont’d.)

Meat grinder with a set of grinding plates and knife

Food processor with bowl, lid and cutting knife

Sanitation in Sausage Making

• Before starting fabrication process:– Make sure equipment is clean

• Avoid cross-contamination

– Chill machine parts for better quality• Refrigerator, freezer, or ice water

• Practice the 3 Cs: – Keep it clean– Keep it covered– Keep it cold

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)• Precautions for preventing contamination:

– Wash and rinse work station surface – Keep meats and meat products under 40°

• Properly wrap them when stored

– Wash and sanitize food contact surfaces between handling of different foods

– Cook or poach all products to internal temperature of 160°F–165°F

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)• Botulism:

– Food poisoning caused by neurotoxin • Produced by amoebic spore Crostridium botulinum• Heat resistant

• Bacteria can survive in meat under these conditions:– Exposure to air– Exposure to incorrect temperature– Prolonged holding time in fresh state

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)• Prevention of botulism contamination:

– Cold smoking: • Add nitrates to items that are cold smoked and not

cooked for a long period

– Vacuum packing: • Use cry o vac for any foods held for a period of

time

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)

• Salmonella:– About 1800 known types– Warm-blooded animals host microorganisms

in intestinal tracts• Salt and acidity in prepared meat products keep

down growth rate

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)

• E. coli:– Serious pathogen– In cattle intestinal tract – Transferred through contact with raw ground

beef– Precautions:

• Avoid cross-contamination• Cook ground beef products thoroughly

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)

• Trichinosis:– Small worm in muscles of infected animals

and humans• Completes life cycle in one host

– Contaminated by ingesting larvae in raw or partially cooked meat products

• Larvae encysted in striated muscle tissue

– Prevention:• Cook fresh pork properly: expose parasites to

138°F for 10 minutes

Sanitation in Sausage Making (cont’d.)

• Trichinosis (cont’d.):– Options for pork products not cooked to this

temperature:• Sausages must contain 3 1/2 percent or more salt

and held in dry room according to diameter guidelines

• For 3/4-in. thick or less, use pork that has been frozen and certified according to guidelines

Professional Tools• Hand tools:

– Boning knife: • Trim and remove bones and other tissues

– Santoku knife (or 9" or 7" French knife): • Cube, chop, slice, and dice

– Paring knife with a 4"-straightedged blade:• Slice, peel, and shape

– Spatula: • Spread, press, and smooth forcemeats

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

• Hand tools (cont’d.):– Sharpening steel:

• Knife sharpener, electric sharpener, or a Stein or porcelain cocotte

– Two-prong fork:• Lift and check for tenderness

Left to right: Ceramic bowl, straight edge paring knife, boning knife, santoku knife, slicer, two prong fork, top honing steel,electric sharpener

Sharpening boning knife on ceramic bowl

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

• Cutting board:– Wooden boards do not slide– Safer than plastic

• Sanitize before and during preparation• Determine size based on counter space

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

• Additional equipment:– Bowls of different sizes– 1/2 size hotel

pans/shaving dishes– Poaching pots– Hand or digital

thermometer– Heavy round wood disk

Hand thermometer, digital thermometer

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

• Additional equipment (cont’d.):– Skimmer– Spider– Ladles– Scale– Brine tester

Left to right: Ruler, sausage fork, spider, pricker, hand sieve, small strainer ladle, natural hair brush, plastic scrappers

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

• Additional equipment (cont’d.):– Brine pump– Plastic brining or curing containers with lids– Sausage prick

Electric slicer

Professional Tools (cont’d.)

Sausage stuffer with tubes

Summary• This chapter reviewed:

– Types of machinery and utensils needed in sausage making

• How to use and care for them

– Various contamination agents unhealthy for human consumption

• How to prevent their occurrence

– The 3Cs: • Keep it cold; keep it clean; keep it covered