Emulsified sausages are cooked sausages that have been finely comminuted such as hot dog, frankfurter, mortadella or bologna. In most cases they are smoked and cooked with moist heat (steamed or in hot water). Although liver sausages and spreadable fermented sausages are also finely comminuted, they differ in that no ice is added during their manufacture, the latter type not being cooked at all. Thus they dont belong to true emulsified sausages.
The first emulsified sausage was probably German frankfurter, followed by Austrian Wiener. In the 1800s German immigrants brought these recipes to America and originally these sausages were served like any other. The story goes that in 1904, a street vendor in St.Louis was selling his wieners on small buns. They were nicknamed the "red hots" as they were too hot to handle by his customers. Suddenly he got this great idea of making a bun that will fit the shape of the sausage and an all American favorite "hot dog" was born.
Emulsified sausages can be divided in two groups:
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High quality products made at home, such as Austrian wiener or Polish Serdelki which are made from high quality meats and without chemicals. Beef (veal) and pork are the meats commonly used. Beef frankfurter contains beef only. High quality products contain enough lean meat to absorb the necessary water without help of water retention agents.
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Commercial product made from all types of meat trimmings (pork, beef, chicken, turkey), including machine deboned meat. Chicken hot dogs, turkey hot dogs and all possible combinations can be found in a supermarket. A large number of chemicals, water binding agents, fats and water are added during manufacturing to compensate for lower meat grades.
The public prefers moist emulsified sausages and it is hard to imagine a hot dog or frankfurter that will feel dry. In commercial production meat is chopped in bowl cutters by rapidly moving blades which creates a lot of friction. As a result meat develops heat which encourages the growth of any bacteria that may be present. To prevent that, the manufacturer adds crushed ice to the meat in the chopper. Some moisture is lost during smoking, cooking, and storing, and this factor must be allowed for in the manufacturing process. To make up for those losses more water is added during chopping/emulsifying.
Experienced sausage makers know that the meats used in the manufacturing of sausages exhibit different abilities at holding water. Lean meat can hold more water than fatty tissue. Organ meats such as heart, glands, pork and beef tripe, pork skin, or snout all have poor water holding capabilities. Red meat found in pork head exhibit good water holding capability. Generally speaking any lean red meat holds (binds) water well although beef is on top of the list.
Water holding capacity of different meats:
Beef- high
Veal medium
Pork medium
Beef meat can absorb significant amounts of water:
Bull meat up to 100%
Shank meat up to 70%
Cow meat - up to 60%
Cheek meat up to 40%
In simple terms 100 lbs of cow meat can absorb 60 lbs of water and 100 lbs of bull meat can absorb 100 lbs of water. An average beef piece bought in a local supermarket should hold about 30-40% of added water. As noted before, lean meat trimmings will hold more water than the fat ones. To make top quality emulsified sausages at home a combination of lean red muscle meats should be used. This does not mean that only best lean cuts of meat must be employed and using meat trimmings should be encouraged. A typical frankfurter recipe consists of about 60% beef and 40% pork trimmings. Those trimmings may consist of cheaper grades of meat such as heart, cheek meat, pork or beef tripe, and fats. As long as lean beef is used to bind water, other "filler" meats may be added.
A commercial manufacturer can not afford the luxury of using only top quality meats and to keep the costs down he has to use second grade meat trimmings. Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with such meats from a nutritional point of view, but in order to successfully incorporate them in a sausage we have to resort to water binding agents which will help to absorb and hold water within the meat structure. If you study some original instructions for making emulsified sausages from earlier times when chemicals were not yet widely used, you will see that beef was always ground with a smaller plate than pork. This was done in order to fully extract meat proteins which allowed meat to absorb more water.
As finer meat particles are obtained, more protein is extracted and more water can be absorbed by the meat. The fats are not going to hold water and it makes little sense to emulsify them as fine as lean meat. That is why fat is added to the bowl cutter at the end. If filler meats (larger pieces) or chunks of fat (Mortadella) are required, they will be mixed with an emulsified sausage mass in a mixer.
The process: meat selection curing grinding/emulsifying/mixing stuffing smoking cooking cooling - storing.
Meat selection. Lean beef, veal, lean pork. Keep in mind that the type of meat (myoglobin content) will influence the color of the sausage.
Traditional curing. Meats should be properly cured with salt and sodium nitrite (Cure #1) using the dry curing method. This will produce a pink color so typical to frankfurters or bologna. Keep in mind that the color of the sausage will depend on the type of meat used (myoglobin content) and to a smaller degree on spices. The smaller meat particle size results in a shorter curing time and emulsified meats are often cured using the faster "emulsion curing" method.
Emulsion curing. Salt, spices, binders and sodium nitrite are added directly into a bowl cutter (kitchen food processor) where they are mixed with minced meat. Crushed ice or ice cold water is slowly added and as a result an emulsified paste is obtained. This emulsified mix is then stuffed into casings but can not be submitted to smoking as the curing color has not developed yet. In this particular case meats have not been cured and more time is needed in order for the sodium nitrite to react with the meat. As the meat has been very finely comminuted, it is sufficient to hang stuffed sausages overnight in a refrigerator (38º F, 3-4º C). Then they are kept for 1-2 hours at room temperature or in a warm smokehouse at around 50º C (122º F) without smoke. The reason is to dry out the sausage casings which may be moist (condensation) when removed from a cold refrigerator into a warmer room. It also provides an extra time for curing as sodium nitrite cures even faster at such high temperatures. The normal 2-3 days curing period has been eliminated. The curing method, "emulsion curing" may not be the best choice at home conditions, unless an extra refrigerator is available.
To lower costs, a commercial manufacturer tries to accomplish the entire curing process during meat cutting and emulsifying. This is possible due to the addition of sodium erythorbate or ascorbic acid, which accelerates the production of NO (nitric oxide) between sodium nitrite (Cure #1) and meat myoglobin. As a result nitrosomyoglobin (NOMb) is formed and a cured red color is obtained much faster and is more stable.
Grinding/Emulsifying. Commercial producers will perform the first stages of production entirely in a bowl cutter. This saves time, space, simplifies equipment and allows the introduction of huge amounts of water. That amounts to extra profits as this water would be sold to a customer at the price of a sausage.
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AS-40, 70 lbs capacity bowl cutter by Koch Equipment, Kansas City, MO |
As 3 knives rotate at either 1500 or 3000 rpm, the bowl rotates at different selected speeds. This creates a clean cut and the maximum protein extraction. |
Built in thermometer |
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A typical emulsifying process: 1. Add beef to a bowl cutter rotating on low speed. 2. Add salt, sodium nitrite (Cure#1), phosphates (if used) and ingredients and 1/3 of finely crushed ice (less wear on knives). Cut on high speed. 3. Add lean pork trimmings and another 1/3 of ice. 4. Add last part of ice, all spices, color enhancers (ascorbic acid, sodium erythorbate etc), fat and fat pork trimmings. Cut and mix together. Notes:
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| 14 " diameter bowl, 2 knives at 3500 rpm. Bowl speed 24 rpm. Bowl cutter by Univex | ||
Home Production
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If a food processor is available, grind all meats with a coarse plate 3/8 (10 mm), refreeze and grind again through 3/16 (5 mm) or 1/8 (3 mm). Then process in a food processor, adding all ingredients. Keep on gradually adding crushed ice until it is completely absorbed by the meat. If this process were performed at high temperatures the emulsion would be lost and fat will separate from water. A good comparison is the process of making mayonnaise or some butter sauces. For example, if oil is added too fast to egg emulsion while whisking, the emulsion will break apart and oil will come out of the solution. If butter is added to emulsion too fast or at too high temperatures, the emulsion will be lost. The remedy is to add ice and vigorously whisk again. In commercial operations the temperature of the emulsion is continuously monitored and is kept around 15º C (59º F) or lower. |
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Cuisinart food processor |
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If no food processor available, grind all meats with a coarse plate 3/8 (10 mm), refreeze and grind again through 3/16 (5 mm) or 1/8 (3 mm). Refreeze the mixture briefly and grind the third time through 1/8 (3 mm) plate. Mix all ingredients with a cup of cold water and pour over minced meat. Start mixing, gradually adding flaked ice or cold water until a well mixed mass is obtained. We have been making wieners and frankfurters long before food processors came to be and there is no reason why we cant process them in the same way again. |
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Stuffing. Stuff hot dogs or frankfurters into sheep casings making 4-5 (10-12 cm) links. Hang them for 1 hour at room temperature to dry out the casings and then place the sausages in a smokehouse. If the smoking step is omitted proceed to cooking. The smoking step is very important during commercial manufacturing as sausages such as hot dogs or frankfurters are skinless (no casings). They are stuffed into cellulose casings and then smoked. This creates a hardened surface which becomes a sort of artificial casing. After smoking and cooking, sausages go through the machine that cuts cellulose casings lengthwise and then the casing is peeled off. The hardened surface of the sausage is strong enough to hold a sausage mass in one piece. At home the sausages are stuffed into sheepskin casings which are edible and it is entirely up to you whether to remove the casings or not. If it comes off clean (no meat attached) and easy you may remove it.
Smoking. Freshly stuffed sausages are left for 1-2 hrs at room temperature or in a warm smokehouse at around 50º C (122º F) without smoke. The purpose of this step is to dry out casings which should feel dry or tacky to touch. We all know very well that we should not smoke wet meats or sausages. Sausages are smoked at 60-70º C (140-158º F) until a reddish-brown color is obtained.
Cooking. Emulsified sausages are heat treated with steam or hot water. At home conditions they will be submerged in hot water at 75º C (167º F). Frankfurters are thin sausages and 15 minutes cooking time is plenty. Keep in mind that they have been smoked at 60-70º C (140-158º F) for about 60 minutes and are already warm and partly pre-cooked. If a sausage diameter is larger, lets say Mortadella, 60 mm, you may cook it at 75 78º C (167 172º F) for 60 minutes. A rule of thumb dictates 10 min for each 10 mm (1 cm, 3/8) of diameter of the sausage. There is no estimating time when a thermometer is used and cooking stops when the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 68-70º C (154-158º F).
Cooling. Dip sausages in cold water to cool them down. You may have to change the water once or twice depending on the size of the container and amount of production. If possible shower them or dip them very briefly with hot water to remove any grease on the surface. Hang them and wipe off any fat with a wet cloth. The reason for cooling is to bring the temperature down outside the Danger Zone (50-30º C, 122-86º) when most bacteria find favorable conditions to grow. Although the cooking process kills 99% of bacteria, nevertheless new bacteria which are present all around will start multiplying again on the surface of the sausage. It is in our interest to bring the temperature below 30ºC (86º F) as soon as possible. The sausages can be hung between 25-30º C (77-86º F) as at those temperatures moisture and heat evaporate from the surface rapidly. Then the sausages may be placed in a refrigerator.
Storing. In refrigerator.
There are some binders that might be of use to a hobbyist, though the best sausage is made without them by using quality meats only.
Soy protein isolate is a natural product that contains at leat 90% protein and no other ingredients. Soy protein concentrate is a natural product that contains 70% protein plus other ingrediens, for example, ash and some fibres. Both powders bind water extremely well and cover fat particles with fine emulsion. This prevents fats from lumping together. These powders are added at around 2% as the larger amounts will affect the taste and flavor of the product. Soy protein concentrate is cheaper and can be obtained from most online distributors.
Non fat dry milk powder is a good natural product and it does not affect the flavor of the product. It is added at about 4% and effectively binds water and emulsifies fats. Its action is very similar to that of soy protein concentrate.
Starch is often added to sausages with low meat content. Starch is added when making sauces, to trap moisture and to make sauce heavy. You can add as much as you like but around 10% (100g per kilogram of total mass) will be the upper limit.
Egg white (10-30 g per kilogram of total mass) is often added to frankfurters with low meat content. It increases protein content, forms stable gel and contributes to a firm texture of the sausage.
Phosphates sre the strongest water binders and all commercial producers use them. Most countries permit 0.5% of phospates (5g per kilogram of meat). Salt, acidic liquids are able to swell the internal texture of proteins and these can bind more water. Phosphates are able to physically open the meat structure of proteins, which in turn will trap and hold even more water. Today, the whole meat industry operates on this principle, inject the maximum amount of water and make sure it does not leak out. American emulsified sausages can hold up to 40% of fats and water over the initial weight of the meat mass.If your starting sausage mass weighed 100 lbs, then you have lost 15% during smoking and cooking you should end up with 85 lbs of product, right? Not a commercial plant, they will add up 10% fat trimmings, 30% of water and the final product will weigh 125 lbs. Pure profit. In some countries there are no rules at all, a commercial manufacturer can boost up the original weight of meat mass (100 lbs) to 160 lbs by using water. Phosphates make it possible.
Color enhancers. Ascorbate acid is added at 0.4-0.6 g per kilogram of total mass, ascorbate or erythorbate are added at 0.5-0.7 g per kilogram of total mass.
Page added on November 22, 2008.