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 Food processor with
of grinding plates and bowl, lid and cutting knife
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, Sharpening boning knife on
santoku knife, slicer, two prong ceramic bowl
fork, top honing steel,
electric sharpener
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 thermometer, digital
– Hand or digital thermometer
thermometer
– Heavy round wood disk
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
