Tesi Johnson, Gleaner Writer
A flaker shreds the raw meat before it is placed in a chopper where it will be finely ground and combined with seasonings, spices, a binder and other additives. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
CONTRARY TO popular belief, sausages are not generally made from the unwanted meat parts or meat scraps. At the Old MacDonald sausage factory in Clarendon, sausages are made using the prime parts of fresh chicken or pork meat.
The chicken sausage starts out as deboned chicken meat, imported from Canada or the United Kingdom, which contain a maximum of two per cent fat. Likewise, the fresh cuts of pork are skinned and deboned leaving thick cutlets of meat, with minimal fat. Once the meat kind arrives at the Old MacDonald freezer, samples are sent off to a laboratory to be checked for bacterial content. The chicken especially is expected to have naturally occurring bacteria, but not past a certain level, so the laboratory needs to ensure that it is fit for human consumption. Once given clearance from the lab, the sausage-making process may begin. Notably, the process is the same for both chicken and pork sausages, with the only significant difference being in their cooking times.
BLOCKS OF MEAT
Now, blocks of meat are placed into a 'flaker', where they are shredded. The shredded meat is then placed into a chopper where it is combined with all the seasonings and spices that give the brand its characteristic flavour. A binder is also added to the mix, for obvious reasons, as well as food colouring, salt, hickory smoke for flavour, and other additives. The reddish-pink slush that results is called a sausage emulsion.
The emulsion is then moved to a 'stuffer' where it is stuffed into a casing, creating links of sausages. These links are then hung on racks called smokehouse trucks or trees where they are transported to the smokehouse. In a computerised smokehouse, the sausages are simultaneously heated and smoked according to the programmed temperature, time, core temperature - the temperature within the sausage - and humidity. Once the product has attained the predetermined core temperature cooking will cease automatically and the sausages are showered with cold water.
In the chicken sausages, this occurs once they attain 72°F and at 68°F for the pork sausages. Showering is necessary so that the casing can be easily removed, much like when hard-boiled eggs are shocked in cold water so that the eggshell might be easily removed. After that, they are chilled overnight to 40°F. Chilling before packaging is required because bacteria thrive in warm temperatures so the temperature of the product must be reduced in order to extend its shelf life.
The sausages are then peeled to completely remove the casing before being packaged, either by vacuum sealing or just ordinary bagging. They are then boxed up and loaded unto trucks to be sent out to the stores where they will ultimately make it into your home.
DID YOU KNOW?
The sausages on the shelves, the Old MacDonald ones at least, are fully cooked upon leaving the smokehouse, so there is no need to cook them again, only to reheat. You are actually overcooking the sausages when you boil, fry, bake, grill or microwave them until they are plump.
Bologna is made from huge sausages made in a similar way as regular frankfurters, only using different seasonings and spices. These gargantuan franks are thinly sliced then packaged. Also, salami, thinly sliced sausages made using a particular combination of seasonings and spices.
