Chapter 1 Equipment Selection Sanitary Care and Usage

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