Different Types of Sausages

Variations of sausages are made available in different cultures and cooking styles. Nowadays, we see and taste sausages in all forms and their flavors have been quite distinctive as well. Some of it is classified as ready to eat while others require maximum precautions of thorough cooking. This is the reason why there have been various divisions which separates the different types of sausages based on how it has been prepared. Sausages are usually made out of ground or minced meat for as long as it is chopped exceedingly small, with pounded spices, aromatic herbs, and animal fat (Lee 193).
This food is always packed in a casing and can be easily perceived as a food which is elongated in form. The casings in traditional sausage making are made out of intestines of animals. However, times have changed and now sausage makers utilize synthetic as an alternative to the animal intestines. There are also variations in its ingredients. A sausage can actually be made out of poultry or red meat, and are served cooked or uncooked. These different kinds of sausages are further classified into various types. Cooked Sausage
One classification of sausages is a special kind which is cooked. This kind of sausage is branded with such delight as it is made with a certain way in which it is cooked in a heated oven then eaten immediately after the cooking or may be preserved to be eaten at a later time. The procedure of making this kind of sausage starts with the mincing of the meat in a very fine consistency. Along with the minced meat, come the ingredients, spices, and cure that make up the sausage’s flavor and prolong its shelf life for its storage.

After all these are combined, cooked sausages require a great effort of mincing to achieve a certain fine texture requirement. This serves as the stuffing of the sausage. After the combining and mincing process, the stuffed created out of the both processes are put into a casing which is later dried. This, thereafter, is cooked as its final stage in an oven, then either served immediately or stored in a refrigerator for preservation. Cooked sausages are usually made available through various forms.
Some of which are as follows; bratwurst, knockwurst, liverwurst, salami, bologna, blood sausage, hot dogs, jellied beef loaf, thurignger style and braunshweiger (Grigson 84). Fresh Sausage Usually, the curing of sausages which serves as the preservative is used in cooked sausages; however another type of sausage does not require exactly the same initial stage of preservation. This kind of sausage is known as the Fresh Sausage in which it is made out of fresh meats that has not been previously cured. Fresh sausages require tremendous cooling in the refrigerator.
The method requires such kind of refrigeration as keeping the meat cold stores the fat. This is true in its sense as the fat melts when the meat is left warm. The lack of moisture out of the warmness of the sausage only leads to the grainy texture of the sausage. This sausage, after being made and being kept in the refrigerator should be cooked thoroughly before serving. Undercooked sausages are deemed to be toxic at a certain extent if not safely prepared. The content of fresh sausages differs from various styles and forms.
A whole hog of sausage, for example, contains swine meat and has no more than a fat weight of 50 %. This goes with breakfast sausages as well as it is similar to fat weight which contains various kinds of meat. Italian Sausage, on the other hand, contains 85 % meat, sometimes a combination of meat and fat. This also contains herbs and spices and a little amount of water. Fresh pork sausages, however, may contain no more than 50% fat weight and is prohibited to contain pork byproduct. Fresh beef sausages, also, may not contain beef byproduct and can only have around 35% fat weight (Coxe 196).
Dry Sausage Another type of sausage has been made available to us under circumstances of elongated preservation. Normally, sausages require tremendous attention in taking note its shelf life. However, a type of sausage is set aside for its prolonged shelf-life under proper refrigeration. This type is called the dry sausage. Dry sausages are very much intricate in production and require more time in preparing compared to other types of sausages. Also, this type of sausage has a more concentrated form of meat.
To further illustrate this type of sausage, examples of this are classified into the following; chorizo, pepperoni, Genoa Salami, and Frizzes. Cooked Smoked Sausage Another type of a sausage is classified as a Cooked Smoked sausage. This kind of sausage falls into the same category as the cooked sausage because of its similarities in its production process. As its name suggests, Cooked Smoked Sausage is also prepared the same way as the Cooked Sausage is made, however another method is added into the procedure to make this kind of sausage.
Smoking is integrated to complete the procedure. This method is employed as a means of preserving the sausage as there are implications on how the chemicals in the smoking process builds up in the sausage’s storage life. However, nowadays the smoking method gives in more than the preservative feature; it is now perceived as a means of cultivating flavor in the sausage brought about by the cooking procedure itself The smoking method is done by drying the sausage as its initial stage of the process as its moist surface may actually mottle the surface.
There are two variations in smoking a sausage; cold smoking and hot smoking. Cold smoking is usually done in a room temperature between 70 and 90 degrees. This kind of smoking can actually take up a week to complete the process. Hot smoking, in the other hand, is done in a room temperature that is between 100 and 190 degrees. Fresh Smoked Sausage The smoking method is also employed in fresh sausages. Though smoked sausages are previously discussed as a method which is utilized after the cooking of sausages in a heated oven, the smoking method also gives the same amount of flavor to fresh sausages.
This is the reason the smoking process is integrated to the making of fresh sausages as the distinct smoky flavor gives the exact same flavor it gives to the cooking process. The process of cooking of this kind of sausage is quite simple. It basically integrates the making of a fresh sausage and the smoking process. After making the fresh sausage, which involves constant chilling to keep the texture and the fat intact, the smoking process is subsequently applied.
All these types of sausages are classifications which makes it more comprehensible to us the different cooking styles employed to various kinds of sausages. Some of these sausages can be classified into various common forms which have different flavor and ingredients; Salami, Summer Sausage, Italian Sausage, British Sausage, Braunschweiger, Liver Sausage, and a lot more. With the variety of sausages available to us, it is quite indiscernible as to how a sausage has been made. These types make it easier for us to know the ways in which a certain flavor has been achieved and how the process has preserved it.