I. Western-style Red Sausage
1. Raw Material Formula
There are many formulas for Western-style red sausage meat filling, and two common ones are as follows:
① 90 kilograms of lean meat, 10 kilograms of lard, 20 kilograms of starch, with seasonings of 3.3 kilograms of salt, 10 grams of sodium nitrite, 300 grams of monosodium glutamate, and 250 grams of five-spice powder; the length of the casing used is about 300 meters of small pig intestines.
② 30 kilograms of lean meat, 20 kilograms of fat, 50 kilograms of beef, 10 kilograms of starch, 300 grams of garlic, 100 grams of pepper; the casing used is large cow intestines.
2. Processing Equipment
The equipment for making red sausage is relatively simple, only requiring a meat grinder, sausage stuffing machine, refrigerator, oven, and boiling pot.
3. Processing Technology
① Curing. The raw meat is cured with salt to ensure that the salt evenly penetrates the meat. According to the above ingredients, the general salt addition is 3-5% of the meat weight. At the same time, add 5% of the salt weight of sodium nitrite. The lean meat should be skinned and boned first, and then cured separately from the fat meat. After rubbing evenly, place it in a refrigerator (or cold storage) at 3-4℃ for 2-3 days.
② Mixing. Cut the cured meat into small pieces and add the seasonings, then put it into the meat grinder to mince. Then pour it into the starch dissolved in water and mix well. At this time, the fat meat or pork can also be added. The meat filling should be thoroughly mixed, adding water while mixing, with the water addition being 30-40% of the meat weight, until the meat filling is sticky.
③ Stuffing. Use a sausage stuffing machine to stuff the meat filling into the casing. After stuffing, tie each section with a thin rope at intervals of about 20 centimeters.
④ Baking. Put the red sausage into the oven to bake. The baking temperature should be controlled at 65-80℃. The baking time varies depending on the thickness of the casing, with 0.5-1 hour for thin casings and 1-2 hours for thick ones. The baking standard is that the casing is dry and the meat filling is red.
⑤ Boiling. Boil the red sausage in water. The boiling temperature is 80℃. The boiling time varies depending on the type of casing, with 10-15 minutes for sheep intestines, 20-30 minutes for pig intestines, and 0.5-1.0 hour for cow intestines. The boiling standard is that the sausage body is hard and elastic.
II. Harbin Red Sausage
1. Raw materials and processing: Select fresh pork with medium fat content and fresh lean beef. Remove bones, tendons and sinews from the selected lean meat, and then cut the lean and fat meat into blocks about 10 cm long, 5-6 cm wide and 2 cm thick.
2. Ingredients: (Based on 60 pounds of lean pork, 40 pounds of fat pork and 100 pounds of beef): 20 pounds of starch, 0.6 pounds of garlic, 0.2 pounds of black pepper, 5-6 pounds of salt, and saltpeter at half the weight of the meat.
3. Curing and making the filling: Mix the salt, saltpeter and the fat and lean meat blocks evenly and stir well. Curing at 3-4℃ for 2-3 days. Grind the cured lean meat through a meat grinder with a 2-3 mm diameter sieve plate, and then chop the minced meat again with a knife (the temperature of the minced meat should not exceed 10℃). Cut the cured fat into 1 cm³ fat cubes. Mix the meat with garlic and black pepper evenly. First, mix the beef filling with an appropriate amount of cold water for 5-6 minutes, then dissolve the starch in water and add it to the meat filling with the other ingredients. Finally, add the fat cubes and stir for 2-3 minutes.
4. Stuffing and baking: Soak the small intestines of cattle or pigs clean and stuff them according to the requirements for making sausages. Choose oak, linden, birch, elm or other wood with less resin as fuel for baking. Place the firewood crosswise in the oven to start the fire. When the oven temperature reaches 60-70℃, start baking. The lower end of the stuffed intestines should be at least 60 cm away from the fire. Every 5-10 minutes, switch the positions of the stuffed intestines inside and outside, up and down. Keep the oven temperature at 65-85℃. After 25-40 minutes of baking, the casing becomes semi-transparent, the surface is dry, and there is no grease flowing out of the surface or the end of the casing, then it is done.
5. Boiling and smoking: Put the stuffed intestines in the pot when the water temperature is 85-90℃, and keep the temperature at 78-84℃. After boiling, smoke them in a smoking room at 35-40℃ for 12 hours to get the finished product. Characteristics of the finished product: Good elasticity, rich in nutrition, tender and delicious.
III. Modernized Production of Traditional Harbin Red Sausage
Harbin red sausage, also known as "Lidao Si" in Russian, originated from Lithuania in Eastern Europe. After the construction of the Middle East Railway in 1898, a large number of foreigners entered Harbin and brought meat products with them. The sausage from Lithuania is of a dark red color, thus it is also called red sausage. Due to its origin in Harbin, more people call it Harbin red sausage. After over 100 years of development, Harbin red sausage has become a symbol of Harbin's specialties. It is renowned for its fine production process, with a glossy and wrinkled surface, a smoky aroma, delicious taste, dry texture, high protein content, and rich nutrition. However, in modern production, due to changes in production cycle and packaging form, the product's characteristics have become less distinct. Through repeated experiments, the following measures have been taken: (1) Altering the grinding and curing process to emphasize the meat particle texture; (2) Modifying the cooking and smoking process to enhance the smoky flavor, create wrinkles on the surface, and shorten the production time; (3) Adjusting the packaging and secondary sterilization process to prevent the disappearance of surface wrinkles. Through these process changes, the most suitable method for modern production of Harbin red sausage is sought.
1. Altering the grinding and curing process to emphasize the meat particle texture: One of the important features of red sausage is the uneven meat particle texture on its surface. High-quality red sausage shows distinct red meat particles and has fine wrinkles on the surface. In the production of red sausage, the raw meat is usually ground through a 6mm sieve and then cured. After curing, the red meat is thoroughly mixed with starch, water, and other ingredients during the stuffing process, which gives the product a good structure, flavor, and texture. However, in current production, the processing needs to be reanalyzed and redesigned for convenience in production and circulation.
1.1 Processing of raw meat: Trim the raw meat to remove excess connective tissue. Cut 50% of the No. 4 meat into appropriately sized pieces for curing to ensure that the cured meat has strong elasticity and maintains a good meat particle texture.
The fat should be cured separately, using large pieces of back fat. During curing, evenly sprinkle about 2% salt on the surface of the fat to extract the moisture and ensure the hardness and shape of the fat particles.
1.2 Chopping and mixing of raw meat: Chop the remaining 50% of the No. 4 meat and then cure it. The emulsified meat paste becomes more delicate and viscous, with better water retention, and the product surface is more likely to develop fine wrinkles. Through the above processing of raw meat, the water retention of the product is improved, the meat particle texture on the cross-section is stronger, and the meat flavor is more intense.
1.3 Control of the curing process: The curing of meat is a decisive step in the production of Harbin red sausage. The quality of the curing directly affects the meat texture, taste, flavor, and color of the product.
The stirring time before curing should be short, mainly to mix the salt and nitrite evenly, without destroying the natural structure of the meat and extracting salt-soluble proteins. The curing environment temperature should be controlled at 4-10℃, and the meat temperature at 3-8℃ is optimal. If the temperature is too low, the meat will not develop a good color. A suitable temperature is conducive to natural microbial fermentation of the meat, resulting in a better flavor. If the meat temperature is too high, such as reaching around 15℃ and cured for 2-3 days, the meat color will turn brown or gray, and the elasticity will be lost.
The cured meat pieces are a beautiful rose red, and the red meat particles are clearly visible after each process of secondary mixing, stuffing, and drying in the smoking oven.
1.4 Use of additives: The fat content of the lean meat in Harbin red sausage should be low, and the fat should not be emulsified to ensure the product has a good structure. Do not use excessive phosphates to prevent the extraction of salt-soluble proteins from the meat, which would result in a brittle texture.
Adding 50% potato starch and 50% modified starch to Harbin red sausage can significantly improve the hardness, elasticity, and chewiness of the product. Do not use flavoring agents; the flavor of the product mainly comes from the natural flavor of the meat and the aroma of pepper. One third of the fresh garlic added can be replaced by garlic powder, which can highlight the garlic flavor while reducing the bitter taste of garlic.
2. Altering the steaming and smoking processes to make the product have a rich smoky flavor, a wrinkled surface, and shorten the production time. In the production of Harbin sausages, smoking is an important process. Smoking not only enhances the flavor of the product but also dries it, giving the surface a luster and a walnut shell-like texture. At the same time, the phenols and aldehydes in the smoke have a sterilizing effect, which is beneficial for the preservation and anti-mold of the product, extending its shelf life. There is a significant difference in the products made from the same meat filling using traditional smoking ovens and modern smoking ovens. The traditional smoking process is time-consuming and not conducive to production. By adjusting the temperature and other aspects of the modern smoking oven, the production cycle can be shortened while ensuring product quality.
2.1 Control of the steaming process: The steaming process is the most important factor affecting the formation of wrinkles. Using a modern steaming oven, the pre-drying temperature should be high, around 90°C, for about 90 minutes. This is mainly to allow the product to lose water rapidly at high temperatures, forming uniform wrinkled stripes. The post-drying is to stabilize the wrinkles of the product.
2.2 Control of the smoking process: The smoky flavor of Harbin sausages is usually very strong, which is also one of its main characteristics. Using the current Western-style sausage smoking method, after smoking for 4 to 6 hours, there is almost no smoky flavor. Through analysis and experimentation, a special process for obtaining a smoky flavor was found, as follows:
2.2.1 Smoking for flavoring after drying the product: The drying process determines the formation and stability of the pure smoky flavor of the product. After 1 hour of drying in the drying room, the surface of the product is generally cool and moist. When smoked at a low temperature (generally controlled at 70-90°C) in a traditional oven, the surface humidity of the product is very high when exposed to hot air, and the smoke particles produced by the burning of wood sticks can easily adhere to the surface of the product.
2.2.2 Smoking process: Through comparison and experimental verification, to obtain a pure and rich smoky flavor of the sausage, it is best not to use sawdust and sugar during smoking for flavoring. Otherwise, the product will have a mixed caramel flavor from the sugar at high temperatures, and the smoky flavor will become impure. Use hard wood to produce smoke, with the oven temperature around 80°C. A temperature that is too low will not allow the product to absorb the flavor well, and a temperature that is too high may cause the sausage to burst or release oil.
3. Altering packaging and secondary sterilization processes to prevent the wrinkles from disappearing: The sales mode of Harbin sausages is mainly traditional bulk sales, and they can be found in large, medium, and small supermarkets. Their shelf life is generally no more than 7 days, and in the hot summer season, they may spoil within 1 to 2 days. The short shelf life severely limits their market promotion.
However, in recent years, meat processing enterprises have vacuum-packed traditional sausages to improve the competitiveness of meat and meat products. This can effectively slow down the changes in the physical and chemical indicators, microbial indicators, and sensory quality of the product, effectively extending the shelf life of Harbin sausages. However, vacuum-packed and sterilized products tend to be dry and lose their wrinkles. By modifying the existing process, product quality can be ensured.
3.1 Selection of packaging bags and vacuum degree: Use high-temperature resistant and high-barrier materials for packaging to avoid producing defective products after sterilization. Under the premise of ensuring the product is tightly packed, shorten the vacuum degree and vacuuming time as much as possible to maintain the sensory quality of the product to the greatest extent.
3.2 Control of secondary sterilization: It was found through experiments that after secondary sterilization, if the product is cooled in water at 10-20°C, the wrinkled effect is not as good. If it is cooled in cold water at 0-5°C, the surface of the product cools and contracts rapidly, and the wrinkles return to their state before sterilization. The lower the water temperature, the more obvious the wrinkles. Through the above production process adjustments, Harbin sausages can have a pure fat aroma, a rich smoky flavor, a prominent garlic flavor, a tight structure, visible small red meat particles, a dark red surface, and obvious walnut-like wrinkles.
1. Raw Material Formula
There are many formulas for Western-style red sausage meat filling, and two common ones are as follows:
① 90 kilograms of lean meat, 10 kilograms of lard, 20 kilograms of starch, with seasonings of 3.3 kilograms of salt, 10 grams of sodium nitrite, 300 grams of monosodium glutamate, and 250 grams of five-spice powder; the length of the casing used is about 300 meters of small pig intestines.
② 30 kilograms of lean meat, 20 kilograms of fat, 50 kilograms of beef, 10 kilograms of starch, 300 grams of garlic, 100 grams of pepper; the casing used is large cow intestines.
2. Processing Equipment
The equipment for making red sausage is relatively simple, only requiring a meat grinder, sausage stuffing machine, refrigerator, oven, and boiling pot.
3. Processing Technology
① Curing. The raw meat is cured with salt to ensure that the salt evenly penetrates the meat. According to the above ingredients, the general salt addition is 3-5% of the meat weight. At the same time, add 5% of the salt weight of sodium nitrite. The lean meat should be skinned and boned first, and then cured separately from the fat meat. After rubbing evenly, place it in a refrigerator (or cold storage) at 3-4℃ for 2-3 days.
② Mixing. Cut the cured meat into small pieces and add the seasonings, then put it into the meat grinder to mince. Then pour it into the starch dissolved in water and mix well. At this time, the fat meat or pork can also be added. The meat filling should be thoroughly mixed, adding water while mixing, with the water addition being 30-40% of the meat weight, until the meat filling is sticky.
③ Stuffing. Use a sausage stuffing machine to stuff the meat filling into the casing. After stuffing, tie each section with a thin rope at intervals of about 20 centimeters.
④ Baking. Put the red sausage into the oven to bake. The baking temperature should be controlled at 65-80℃. The baking time varies depending on the thickness of the casing, with 0.5-1 hour for thin casings and 1-2 hours for thick ones. The baking standard is that the casing is dry and the meat filling is red.
⑤ Boiling. Boil the red sausage in water. The boiling temperature is 80℃. The boiling time varies depending on the type of casing, with 10-15 minutes for sheep intestines, 20-30 minutes for pig intestines, and 0.5-1.0 hour for cow intestines. The boiling standard is that the sausage body is hard and elastic.
II. Harbin Red Sausage
1. Raw materials and processing: Select fresh pork with medium fat content and fresh lean beef. Remove bones, tendons and sinews from the selected lean meat, and then cut the lean and fat meat into blocks about 10 cm long, 5-6 cm wide and 2 cm thick.
2. Ingredients: (Based on 60 pounds of lean pork, 40 pounds of fat pork and 100 pounds of beef): 20 pounds of starch, 0.6 pounds of garlic, 0.2 pounds of black pepper, 5-6 pounds of salt, and saltpeter at half the weight of the meat.
3. Curing and making the filling: Mix the salt, saltpeter and the fat and lean meat blocks evenly and stir well. Curing at 3-4℃ for 2-3 days. Grind the cured lean meat through a meat grinder with a 2-3 mm diameter sieve plate, and then chop the minced meat again with a knife (the temperature of the minced meat should not exceed 10℃). Cut the cured fat into 1 cm³ fat cubes. Mix the meat with garlic and black pepper evenly. First, mix the beef filling with an appropriate amount of cold water for 5-6 minutes, then dissolve the starch in water and add it to the meat filling with the other ingredients. Finally, add the fat cubes and stir for 2-3 minutes.
4. Stuffing and baking: Soak the small intestines of cattle or pigs clean and stuff them according to the requirements for making sausages. Choose oak, linden, birch, elm or other wood with less resin as fuel for baking. Place the firewood crosswise in the oven to start the fire. When the oven temperature reaches 60-70℃, start baking. The lower end of the stuffed intestines should be at least 60 cm away from the fire. Every 5-10 minutes, switch the positions of the stuffed intestines inside and outside, up and down. Keep the oven temperature at 65-85℃. After 25-40 minutes of baking, the casing becomes semi-transparent, the surface is dry, and there is no grease flowing out of the surface or the end of the casing, then it is done.
5. Boiling and smoking: Put the stuffed intestines in the pot when the water temperature is 85-90℃, and keep the temperature at 78-84℃. After boiling, smoke them in a smoking room at 35-40℃ for 12 hours to get the finished product. Characteristics of the finished product: Good elasticity, rich in nutrition, tender and delicious.
III. Modernized Production of Traditional Harbin Red Sausage
Harbin red sausage, also known as "Lidao Si" in Russian, originated from Lithuania in Eastern Europe. After the construction of the Middle East Railway in 1898, a large number of foreigners entered Harbin and brought meat products with them. The sausage from Lithuania is of a dark red color, thus it is also called red sausage. Due to its origin in Harbin, more people call it Harbin red sausage. After over 100 years of development, Harbin red sausage has become a symbol of Harbin's specialties. It is renowned for its fine production process, with a glossy and wrinkled surface, a smoky aroma, delicious taste, dry texture, high protein content, and rich nutrition. However, in modern production, due to changes in production cycle and packaging form, the product's characteristics have become less distinct. Through repeated experiments, the following measures have been taken: (1) Altering the grinding and curing process to emphasize the meat particle texture; (2) Modifying the cooking and smoking process to enhance the smoky flavor, create wrinkles on the surface, and shorten the production time; (3) Adjusting the packaging and secondary sterilization process to prevent the disappearance of surface wrinkles. Through these process changes, the most suitable method for modern production of Harbin red sausage is sought.
1. Altering the grinding and curing process to emphasize the meat particle texture: One of the important features of red sausage is the uneven meat particle texture on its surface. High-quality red sausage shows distinct red meat particles and has fine wrinkles on the surface. In the production of red sausage, the raw meat is usually ground through a 6mm sieve and then cured. After curing, the red meat is thoroughly mixed with starch, water, and other ingredients during the stuffing process, which gives the product a good structure, flavor, and texture. However, in current production, the processing needs to be reanalyzed and redesigned for convenience in production and circulation.
1.1 Processing of raw meat: Trim the raw meat to remove excess connective tissue. Cut 50% of the No. 4 meat into appropriately sized pieces for curing to ensure that the cured meat has strong elasticity and maintains a good meat particle texture.
The fat should be cured separately, using large pieces of back fat. During curing, evenly sprinkle about 2% salt on the surface of the fat to extract the moisture and ensure the hardness and shape of the fat particles.
1.2 Chopping and mixing of raw meat: Chop the remaining 50% of the No. 4 meat and then cure it. The emulsified meat paste becomes more delicate and viscous, with better water retention, and the product surface is more likely to develop fine wrinkles. Through the above processing of raw meat, the water retention of the product is improved, the meat particle texture on the cross-section is stronger, and the meat flavor is more intense.
1.3 Control of the curing process: The curing of meat is a decisive step in the production of Harbin red sausage. The quality of the curing directly affects the meat texture, taste, flavor, and color of the product.
The stirring time before curing should be short, mainly to mix the salt and nitrite evenly, without destroying the natural structure of the meat and extracting salt-soluble proteins. The curing environment temperature should be controlled at 4-10℃, and the meat temperature at 3-8℃ is optimal. If the temperature is too low, the meat will not develop a good color. A suitable temperature is conducive to natural microbial fermentation of the meat, resulting in a better flavor. If the meat temperature is too high, such as reaching around 15℃ and cured for 2-3 days, the meat color will turn brown or gray, and the elasticity will be lost.
The cured meat pieces are a beautiful rose red, and the red meat particles are clearly visible after each process of secondary mixing, stuffing, and drying in the smoking oven.
1.4 Use of additives: The fat content of the lean meat in Harbin red sausage should be low, and the fat should not be emulsified to ensure the product has a good structure. Do not use excessive phosphates to prevent the extraction of salt-soluble proteins from the meat, which would result in a brittle texture.
Adding 50% potato starch and 50% modified starch to Harbin red sausage can significantly improve the hardness, elasticity, and chewiness of the product. Do not use flavoring agents; the flavor of the product mainly comes from the natural flavor of the meat and the aroma of pepper. One third of the fresh garlic added can be replaced by garlic powder, which can highlight the garlic flavor while reducing the bitter taste of garlic.
2. Altering the steaming and smoking processes to make the product have a rich smoky flavor, a wrinkled surface, and shorten the production time. In the production of Harbin sausages, smoking is an important process. Smoking not only enhances the flavor of the product but also dries it, giving the surface a luster and a walnut shell-like texture. At the same time, the phenols and aldehydes in the smoke have a sterilizing effect, which is beneficial for the preservation and anti-mold of the product, extending its shelf life. There is a significant difference in the products made from the same meat filling using traditional smoking ovens and modern smoking ovens. The traditional smoking process is time-consuming and not conducive to production. By adjusting the temperature and other aspects of the modern smoking oven, the production cycle can be shortened while ensuring product quality.
2.1 Control of the steaming process: The steaming process is the most important factor affecting the formation of wrinkles. Using a modern steaming oven, the pre-drying temperature should be high, around 90°C, for about 90 minutes. This is mainly to allow the product to lose water rapidly at high temperatures, forming uniform wrinkled stripes. The post-drying is to stabilize the wrinkles of the product.
2.2 Control of the smoking process: The smoky flavor of Harbin sausages is usually very strong, which is also one of its main characteristics. Using the current Western-style sausage smoking method, after smoking for 4 to 6 hours, there is almost no smoky flavor. Through analysis and experimentation, a special process for obtaining a smoky flavor was found, as follows:
2.2.1 Smoking for flavoring after drying the product: The drying process determines the formation and stability of the pure smoky flavor of the product. After 1 hour of drying in the drying room, the surface of the product is generally cool and moist. When smoked at a low temperature (generally controlled at 70-90°C) in a traditional oven, the surface humidity of the product is very high when exposed to hot air, and the smoke particles produced by the burning of wood sticks can easily adhere to the surface of the product.
2.2.2 Smoking process: Through comparison and experimental verification, to obtain a pure and rich smoky flavor of the sausage, it is best not to use sawdust and sugar during smoking for flavoring. Otherwise, the product will have a mixed caramel flavor from the sugar at high temperatures, and the smoky flavor will become impure. Use hard wood to produce smoke, with the oven temperature around 80°C. A temperature that is too low will not allow the product to absorb the flavor well, and a temperature that is too high may cause the sausage to burst or release oil.
3. Altering packaging and secondary sterilization processes to prevent the wrinkles from disappearing: The sales mode of Harbin sausages is mainly traditional bulk sales, and they can be found in large, medium, and small supermarkets. Their shelf life is generally no more than 7 days, and in the hot summer season, they may spoil within 1 to 2 days. The short shelf life severely limits their market promotion.
However, in recent years, meat processing enterprises have vacuum-packed traditional sausages to improve the competitiveness of meat and meat products. This can effectively slow down the changes in the physical and chemical indicators, microbial indicators, and sensory quality of the product, effectively extending the shelf life of Harbin sausages. However, vacuum-packed and sterilized products tend to be dry and lose their wrinkles. By modifying the existing process, product quality can be ensured.
3.1 Selection of packaging bags and vacuum degree: Use high-temperature resistant and high-barrier materials for packaging to avoid producing defective products after sterilization. Under the premise of ensuring the product is tightly packed, shorten the vacuum degree and vacuuming time as much as possible to maintain the sensory quality of the product to the greatest extent.
3.2 Control of secondary sterilization: It was found through experiments that after secondary sterilization, if the product is cooled in water at 10-20°C, the wrinkled effect is not as good. If it is cooled in cold water at 0-5°C, the surface of the product cools and contracts rapidly, and the wrinkles return to their state before sterilization. The lower the water temperature, the more obvious the wrinkles. Through the above production process adjustments, Harbin sausages can have a pure fat aroma, a rich smoky flavor, a prominent garlic flavor, a tight structure, visible small red meat particles, a dark red surface, and obvious walnut-like wrinkles.
