1. Meat Grinder
Function of Meat Grinder: To cut large chunks of meat into small particles.Working principle: Meat material is conveyed by the screw, pushed forward through the grinding cylinder with regular guide ribs, then extruded from the hole plate and cut into granules by the rotating cutting knife.The hole plate has standard and customized specifications. The minimum aperture is generally 3mm, and the maximum is 32mm.
Although the meat grinder seems simple, it is actually not easy to manufacture a high-performance one. Concentricity and the guide ribs of the grinding cylinder are the most critical factors.
The core indicator to evaluate the performance of a meat grinder is the temperature difference between meat temperature before grinding and after grinding. The smaller the temperature difference, the better the grinder performance. Normally, a temperature difference controlled within 2℃ is reasonable.
Some meat grinders are equipped with a separation device to separate connective tissues such as tendons and sinews, known as tendon-removing meat grinders. For some manufacturers with special process requirements, this type of grinder is regarded as the most essential equipment.
High-quality meat grinders can produce well-defined meat particles; even fat can be ground into distinct grains. Clear and intact particles mean minimal damage to meat texture, reflecting better processing efficiency of the grinder.
2. Bowl Cutter
The bowl cutter is the core equipment for extracting salt-soluble protein in sausage emulsification and dicing processing. Its function is to rapidly extract protein and form a gel with water in raw materials at 2～8℃, creating a viscous emulsion.
Working principle: Six blades installed on a high-speed rotating shaft perform high-speed chopping on meat materials in a variable-speed rotary bowl. Its capacity to extract salt-soluble protein is unmatched by other equipment. A high-quality bowl cutter can achieve a salt-soluble protein extraction rate of up to 68%.
The bowl cutter has more functions than the above. It also effectively reduces production costs and improves product flavor. It is no exaggeration to regard it as the core equipment for meat product processing.
It can high-speed emulsify pork rind, chicken skin, and minced meat that cannot be processed by meat grinders.Example: Adding an appropriate amount of chicken skin emulsion to Taiwan-style grilled sausage can not only reduce costs but also enrich product flavor.
3. Mixer (Blender)
The mixer is a simple and traditional equipment. Its main function is to mix refined raw materials with auxiliary materials and water to achieve homogeneity for the next processing procedure.
Though structurally simple, the mixer is indispensable for certain traditional meat products to maintain original flavor, texture and mouthfeel. Typical products include Harbin Red Sausage, Shanghai Big Red Sausage, Maling Luncheon Meat, etc. If emulsified with equipment like bowl cutters, the finished products will have abnormal taste and texture. Therefore, arbitrarily changing the traditional craft for classic products may lead to adverse effects.
There are three common types of mixers:
Adopting former Soviet technology with double worm gear shaft structure. Meat materials tumble in the tank under vacuum to achieve homogeneous meat slurry.
Danish imitation type. Several pairs of slightly inclined blades are mounted on the stirring shaft. During mixing, the blades simulate hand tumbling with forward, reverse and counter rotation. It supports PLC program control and realizes slurry homogenization under vacuum.
Dough mixer style. Several slightly inclined flat bars are welded on the stirring shaft. This structure is simple but prone to dead mixing corners, and is rarely used in modern meat processing enterprises.
4. Tumbler
Tumblers are originally used for producing large-piece meat hams, and now widely applied in granular sausage production.
Main function: When the tumbling drum rotates at low speed, the material slurry falls up and down to extract salt-soluble protein.
The working principle is very simple; it is jokingly called a stainless steel vacuum concrete mixer. As Nobel laureate physicist Tsung-Dao Lee said: Important things are often simple. The tumbler is exactly such simple yet vital equipment.
The tumbling process is essentially a dynamic marination process for meat-based materials. It greatly shortens static marination time. Under vacuum conditions, meat tissues expand, allowing brine, water and flavoring agents to penetrate into meat fillings more evenly and quickly to realize rapid marination.
Tumblers are divided into vacuum type and non-vacuum type.The non-vacuum tumbler is also called a massager, featuring a square drum and planetary massage paddles. It slowly massages meat chunks to extract protein, delivering excellent effects for high-end tenderloin roasted meat, full-meat smoked brine ham and cooked square brine ham.
Vacuum tumblers have various models and appearances, with two basic structural principles:
One type with rolling ribs welded on the drum wall, such as the common hydraulic split 750-type tumbler.
The other with reverse discharge baffles inside the drum, such as breathing-style 1500/2500 tumblers.
Although both are tumblers, their applications differ:
Choose the ribbed drum type for whole meat chunks such as barbecued pork and roasted meat, which forms a smooth and glossy surface on meat blocks.
Either type is suitable for slurry products. Baffle-type tumblers form rough, burr-like and nodular surfaces on meat chunks, affecting appearance and appetite.
5. Filling Machine
Filling machines are divided into two main categories:
Positive Pressure Sausage Stuffer
This type requires no vacuum and has the simplest structure. A piston pushes meat material out through the filling tube in a sealed 250–400mm diameter tank, driven mainly by hydraulic or pneumatic power (hydraulic drive is more stable).
With the development of electronic and computer control technology, the original plunger-type stuffer now supports full automatic control, with functions of quantitative filling, continuous automatic twisting, clipping and tying. It is highly suitable for Chinese-style sausage production.
Negative Pressure Vacuum Sausage Stuffer
All adopt an open funnel design. Meat enters the meat pump through vacuum negative pressure and spiral rotation inside the funnel, then is delivered out of the filling tube by pump rotation.
This type has become the mainstream equipment for manufacturers. Advantages: continuous and controllable filling and sealing process, easy automatic production and high output.
Vacuum sausage stuffers include vane type, twin-screw type and gear type.
6. Aluminum Clip Clipping Machine
Aluminum clip clipping machines are mainly used for sealing large-diameter and thick casings, including nylon casing, fibrous casing, fiber-coated casing and non-edible large-diameter collagen casing.
Three main types:
U-type Clip Clipping Machine: Available in manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic models. Clip sizes vary according to casing diameter and hardness. Manual models make single clips; semi-automatic and fully automatic ones make double clips, commonly used for small-diameter ham and sausage sealing.
Aluminum Wire Clipping Machine: Limited application scope, mainly for small-diameter sausages filled with nylon casing, such as popular grilled sausages and ham sausages filled with tubular PVDC film. This type once had huge sales volume in China.
Great Wall Clip Clipping Machine: Mostly fully automatic. Featured with superior sealing performance, it is known as the "lifesaving clip" in ham processing. Products sealed by this machine enjoy longer shelf life.
7. Twisting System
Small-diameter sausages are sealed and portioned by twisting the casing itself. High working speed and high efficiency are the main advantages of twisting portioning.
Twisting systems are classified into three major types:
Twister + Clamp Unit: The most common type and mainstream purchase choice for meat processing factories five years ago. It is an auxiliary functional device installed on sausage stuffers, similar to meatball or hamburger patty forming devices. It operates in pulsating mode; the smaller the particle, the higher the pulsation frequency, leading to high failure rate. Synchronous belts, damping rings and precision gears are vulnerable to wear with high maintenance costs. After long-term use, accumulated errors cause uneven sausage length.
Bowknot Type Twisting: The twisting unit and bowknot unit run continuously. The bowknot unit controls portion compression. Advantages: ultra-high twisting speed of 650～2000 pieces per minute (depending on casing strength); particle size adjusted by bowknot rotating speed (faster speed for smaller particles). Disadvantage: The front traction conveyor belt is prone to fatigue damage under high speed, with an expensive replacement cost of about 6000 RMB per belt.
Portion Compression Twisting System: Two structures — conveyor belt type and turntable type.
Conveyor belt type: Stainless steel compression pieces ensure consistent sausage length and weight, but only applicable to high-strength fibrous casings; easy to damage collagen casings during twisting.
Manual customized portion compression turntable: Unique and unparalleled advantages for small-diameter collagen casing sausages, with higher accuracy for producing smaller granular sausages.
Function of Meat Grinder: To cut large chunks of meat into small particles.Working principle: Meat material is conveyed by the screw, pushed forward through the grinding cylinder with regular guide ribs, then extruded from the hole plate and cut into granules by the rotating cutting knife.The hole plate has standard and customized specifications. The minimum aperture is generally 3mm, and the maximum is 32mm.
Although the meat grinder seems simple, it is actually not easy to manufacture a high-performance one. Concentricity and the guide ribs of the grinding cylinder are the most critical factors.
The core indicator to evaluate the performance of a meat grinder is the temperature difference between meat temperature before grinding and after grinding. The smaller the temperature difference, the better the grinder performance. Normally, a temperature difference controlled within 2℃ is reasonable.
Some meat grinders are equipped with a separation device to separate connective tissues such as tendons and sinews, known as tendon-removing meat grinders. For some manufacturers with special process requirements, this type of grinder is regarded as the most essential equipment.
High-quality meat grinders can produce well-defined meat particles; even fat can be ground into distinct grains. Clear and intact particles mean minimal damage to meat texture, reflecting better processing efficiency of the grinder.
2. Bowl Cutter
The bowl cutter is the core equipment for extracting salt-soluble protein in sausage emulsification and dicing processing. Its function is to rapidly extract protein and form a gel with water in raw materials at 2～8℃, creating a viscous emulsion.
Working principle: Six blades installed on a high-speed rotating shaft perform high-speed chopping on meat materials in a variable-speed rotary bowl. Its capacity to extract salt-soluble protein is unmatched by other equipment. A high-quality bowl cutter can achieve a salt-soluble protein extraction rate of up to 68%.
The bowl cutter has more functions than the above. It also effectively reduces production costs and improves product flavor. It is no exaggeration to regard it as the core equipment for meat product processing.
It can high-speed emulsify pork rind, chicken skin, and minced meat that cannot be processed by meat grinders.Example: Adding an appropriate amount of chicken skin emulsion to Taiwan-style grilled sausage can not only reduce costs but also enrich product flavor.
3. Mixer (Blender)
The mixer is a simple and traditional equipment. Its main function is to mix refined raw materials with auxiliary materials and water to achieve homogeneity for the next processing procedure.
Though structurally simple, the mixer is indispensable for certain traditional meat products to maintain original flavor, texture and mouthfeel. Typical products include Harbin Red Sausage, Shanghai Big Red Sausage, Maling Luncheon Meat, etc. If emulsified with equipment like bowl cutters, the finished products will have abnormal taste and texture. Therefore, arbitrarily changing the traditional craft for classic products may lead to adverse effects.
There are three common types of mixers:
Adopting former Soviet technology with double worm gear shaft structure. Meat materials tumble in the tank under vacuum to achieve homogeneous meat slurry.
Danish imitation type. Several pairs of slightly inclined blades are mounted on the stirring shaft. During mixing, the blades simulate hand tumbling with forward, reverse and counter rotation. It supports PLC program control and realizes slurry homogenization under vacuum.
Dough mixer style. Several slightly inclined flat bars are welded on the stirring shaft. This structure is simple but prone to dead mixing corners, and is rarely used in modern meat processing enterprises.
4. Tumbler
Tumblers are originally used for producing large-piece meat hams, and now widely applied in granular sausage production.
Main function: When the tumbling drum rotates at low speed, the material slurry falls up and down to extract salt-soluble protein.
The working principle is very simple; it is jokingly called a stainless steel vacuum concrete mixer. As Nobel laureate physicist Tsung-Dao Lee said: Important things are often simple. The tumbler is exactly such simple yet vital equipment.
The tumbling process is essentially a dynamic marination process for meat-based materials. It greatly shortens static marination time. Under vacuum conditions, meat tissues expand, allowing brine, water and flavoring agents to penetrate into meat fillings more evenly and quickly to realize rapid marination.
Tumblers are divided into vacuum type and non-vacuum type.The non-vacuum tumbler is also called a massager, featuring a square drum and planetary massage paddles. It slowly massages meat chunks to extract protein, delivering excellent effects for high-end tenderloin roasted meat, full-meat smoked brine ham and cooked square brine ham.
Vacuum tumblers have various models and appearances, with two basic structural principles:
One type with rolling ribs welded on the drum wall, such as the common hydraulic split 750-type tumbler.
The other with reverse discharge baffles inside the drum, such as breathing-style 1500/2500 tumblers.
Although both are tumblers, their applications differ:
Choose the ribbed drum type for whole meat chunks such as barbecued pork and roasted meat, which forms a smooth and glossy surface on meat blocks.
Either type is suitable for slurry products. Baffle-type tumblers form rough, burr-like and nodular surfaces on meat chunks, affecting appearance and appetite.
5. Filling Machine
Filling machines are divided into two main categories:
Positive Pressure Sausage Stuffer
This type requires no vacuum and has the simplest structure. A piston pushes meat material out through the filling tube in a sealed 250–400mm diameter tank, driven mainly by hydraulic or pneumatic power (hydraulic drive is more stable).
With the development of electronic and computer control technology, the original plunger-type stuffer now supports full automatic control, with functions of quantitative filling, continuous automatic twisting, clipping and tying. It is highly suitable for Chinese-style sausage production.
Negative Pressure Vacuum Sausage Stuffer
All adopt an open funnel design. Meat enters the meat pump through vacuum negative pressure and spiral rotation inside the funnel, then is delivered out of the filling tube by pump rotation.
This type has become the mainstream equipment for manufacturers. Advantages: continuous and controllable filling and sealing process, easy automatic production and high output.
Vacuum sausage stuffers include vane type, twin-screw type and gear type.
6. Aluminum Clip Clipping Machine
Aluminum clip clipping machines are mainly used for sealing large-diameter and thick casings, including nylon casing, fibrous casing, fiber-coated casing and non-edible large-diameter collagen casing.
Three main types:
U-type Clip Clipping Machine: Available in manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic models. Clip sizes vary according to casing diameter and hardness. Manual models make single clips; semi-automatic and fully automatic ones make double clips, commonly used for small-diameter ham and sausage sealing.
Aluminum Wire Clipping Machine: Limited application scope, mainly for small-diameter sausages filled with nylon casing, such as popular grilled sausages and ham sausages filled with tubular PVDC film. This type once had huge sales volume in China.
Great Wall Clip Clipping Machine: Mostly fully automatic. Featured with superior sealing performance, it is known as the "lifesaving clip" in ham processing. Products sealed by this machine enjoy longer shelf life.
7. Twisting System
Small-diameter sausages are sealed and portioned by twisting the casing itself. High working speed and high efficiency are the main advantages of twisting portioning.
Twisting systems are classified into three major types:
Twister + Clamp Unit: The most common type and mainstream purchase choice for meat processing factories five years ago. It is an auxiliary functional device installed on sausage stuffers, similar to meatball or hamburger patty forming devices. It operates in pulsating mode; the smaller the particle, the higher the pulsation frequency, leading to high failure rate. Synchronous belts, damping rings and precision gears are vulnerable to wear with high maintenance costs. After long-term use, accumulated errors cause uneven sausage length.
Bowknot Type Twisting: The twisting unit and bowknot unit run continuously. The bowknot unit controls portion compression. Advantages: ultra-high twisting speed of 650～2000 pieces per minute (depending on casing strength); particle size adjusted by bowknot rotating speed (faster speed for smaller particles). Disadvantage: The front traction conveyor belt is prone to fatigue damage under high speed, with an expensive replacement cost of about 6000 RMB per belt.
Portion Compression Twisting System: Two structures — conveyor belt type and turntable type.
Conveyor belt type: Stainless steel compression pieces ensure consistent sausage length and weight, but only applicable to high-strength fibrous casings; easy to damage collagen casings during twisting.
Manual customized portion compression turntable: Unique and unparalleled advantages for small-diameter collagen casing sausages, with higher accuracy for producing smaller granular sausages.
