Self Check Up
Quiz On Curing, Drying, & Prep-cooking Sausage
1. T F Drying sausages is mainly affected by humidity, temperature, and air flow. The higher the humidity, the faster the drying. The higher the temperature the more air speed is required.
2. T F The diffusion rate is equal to the rate of evaporation divided by 2.
3. T F Sausage always dries from the inside out.
4. T F Leaving sausages for 12 hours at 2-6°C (35-42°F) or for 2-3 hours at temperatures below 30°C (86°F) will provide extra time to fully cure the meat.
5. T F Air-fan drying should be used for extended periods of time to harden the surface of sausages quickly.
6. T F Preheating a smoker must be done to eliminate the humidity before the smoking process can begin.
7. T F Casings must be dry to the touch before they will take on smoke.
8. T F If a sausage is dried to quickly, the surface may harden and a visible grayish ring can appear on the rim of sliced sausage. This is called "dry rim".
9. T F Synthetic casings can be ordered in mahogany color and to the untrained eye, they can easily pass as original "smoked sausage". Collagen casings, on the other hand, are not available "pre-smoked".
10. T F In the past sausages were smoked for different reasons, one being to discourage spoilage bacteria. Today, the manufacture of smoked sausages conforms to different criteria and smoke is added purely for the love of the flavor.
11. T F Meat of a healthy animal is clean and contains very few bacteria at the time of slaughter.
12. T F In a stressed animal, bacteria are able to travel from the animal`s gut right through the casing into the meat.
13. T F Cooking losses are greater when meat is boiled as opposed to baking in the oven.
14. T F Trichinella Spiralis is a bacteria that causes trichinosis.
15. T F "Certified pork" is pork that has been either irradiated or frozen according to FSIS rules to destroy trichinella spiralis.
16. T F Protein-lined casing actually shrink with the meat as it dries. It is used only with dry-cured sausage which is not cooked.
17. T F All hot smoked sausages should be cooked to 175 °F. (79 °C.) to destroy trichinae.
18. T F Although trichinella spiralis is destroyed at 137°F, our government recommends that the internal temperature of cooked fresh pork must reach at least 150 °F. (65.5 °C.)
19. T F Cold smoking is a drying process whose purpose is to remove moisture thus preserving a product. Although in some European countries, upper temperatures as high as 86°F (30°C) have been accepted, it is recommended that the upper temperature in cold smoking be kept below 71°F (21.6C) as practiced in Russia, Poland, and Germany. The lower temperature should not drop below 52°F (11.11C).
20. T F There are about 1000 cases of trichinosis each year in the United States and complications of the disease include encephalitis, heart arrhythmias, myocarditis, (inflammation), and complete heart failure. Pneumonia is also a common complication.
21. T F The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) inspection service is called the F.S.I.S. (Food Safety and Inspection Service). According to their rules, Group 1 "comprises meat products not exceeding 6" (inches) in thickness. They must also NOT be arranged on separate racks with the layers exceeding 6" in depth. They cannot be stored in crates or boxes exceeding 6" in depth, or stored as solidly frozen blocks exceeding 6" in thickness".
22. T F Collagen casings are an organic product.
23. T F Collagen casings are a synthetic product.
24. T F Collagen casings are made from restructured natural cowhide collagen.
25. T F In comminuted (ground) sausages, the maximum allowed limit of sodium nitrite is 156 parts per million according to the USDA.
26. T F The use of potassium nitrate (saltpeter) in all meat products was discontinued by the USDA in the mid 1970`s.
27. T F Griffith Laboratories made Prague Powder Cures and based their formula on 4 ounces of Cure #1 being able to cure 100 lbs. of sausage. This equates to 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs. of meat. However, if you get confused, just toss in an extra tablespoon to make sure it also gets that nasty trichinella spiralis.
28. T F All microorganisms need water to live.
29. T F All microorganisms need oxygen to live.
30. T F Water activity is abbreviated Aw and measures how much water is "bound" or kept away from microbiological pathogenic bacteria.
31. T F Semi-dry cured sausages are usually cooked as well as being dried.
32. F F Never shoot the "Rocky Mountain Ratchetjaw Horsefly" because it just makes them mad.
33. T F A "spongy" texture could be the result of over-mixing the primary bind.
34. T F The primary bind is the sausage mixture after the development of the actomyocin - proteins comprised of actin and myosin.
35. T F All microbiological bacteria are harmful.
36. T F In our sausage-making, bacteria-safety applications, staphylococcus aureus is the most resistant to air drying.
37. T F Lactic acid is produced when lactobacilli or pediococci bacteria in meat is heated to a temperature of over 112°F then quickly chilled in icewater or showered in cold water.
38. T F The only type of sausage that may be safely stored outside your refrigerator is a fully dry-cured or "air dried" product. Even a "semi-dry" cured sausage may present problems if not eventually refrigerated for storage.
39. T F If a "cured-cooked-smoked" sausage reaches a temperature over 170° in your smoker, the fat will "break" and run all over the floor of your smokehouse. It usually makes and orange mess and leaves the sausage with the texture of sawdust. This phenomenon is called "isostatic rebound".
40. T F Sausage made with venison should never be mixed with pork, although using pork fat is acceptable up to 25%.
_________________________
1.F 2.F 3.T 4.T 5.F 6.T 7.T 8.T 9.F 10.T 11.T 12.T 13.F 14.F 15.T 16.T 17.F 18.T 19.T 20.F 21.T 22.T 23.F 24.T 25.T 26.F 27.F 28.T 29.F 30.T 31.T 32.? 33.T 34.T 35.F 36.T 37.F 38.T 39.F 40.F