Gunny asked:
If we use fibrous casings for the Mettwurst, do we use protein lined or unlined?
Great question. Protein lined casing are made for dry-cured products (air dried salami etc.) and the casing actually shrinks with the meat as it loses moisture. It really clings to the meat and really should only be used for that type of sausage. As an experiment, I once removed one of these protein-lined casing just 30 minutes after it was stuffed. I thought I`d have to use a tire iron to get the danged thing off! They definitely have their place with air-dried sausages, but the ones we want for our cured-cooked sausage should be just plain fibrous casing. On the link you sent, they are #26200
El Duck asked:
1. powdered ginger, or to fresh ginger?
2. table sugar, or dextrose?
We need powdered ginger and table sugar.
Gulyas wrote:
A sausage maker I know told me, that he make sausages only from certified meat. Not the humanly one, but meaning, that the meat was frozen for a certain time, to kill some kind of bacteria, I'm not sure what. He said it takes like 30 days in very cold commercial freezer, which is colder than home freezers. Meaning, that the colder the temp., the less time it takes. I just read what you wrote about frozen meat, that it's better from fresh meat. Is there such a thing as certified (safe) meat ?
Gulyas, yes there is
"certified" meat. And no,
trichinella spiralis is not a bacteria - it`s a nasty parasitic roundworm whose larval form may be present in the flesh of pork or wild game and its painful infection is known as
trichinosis. In North America, there are five known species of
Trichinella. They are
Trichinella spiralis, T. nativa, T. pseudospiralis, Trichinella T-5, and Trichinella T-6. The one we deal with most often in pork is
trichinella spiralis. The other four occur mostly in game animals. Species
T-5 is found mostly in bears and other wildlife in the eastern United States, while species
T-6 is mostly in bears and other wildlife in the Northwestern United States. Species
T. nativa is found in Alaska. Both
T. nativa and
Trichinella T-6 are resistant to freezing.
Trichinella pseudospiralis has been reported infrequently from birds, but can infect pigs also.
The best way to eliminate
trichinella spiralis larva is to simply cook the meat thoroughly. However, not all sausage making procedures allow the meat to be fully cooked or even cooked at all. Our "air-dried" or "dry-cured", fermented-type sausages are prepared raw and are usually eaten raw. (One exception is pepperoni on pizza). In dry-cured salami and other sausages,
"certified pork" must be used - pork that has been deeply (sub-zero) frozen for a prescribed amount of time.
For decades preceding the 1970`s and 1980`s, many hog producers fed hogs the entrails of other butchered hogs and the "cycle" of infection continued. Then, in about 1975 if I remember correctly, the Meat Inspection Division (MID) of the USDA started putting modern rules into effect, regarding the feeding of hogs and the freezing and preparation of the meat. (I`ve included the freezing tables for
"certified pork" below). Some time ago, I posted the USDA rules in our forum called
"Microbiology Of Meat". It is in the sticky section at the top. Here`s a quick link:
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4808
Before you make any type of fermented, air-dried sausage, please read and understand these rules. I`ve seen these little SOB`s beneath the lens of a microscope and just lookin` at `em makes you want to throw up. I can`t imagine these things embedded in my intramuscular tissue let alone someone else`s - you know... someone else who ate YOUR air-dried kick-ass salami.
At first the new rules were met with considerable enmity from hog producers because it cost them a substantial amount of money to effect the new practices. However, after a period of time, they began to note the drastic decrease of the disease and most producers were happy to comply. Yet, there are a few small hog producers in the United States who still feed entrails to their stock. As a result,
trichinosis has not yet been completely wiped out in the states. It`s interesting to note that in some countries such as England, the disease is almost virtually unheard of.
Always follow the recommended cooking temperatures in recipes. Although the nematode 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.). All hot smoked sausages should be cooked to 155 °F. (68 °C.). Cold-smoked or air dried sausages, whose formulas contain Prague powder #2, should be cooked to 120-135 °F. (49-57 °C.). Never judge by looks alone, whether meat is cooked sufficiently, and always check the internal temperature using an accurate meat thermometer.
You would be surprised at just how many people believe that simple freezing will destroy
trichinella spiralis. Actually, the majority of people believe it, and that frightens me. I often think of the folks who shoot javelinas or wild pigs, and think simply freezing the carcass will take care of
trichinella spiralis. It absolutely
will not! In fact, The Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, at Massachusetts General Hospital has concluded that "Smoking, salting, or drying meat are not reliable methods of killing the organism that causes this infection. Further, "Only freezing at subzero temperatures (Fahrenheit) for 3 to 4 weeks will kill the organism". However, most people do not have the means of freezing meat at these cryogenic temperatures - thus, many take the chance.
Allow me to tell you about the disease.
Trichinella cysts break open in the intestines and grow into adult roundworms whenever a person eats meat from an infected animal. These roundworms produce other worms that move through the stomach wall and into the bloodstream. From here, the organisms tend to invade muscle tissues, including the heart and diaphragm, lungs and brain. At this point, trichinosis becomes most painful.
But we can get rid of it right? Wrong! The medications
Mebendazole or
albendazole may be used to treat infections in the intestines, although once the larvae have invaded the muscles, there is no specific treatment for
trichinosis and the cysts remain viable for years. Although the FSIS has done much to eradicate the disease by enforcing modified laws, especially after the mid 1970`s, There yet remain about 40 cases of
trichinosis each year in the U.S. alone. Complications of the disease include encephalitis, heart arrhythmias, myocarditis, (inflammation), and complete heart failure. Pneumonia is also a common complication.
So freeze the snot out of those ugly little microorganisms called the
trichinella spiralis nematode worm. Do it by following the FSIS rules listed in the link above. Let's get the statistics down to zero cases per year!
USDA (FSIS) Regulations Regarding The Destruction of Trichinella Spiralis
The
Meat Inspection Division of the
United States Department Of Agriculture arranges the size, volume, and weight of meat products into"groups" to specify handling instructions.
Group 1 "comprises meat products not exceeding 6" (inches) in thickness, or arranged on separate racks with the layers not exceeding 6" in depth, or stored in crates or boxes not exceeding 6" in depth, or stored as solidly frozen blocks not exceeding 6" in thickness".
Group 2 "comprises products in pieces, layers, or within containers, the thickness of which exceeds 6" but not 27" and products in containers including tierces, barrels, kegs, and cartons, having a thickness not exceeding 27". The product undergoing such refrigeration or the containers thereof shall be spaced while in the freezer to insure a free circulation of air between the pieces of meat, layers, blocks, boxes, barrels, and tierces, in order that the temperature of the meat throughout will be promptly reduced to not higher than 5 degrees F., -10 degrees F., or -20 degrees F., as the case may be".
Item 1: Heating & Cooking
"All parts of the pork muscle tissue shall be heated to a temperature of not less than 138° F." Whenever cooking a product in water, the entire product must be submerged for the heat to distribute entirely throughout the meat. Always test the largest pieces since it always takes longer to reach the 138°F temperature in thicker pieces. Always test the temperature in a number of places.
Item 2: Refrigerating & Freezing
"At any stage of preparation and after preparatory chilling to a temperature of not above 40° F., or preparatory freezing, all parts of the muscle tissue of pork or product containing such tissue shall be subjected continuously to a temperature not higher than one of these specified in Table 1, the duration of such refrigeration at the specified temperature being dependent on the thickness of the meat or inside dimensions of the container."
Table 1: Required Period Of Freezing At Temperature Indicated
Temperature Group 1 (first number of days) Group 2 (second number of days)
+05° F. 20 days / 30 days
-10° F. 10 days / 20 days
-20° F. 6 days / 12 days
Item 3: Curing Sausage
"Sausage may be stuffed in animal casings, hydrocellulose casings, or cloth bags. During any stage of treating the sausage for the destruction of live trichinae, these coverings shall not be coated with paraffin or like substance, nor shall any sausage be washed during any prescribed period of drying. In preparation of sausage, one of the following methods may be used:
Method No. 1:
"The meat shall be ground or chopped into pieces not exceeding 3/4" in diameter. A dry-curing mixture containing not less than 3-1/3 lbs. of salt to each hundredweight of the unstuffed sausage shall be thoroughly mixed with the ground or chopped meat. After being stuffed, sausage having a diameter not exceeding 3-1/2" measured at the time of stuffing, shall be held in a drying room not less than 20 days at a temperature not lower than 45 degrees F., except that in sausage of the variety known as pepperoni; if in casing and not exceeding 1-3/8" in diameter at the time of stuffing, the period of drying may be reduced to 15 days. In no case, however, shall the sausage be released from the drying room in less than 25 days from the time the curing materials are added, except that the sausage of the variety known as pepperoni, if in casings not exceeding the size specified, may be released at the expiration of 20 days from the time the curing materials are added. Sausage in casings exceeding 3-1/2" but not exceeding 4" in diameter at the time of stuffing shall be held in a drying room not less than 35 days at a temperature not lower than 45 degrees F., and in no case shall the sausage be released from the drying room in less than 40 days from the time the curing materials are added to the meat.
Method No. 2:
"The meat shall be ground or chopped into pieces not exceeding 3/4" in diameter. A dry-curing mixture containing no less than 3-1/3 lbs. of salt to each hundredweight of the unstuffed sausage shall be thoroughly mixed with the ground or chopped meat. After being stuffed, the sausage having a diameter not exceeding 3-1/2" measured at the time of stuffing, shall be smoked not less than 40 hours at a temperature of not lower than 80 degrees F. and finally held in a drying room not less than 10 days at a temperature not lower than 45 degrees F. In no case, however, shall the sausage be released from the drying room in fewer than 18 days from the time the curing materials are added to the meat. Sausage exceeding 3-1/2", but not exceeding 4" in diameter at the time of stuffing, shall be held in a drying room following the smoking as above indicated, not less than 25 days at a termperature not lower than 45 degrees F., and in no case shall the sausage be released from the drying room in less than 33 days from the time the curing materials are added to the meat.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Simply soak it in hot tap-water for 5 minutes, clamp off one end with a hog ring (or tie it with string), and slide it on your largest stuffing horn. There is no expiration on this item and may be stored anywhere. Now they even make it in 5-1/2 inch diameter by 2 feet long (red) for bologna. This is also good substitute for expensive beef bungs. I use a lot of synthetic casing and can`t speak more highly of it. It`s just a great casing. 
Recipe #1, "Ginger" refers to powdered ginger, or to fresh ginger? (I assume powdered.)
