What is the best way to store sausages?
What is the best way to store sausages?
what's the best way to store smoked sausages(154F) and how long will they keep?
Last edited by orf on Tue Oct 16, 2012 22:05, edited 1 time in total.
there are no stupid questions but some of mine come pretty close
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sawhorseray
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Chuckwagon
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Orf, that is the question of the centuries. Man has searched for a way to preserve meat since he started chasin` it with a stick. Unfortunately, this is one of those things we must constantly re-supply to avoid contamination and rancidity. Nonetheless, we can slow the process down with a little understanding and effort. There are several ways to delay rapid degradation (called rancidity). For instance, the Cubans have stored sausages in cooled, congealed, fat in barrels for quite some time. More modern methods include the hydrolysis or oxidation (or both) of oil or fat. Salt is an option in many cases (jerky etc.).
Mother Nature has wisely designed a process of disintegration so we don`t have to trudge knee-deep through garbage. The process begins with an ever-present spoilage bacteria such as brocotrix thermophacta. However, we are even more concerned with pathogenic bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes which may be present.
Actually, a smoke-cured sausage should not be stored more than a week at 40°F. If the temperature is even a few degrees higher, the time limit decreases to only 4 days. Is there a "safe" temperature? Yes... freezing. Thirty-two degrees. This temperature shuts down the activity of both spoilage and pathogenic bacteria but does not destroy them. However, there is a small envelope between 32°F and 39°F that we may use to severely hinder the progress of deterioration. This temperature won`t stop it, but it surely will slow it down. One should be aware that light and oxygen will always definitely elicit the degradation process, even if the meat is frozen. For this reason commercial producers introduce anti-oxidants to their recipes.
You asked for the "best" way to store cooked-smoked sausages. Perhaps the answer is, "the best short-term and temporary method of storage is in a light and oxygen-free environment of a temperature ranging between 32 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit."
Deterioration of lipids has always been a significant problem in the storage of oils and fats wherever sausage makers are concerned. The increase of rancidity is associated with by a discernible increase in the acid value of fat, normally tested using two basic laboratory tests: Peroxide Value (PV) and Anisidine Value (AnV). Reacting with air or moisture (and/or other elements), the process of degradation converts fatty acid esters of oils into free fatty acids. Triglycerides (95 percent of all dietary fats), are included and are naturally occurring esters of three fatty acids and glycerol.
Some oils, such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or saw palmetto, are naturally high in free fatty acids. The degradation of these lipids become so severe, that they eventually reach the point of becoming either unpalatable or unhealthy to ingest, indeed being linked with the development or. Ingestion of rancid lipids has been linked to the development or intensification of such diseases as atherosclerosis, cataracts, diarrhea, kidney disease and heart disease. Worse, they can cause cellular membrane damage, neurodegeneration, and carcinogenesis.
Which of the oils would you think would turn rancid more quickly? Believe it or not, vegetable oils tend to be less stable and turn rancid more quickly than do animal fats. Not only that but they can also become several times more rancid than animal fats. Almost unbelievably this may occur before the human sense of smell can detect it! Unsaturated fats are more susceptible to oxidation than are saturated fats. This means that the more polyunsaturated a fat is, the sooner it will become rancid. Why? It`s due to having more unstable double bonds, which allow more oxygen to react at those points. Now any cowboy worth his salt would say, "that`s catawampously exfluncticatin"!
Oils slowly become more oxidized over time - they don`t suddenly become rancid. And just what causes rancidity in stored edible oil? If it is oxidative the process is known as autoxidation and it occurs when oxygen is absorbed from the environment. Also, in the presence of UV (ultraviolet radiation), most lipids will break down, degrade, and form other compounds. Ok, now get this... oxygen is eight times more soluble in fats than it is in water. No kidding! This exposure is the main cause of the autoxidation process, increasing the saturation of the oil.
If the rancidity is hydrolytic rather than oxidative, the process is called hydrolysis or "enzymatic oxidation" and it occurs in the absence of air yet having moisture present. This is normally accomplished through something the big guys call "enzymatic peroxidation". OOOoooo
Wow, did you get that? Oh, stop worrying. It just means that it takes place where enzymes are found naturally in plant oils. Examples are lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase. In animal fats, the enzyme lipase may catalyze reactions between water and oil.
Whoa hoss! There`s one more degradation process - microbial rancidity. This process takes place whenever micro-organisms such as bacteria, molds and yeast use their enzymes to break down chemical structures in oil, producing unwanted odors and flavors. Sound familiar sausage makers? Do you remember Brocotrix Thermosphacta? In this type reaction, water needs to be present for microbial growth to occur.
What controls the speed and severity of the degradation or "rancidity" processes? It all depends upon elements of nature including temperature, time, light, water, and catalysts. Light? Yes, in the presence of oxygen, light promotes oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids. And what catalysts? Hmmmm, that would be trace metal ions, metalloproteins, and inorganic salts. You know... "catalysts"
How does it all take place? Lipid peroxidation, the oxidative deterioration of unsaturated fatty acids, occurs in three phases. The first, "induction" phase takes place when unsaturated fatty acids combine with molecular oxygen to produce hydroperoxides and peroxyl free radicals - both highly unstable and most reactive. Next, "propagation" takes place where these unstable free radicals react with other lipids to initiate a continuing "free radical lipid peroxidative chain", if you will. Whew! This is autoxidation and results in a continuing or cyclical oxidative degradation process, breaking down the lipid.
C'mon now... There`s only one more process to go. The final phase is "termination" and it`s recognized by the slowing and stoppage of the other reactions, completing the formation of unreactive compounds such as amides, aldehyedes, hydrocarbons, alcohols, keytones, etc., whenever an antioxidant is either added or encountered.
Well pal, there it is. Remove the oxygen. Remove the light. Drop the temperature to just above freezing and your sausages may survive a little longer. Sorry, but nothing on earth will completely preserve it.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Mother Nature has wisely designed a process of disintegration so we don`t have to trudge knee-deep through garbage. The process begins with an ever-present spoilage bacteria such as brocotrix thermophacta. However, we are even more concerned with pathogenic bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes which may be present.
Actually, a smoke-cured sausage should not be stored more than a week at 40°F. If the temperature is even a few degrees higher, the time limit decreases to only 4 days. Is there a "safe" temperature? Yes... freezing. Thirty-two degrees. This temperature shuts down the activity of both spoilage and pathogenic bacteria but does not destroy them. However, there is a small envelope between 32°F and 39°F that we may use to severely hinder the progress of deterioration. This temperature won`t stop it, but it surely will slow it down. One should be aware that light and oxygen will always definitely elicit the degradation process, even if the meat is frozen. For this reason commercial producers introduce anti-oxidants to their recipes.
You asked for the "best" way to store cooked-smoked sausages. Perhaps the answer is, "the best short-term and temporary method of storage is in a light and oxygen-free environment of a temperature ranging between 32 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit."
Deterioration of lipids has always been a significant problem in the storage of oils and fats wherever sausage makers are concerned. The increase of rancidity is associated with by a discernible increase in the acid value of fat, normally tested using two basic laboratory tests: Peroxide Value (PV) and Anisidine Value (AnV). Reacting with air or moisture (and/or other elements), the process of degradation converts fatty acid esters of oils into free fatty acids. Triglycerides (95 percent of all dietary fats), are included and are naturally occurring esters of three fatty acids and glycerol.
Some oils, such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or saw palmetto, are naturally high in free fatty acids. The degradation of these lipids become so severe, that they eventually reach the point of becoming either unpalatable or unhealthy to ingest, indeed being linked with the development or. Ingestion of rancid lipids has been linked to the development or intensification of such diseases as atherosclerosis, cataracts, diarrhea, kidney disease and heart disease. Worse, they can cause cellular membrane damage, neurodegeneration, and carcinogenesis.
Which of the oils would you think would turn rancid more quickly? Believe it or not, vegetable oils tend to be less stable and turn rancid more quickly than do animal fats. Not only that but they can also become several times more rancid than animal fats. Almost unbelievably this may occur before the human sense of smell can detect it! Unsaturated fats are more susceptible to oxidation than are saturated fats. This means that the more polyunsaturated a fat is, the sooner it will become rancid. Why? It`s due to having more unstable double bonds, which allow more oxygen to react at those points. Now any cowboy worth his salt would say, "that`s catawampously exfluncticatin"!
Oils slowly become more oxidized over time - they don`t suddenly become rancid. And just what causes rancidity in stored edible oil? If it is oxidative the process is known as autoxidation and it occurs when oxygen is absorbed from the environment. Also, in the presence of UV (ultraviolet radiation), most lipids will break down, degrade, and form other compounds. Ok, now get this... oxygen is eight times more soluble in fats than it is in water. No kidding! This exposure is the main cause of the autoxidation process, increasing the saturation of the oil.
If the rancidity is hydrolytic rather than oxidative, the process is called hydrolysis or "enzymatic oxidation" and it occurs in the absence of air yet having moisture present. This is normally accomplished through something the big guys call "enzymatic peroxidation". OOOoooo
Wow, did you get that? Oh, stop worrying. It just means that it takes place where enzymes are found naturally in plant oils. Examples are lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase. In animal fats, the enzyme lipase may catalyze reactions between water and oil.
Whoa hoss! There`s one more degradation process - microbial rancidity. This process takes place whenever micro-organisms such as bacteria, molds and yeast use their enzymes to break down chemical structures in oil, producing unwanted odors and flavors. Sound familiar sausage makers? Do you remember Brocotrix Thermosphacta? In this type reaction, water needs to be present for microbial growth to occur.
What controls the speed and severity of the degradation or "rancidity" processes? It all depends upon elements of nature including temperature, time, light, water, and catalysts. Light? Yes, in the presence of oxygen, light promotes oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids. And what catalysts? Hmmmm, that would be trace metal ions, metalloproteins, and inorganic salts. You know... "catalysts"
How does it all take place? Lipid peroxidation, the oxidative deterioration of unsaturated fatty acids, occurs in three phases. The first, "induction" phase takes place when unsaturated fatty acids combine with molecular oxygen to produce hydroperoxides and peroxyl free radicals - both highly unstable and most reactive. Next, "propagation" takes place where these unstable free radicals react with other lipids to initiate a continuing "free radical lipid peroxidative chain", if you will. Whew! This is autoxidation and results in a continuing or cyclical oxidative degradation process, breaking down the lipid.
C'mon now... There`s only one more process to go. The final phase is "termination" and it`s recognized by the slowing and stoppage of the other reactions, completing the formation of unreactive compounds such as amides, aldehyedes, hydrocarbons, alcohols, keytones, etc., whenever an antioxidant is either added or encountered.
Well pal, there it is. Remove the oxygen. Remove the light. Drop the temperature to just above freezing and your sausages may survive a little longer. Sorry, but nothing on earth will completely preserve it.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! 
thanks for the replies. Iwas asking because I have quite a bit to make,for me anyway,about 50 lbs. for thanksgiving. I just wanted to know if I could store it for a couple days in the fridge until folks picked up their orders. I keep mine in the fridge for 4-5 days with no problems. just one of my ?'s.(see signature) thanks again. orf...
there are no stupid questions but some of mine come pretty close
