Sausage making

The origins of meat preservation are lost to the ages but probably began when humans began to realize the preservative value of salt.Sausage making originally developed as a means to preserve and transport meat. Primitive societies learned that dried berries and spices could be added to dried meat. By 600-500 BC there is mention of sausages from China, Rome and Greece. The procedure of stuffing meat into casings remains basically the same today, but sausage recipes have been greatly refined and sausage making has become a highly respected culinary art.

Sausages come in two main types: fresh and cured. Cured sausages may be either cooked or dried. Most cured sausages are smoked, but this is not mandatory. The curing process itself changes the meat and imparts its own flavors. An example is the difference in taste between a pork roast and a ham.

All smoked sausages are cured. The reason is the threat of botulism. The bacterium responsible, Clostridium botulinum, is ubiquitous in the environment, grows in the anaerobic conditions created in the interior of the sausage, and thrives in the 4 °C (39 °F) to 60 °C (140 °F) temperature range common in the smoke house and subsequent ambient storage. Thus, for safety reasons, sausages are cured before smoking.

Fresh sausages are simply seasoned ground meats that are cooked before serving. Fresh sausages normally do not use cure (Prague powder #1) although cure can be used if desired. In addition fresh sausages typically do not use smoke flavors, although liquid smoke can be used. Fresh sausages are never smoked in a cold smoker because of the danger of botulism.

The primary seasoning agents in fresh sausages are salt and sugar along with various savory herbs and spices, and often vegetables, including onion and garlic.

A fresh sausage typically contains around 10% butcher's rusk, 10% water, 2.5% seasoning, and 77.5% meat. At the point of sale, British sausages will often be labelled as "actual meat content X%". As meat can be fatty or lean, the X% is calculated using reference tables with the intention to give a fairer representation of the "visual lean" meat content.

...
Wikipedia