25 replies to this topic

[Steve A.]

Tony, thanks for the input.  Freezing is something I do.  I actually freeze the muscle (meat) for ground products prior to grinding. I grind into containers that are chilled and usually sitting in salted ice water to keep the ground meat a cold as possible.  This is for both safety and better, quicker production.  Once the meat or sausage is ground, if it is not cured (sodium nitrite) and headed for the smoker, it is frozen.  

My steps for meat destined to be ground are: 

1) Inspect meat at time of purchase, 2) rinse and refrigerate, the lean and fat are separated prior to freezing. 3) Freeze meat and fat prior to grinding. 4) Grind meat and fat at specific ratio based on end product.  This entails cleaning the grinding gear, containers, and work tables prior to grinding, standard safety procedures such as disposable gloves, hair nets, etc.  5) Meat that is ground twice is kept as cold as possible and returned to refrigeration if it will be over 15 minutes before next step in processing. 6) Finish processing (ground chubs or stuffed casings) of well chilled product. 7) All fresh items go to freezer prior to final packagings.  8) All equipment is washed and sanitized. 9) Package or Vacuum Pack the product.  

Now, at step 2, I will introduce the warm vinegar spray and sterile water rinse to minimize any surface bacteria.  The meat will have initial preparation for freezing and grinding.  Since this the first place exterior bacteria can be spread, this is where I want to minimize that opportunity.  Both meats destined for grinding and those destined for whole muscle curing will be sprayed and rinsed.  

I will be back in the Northwest USA next year for a bit.  I hope to take some more microbiology/food safety courses so that I can become better informed about specific bacteria and how smaller, artisan level production can safely deal with them.   And I am conversing both here and with colleagues in the industry, particularly butchers about the steps they are going through as they go through the various safety inspections, develop HACCP plans, and so forth.