Cooked and Smoked Sausages

Cooked and smoked sausages account for approximately 85% of all sausages produced today. Cooked and Smoked Sausages are made from meats that are ground, seasoned, stuffed into casings, and fully cooked (to a minimum internal temperature of 155° F) and smoked during processing. Cooked sausages are usually cured with nitrite.

This category of sausages contains many process variations that result in the wide range of cooked and smoked sausages that can be seen in the retail trade. Although most are cooked and smoked, some are cooked without smoke, and there are many other process modifications.

Cooked sausages, like frankfurters or bologna, are made from fresh or frozen meats that are cured during processing, fully cooked and/or smoked, then packaged as ready-to eat products.

Typically, cooked and smoked sausages develop some additional flavors through the addition of nitrates and during the cooking and smoking processes. Examples of cooked and smoked sausages are wieners, bologna, Berliner, cotto-salami, frankfurters, and red hots.

These sausages can be eaten without heating, but many are heated before serving to enhance their flavor.

Frankfurters are examples of cooked and smoked sausages. They are produced from fresh meat that is fully cooked, and have flavors that are imparted through the addition of curing ingredients, and via various cooking and smoking processes. Although they are fully cooked, they are not shelf-stable, and must be refrigerated until the time of consumption.
Cooked and Smoked Sausages