Smoked sausage is a product that is able to maintain its consumer properties for a long time. However, it also has a certain shelf life, after which it is not recommended to use it.
Smoked sausage is a generic name for a vast group of sausages, the common feature of which is that they are smoked during the manufacturing process. This procedure, in turn, is the processing of the product with smoke obtained from special combustible raw materials, during which sausages acquire a specific aroma and special properties that allow them to be stored longer in comparison with untreated products.
Cooked smoked sausages
One of the categories of smoked sausages is boiled-smoked sausages. As the name of this category implies, the products related to it are subjected to two processing: they are first cooked and then smoked. For example, this category includes various types of cervelates - "Grain", "Moscow" and others.
As a result of such processing, cooked-smoked sausages acquire the ability to be stored without a refrigerator, that is, at room temperature, for a period of up to three days. If such a sausage is stored in the refrigerator, its shelf life when the package is opened increases to 15 days. The sealed sausage, if it is vacuum packed or in a special atmosphere, can be stored for up to 25 days.
Semi-smoked sausages
The procedure for preparing semi-smoked sausages is even more complicated: they are first fried, then boiled, and only after that they are smoked. However, in the course of such processing, the smoking time of such sausages turns out to be somewhat shorter than when cooking boiled-smoked sausages, and the aftertaste of smoke is ultimately less pronounced. The shelf life of such sausages is similar to boiled-smoked sausages: no more than 3 days - at room temperature, no more than 15 days - in the refrigerator when the package is opened, no more than 25 days - in the refrigerator in a sealed form.
Raw smoked sausages
Raw smoked sausages differ significantly from the previous two groups in the way they are cooked. So, if in the manufacture of cooked-smoked and semi-smoked sausages, hot processing of products with smoke is used, then the preparation of uncooked smoked sausages implies long-term processing of the product at a temperature not exceeding 25 degrees. The whole process usually takes at least a month, as a result of which the finished product loses a significant amount of moisture and is fermented.
Due to this, the shelf life of raw smoked sausages becomes noticeably longer in comparison with other groups of products in the category of smoked meats. An opened package of raw smoked sausage can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. In a sealed form, its shelf life is significantly lengthened: for example, manufacturers usually recommend using it within four months, but in practice, provided the temperature is maintained at about + 4 ° and normal humidity, the shelf life in the refrigerator is practically unlimited.
