The sausage production line is a systematic facility integrating raw material processing, manufacturing, packaging and sterilization. Equipments vary according to production scale, product types such as air-dried sausage, grilled sausage and low-temperature sausage, as well as technical requirements. The main devices and their functions are listed as follows:
1. Raw Material Processing Equipment
Thawing Equipment
Thawing room / thawing machine: Gradually defrost frozen raw meat to avoid texture deterioration and bacterial growth caused by sharp temperature rise.
Vacuum thawing machine: Accelerate thawing under vacuum condition, reduce water loss and keep meat fresh.
Cleaning Equipment
Bubble washing machine: Remove impurities and hairs on meat surface via bubble rolling and high-pressure spraying.
Brush cleaning machine: Deeply clean meat surface with rotating brushes.
Trimming Equipment
Skin peeling machine: Strip off pork skin and other animal skins.
Bone removing machine: Automatically take out bones to improve raw material utilization rate.
Dicing machine: Cut large meat blocks into proper chunks for subsequent processing.
2. Mincing and Mixing Equipment
Meat Mincer
Single/double screw mincer: Grind meat into minced meat of different fineness to meet diverse production demands.
Frozen meat mincer: Process frozen meat directly without pre-thawing.
Cutter Mixer
High-speed cutter mixer: Chop minced meat into sticky meat paste with high-speed blades, boost protein dissolution and enhance product elasticity.
Vacuum cutter mixer: Minimize air intake, prevent oxidation and optimize color and taste.
Mixer
Horizontal mixer: Blend minced meat with starch, spices and preservatives evenly.
Mixing tank: Equipped with heating and cooling functions for temperature-controlled mixing procedures.
3. Curing Equipment
Tumbling Machine
Vacuum tumbler: Enable uniform penetration of curing agents, shorten curing time and tenderize meat.
Brine injection machine: Inject curing liquid into bulk meat with multi-head needles to raise curing efficiency, applicable to ham and bacon.
Curing Chamber
Refrigerated curing room: Maintain temperature at 0-4℃ and stable humidity to restrain bacteria and guarantee curing effect.
4. Filling and Forming Equipment
Casing Processing Equipment
Casing soaking machine: Soften natural sheep and pork casings as well as collagen casings.
Casing casing machine: Automatically fit casings onto filling nozzles to improve working efficiency.
Filling Machine
Hydraulic filler: Pump meat paste into casings steadily for mass production.
Vacuum filler: Reduce residual air to avoid oxidation and air bubbles inside products.
Quantitative filler: Accurately control sausage weight to ensure uniform specification.
Knotting Machine
Automatic knotter: Segment sausages with metal wires or plastic straps.
Twisting machine: Twist casings to form fixed-length sausages of 10 to 15 centimeters.
Hanging Machine
Automatically hang finished sausages onto smoking or drying racks for follow-up treatment.
5. Drying and Smoking Equipment
Drying Equipment
Hot air dryer: Eliminate surface moisture with circulating hot air and form a protective layer.
Infrared dryer: Speed up heating process and shorten drying duration.
Smoking Oven
Electric smoking oven: Generate smoke by heating wood chips to form unique flavor and color.
Steam smoking oven: Combine cooking and smoking functions into one process.
Liquid smoking oven: Adopt liquid smoke agent instead of traditional smoking to cut pollution and achieve cleaner operation.
6. Cooking and Ripening Equipment
Cooking Oven
Steam cooker: Heat sausages until core temperature exceeds 72℃ to kill pathogenic bacteria.
Water bath cooker: Offer even heating, suitable for small-batch production.
Cooling Equipment
Cold water chiller: Rapidly cool products and prevent overcooking.
Cold air cooler: Fit for large-scale continuous production with forced air cooling.
7. Packaging and Sterilization Equipment
Vacuum Packaging Machine
Double-chamber vacuum packer: Manual operation for small-batch production.
Thermoforming vacuum packer: Automatically finish forming, filling, vacuumizing and sealing with high efficiency.
Modified atmosphere packer: Fill packages with nitrogen or carbon dioxide to extend shelf life and retain original color.
Sterilization Equipment
High-pressure sterilizer: Completely eliminate microorganisms under high temperature and pressure to achieve commercial sterility.
Pasteurization line: Low-temperature sterilization ideal for heat-sensitive products like children sausages.
8. Auxiliary Equipment
Metal detector: Inspect and reject products containing metal foreign matters to guarantee food safety.
Weight sorter: Sort sausages by weight to match different packaging standards.
Code spraying machine: Print production date and shelf life on packages.
Conveyor belt: Connect all working stations to realize automatic continuous production.
Cleaning and disinfection equipment: Sanitize tools and machines to avoid cross contamination.
9. Automatic Control System
PLC control system: Integrate temperature, pressure and speed parameter control to realize automatic production.
HMI human-machine interface: Monitor and adjust equipment operating status through touch screen.
