Making Your Sausage Clean. The Art of Sausage Sterilization

Abstract

Thermal processing of temperature and species within a sausage were modeled using FIDAP. A mesh was created in GAMBIT to recreate the sausage geometry; diameter = 0.072m and length = 0.21m. The sausage was assumed to be axis-symmetric, therefore one-quarter of a cylinder was modeled and used for analysis. A three step heating process was implemented using the time function in FIDAP: (1) smoke for 1 hour at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, (2) smoke at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, (3) smoke at 180 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours or until internal temperature reaches 155 F. The destruction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was analyzed. At the end of the three-step process (14400s), the sausage center reached its final temperature and all E.coli were destroyed.