page_title: Sausage
section_title: Classifications
hierarchical_section_title: Sausage / Classifications
caption_attribution_description: Sausage, kiełbasa, szynkowa
context_page_description: Sausages are a meat product usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef, or poultry, along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. Some sausages include other ingredients for flavour.
  The word "sausage" can refer to the loose sausage meat, which can be formed into patties or stuffed into a skin. When referred to as "a sausage," the product is usually cylindrical and encased in a skin.
  Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine but sometimes from synthetic materials. Sausages that are sold raw are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing and the casing may then be removed.
  Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying, smoking, or freezing. Some cured or smoked sausages can be stored without refrigeration. Most fresh sausages must be refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked.
context_section_description: Sausages classification is subject to regional differences of opinion. Various metrics such as types of ingredients, consistency, and preparation are used. In the English-speaking world, the following distinction between fresh, cooked, and dry sausages seems to be more or less accepted:
  Cooked sausages are made with fresh meats and then fully cooked. They are either eaten immediately after cooking or must be refrigerated. Examples include hot dogs, Braunschweiger, and liver sausage. Meat-and-grain sausages such as goetta, scrapple, and kishka are also cooked sausages.
  Cooked smoked sausages are cooked and then smoked or smoke-cooked. They are eaten hot or cold but need to be refrigerated. Examples include kielbasa and mortadella. Some are slow cooked while smoking, in which case the process takes several days or longer, such as the case for Gyulai kolbász.
  Fresh sausages are made from meats that have not been previously cured. They must be refrigerated and thoroughly cooked before eating. Examples include Boerewors, Italian pork sausage, siskonmakkara, and breakfast sausage.
  Fresh smoked sausages are fresh sausages that are smoked and cured. They do not normally require refrigeration and do not require any further cooking before eating. Examples include Mettwurst and Teewurst which are meat preparations packed in sausage casing but squeezed out of it (just like any other spread from a tube).
  Dry sausages are cured sausages that are fermented and dried. Some are smoked as well at the beginning of the drying process. They are generally eaten cold and will keep for a long time. Examples include salami, Droë wors, Finnish meetvursti, Sucuk, Landjäger (smoked), Slim Jims, and summer sausage.
  Bulk sausage, or sometimes sausage meat or skinless sausage, refers to raw, ground, spiced meat, usually sold without any casing.
  Vegetarian sausage are made without meat, for example, based on soya protein or tofu, with herbs and spices. Some vegetarian sausages are not necessarily vegan and may contain ingredients such as eggs.
  The distinct flavor of some sausages is due to fermentation by Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, or Micrococcus (added as starter cultures) or natural flora during curing.
  Other countries use different systems of classification. Germany, for instance, which produces more than 1200 types of sausage, distinguishes raw, cooked and precooked sausages.
  Raw sausages are made with raw meat and are not cooked. They are preserved by lactic acid fermentation, and they may be dried, brined or smoked. Most raw sausages will keep for a long time. Examples include Mettwurst and salami.
  Cooked sausages  (Brühwurst) may include water and emulsifiers and are always cooked. They will not keep long. Examples include cervelat, Jagdwurst, and Weißwurst.
  Precooked sausages (Kochwurst) are made with precooked meat but may also include raw organ meat. They may be heated after casing, and they will keep only for a few days. Examples include Saumagen and Blutwurst.
  In Italy, the basic distinctions are:
  Raw sausage (salsiccia) with a thin casing
  Cured and aged sausage (salsiccia stagionata or salsiccia secca)
  Cooked sausage (wuerstel)
  Blood sausage (sanguinaccio or boudin)
  Liver sausage (salsiccia di fegato)
  Salami (in Italy, salami is the plural of salame, a big, cured, fermented and air-dried sausage)
  Cheese sausage (casalsiccia) with cheese inside
  The United States has a particular shelf stable type called pickled sausages, commonly sold in establishments such as gas stations and delicatessens. These are usually smoked or boiled sausages of a highly processed hot dog or kielbasa style plunged into a boiling brine of vinegar, salt, spices, and often a pink coloring, then canned in Mason jars. They are usually packaged in single blister packs or jars.
  Certain countries classify sausage types according to the region in which the sausage was traditionally produced:
  Austria: Vienna, etc.
  France: Montbéliard, Morteau, Strasbourg, Toulouse, etc.
  Germany: Frankfurt am Main, Thuringian sausage, Nuremberg, Pomerania, etc.
  Hungary: kolbász gyulai (after
caption: Szynkowa (Polish) ham sausage
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