1. ASCI 384 — Section 02
Advanced Meat Products
Dr. Ike Kang
Sensory Evaluation of Cajun Andouille Smoked Sausage in Natural Sheep
Intestine Casing for Flavor and Texture
Anuja Argade
Sausage created and evaluated on May 27, 2016
Report submitted on June 2, 2016
Animal Science Department
College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

2. I. Abstract
Smoked sausages are a popular meat product in many parts of North America.
They can be made with all beef, all pork, all poultry or any combination of these
meats. Upon arriving to Louisiana, the French introduced the Andouille sausage.
This sausage is made of smoked pork shoulder and highlight the robust flavors of
traditional Southern Cajun cuisine. These sausages typically have onions, garlic,
sweet paprika, pepper and wine. Andouille sausages are popular in gumbo,
jambalaya and stews. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the taste and
texture of a particular Cajun spice blend when applied to a coarsely ground smoked
pork sausage. The hypothesis is that the particular spice blend will produce a spicy,
peppery and smoky sausage with a chunky texture. To test this hypothesis, a Cajun
spice recipe was obtained from epicurious.com. In the Meat Processing Center, pork
shoulder was ground up and the spice mix, nonfat dry milk powder, nitrite and cold
water were mixed in to create a slurry. The slurry was extruded to the desired
coarseness and was then stuffed into natural sheep intestine casing. The sausages
were linked manually and were left to be smoked in the smoke house. A small patty
was also extruded and grilled for immediate sensory evaluation. The patty tasted
peppery, mellow in spice, charred and had visible particle definition. It was
concluded that the spice blend was not as strong as expected; however the
coarseness was chunky as expected. These qualities show that traditional Andouille
sausages require higher spice intensity, so it helps to taste the spices individually
before to determine their individual heat profiles.

3. II. Intro
This experiment allowed the researchers to determine how
traditional Andouille sausages are made. The purpose of this experiment was
to evaluate the taste and texture of a particular Cajun spice blend when
applied to a coarsely ground smoked pork sausage. The experiment helped
the researchers determine how much spice and what texture most closely
resembles Andouille sausage. The hypothesis is that the chosen spice blend
along with a coarse grind will produce a spicy, peppery, chunky-textured
sausage with a uniform smoky flavor. The most accurate way to test this
hypothesis is to gather a sample of traditional Cajun Andouille sausages and
list the attributes they all have in common (spicy, sweet, smoky, etc.). Then,
compare the experimental sausage to these flavor notes to see how closely
they align. However, due to the limitations of ASCI 384, the researchers were
the only taste-testers who compared the experimental sausage to their own
expectations of traditional Andouille sausage. Cal Poly students will taste the
sausage as well, but only after this report has been submitted.

4. III. Materials and Methods
a. Materials
• Pork shoulder (25 lbs)
• Cajun spice mix (2.2 cups)
o 15 T salt
o 4 T cayenne pepper
o 4 T garlic powder
o 4 T paprika
o 2 T dried oregano
o 2 T dried thyme
o 2 T onion powder
o 2 T ground black pepper
• Nonfat dry milk powder (2 cups)
• Sodium nitrite (1 oz)
• Cold water (2 lbs)
• Natural sheep casing
• Biro meat grinder
• Tumbler
• Vemag Robot 500 vacuum filler
• Knife
b. Methods
First, the spice blend was prepared based off a Cajun spice
blend recipe on epicurious.com. The recipe was multiplied by two in
order to properly season 25 lbs of meat. Sodium nitrite was added
into the mix for color retention.
Then, 25 lbs of pork shoulder were grounded in a Biro meat
grinder and the ground pork was placed into the tumbler. It was
mixed with the spice mix, nonfat dry milk powder, nitrite and cold
water for five minutes. The meat slurry was placed into the Vemag
Robot 500 vacuum filler and extruded into natural sheep intestine
casings. A small amount of meat was extruded and formed into a
patty, which was grilled immediately for taste testing by the
researchers. The sausages were then linked manually and hung on a
rack to be smoked in the smoke house.
The patty was cooked over an indoor grill in the kitchen next
door to the processing room. It was analyzed for taste, color, aroma
and texture. No numeric data was gathered. The analysis was
subjective and sensory.
Control methods included: cold temperature of the room,
sanitary gloves, sanitary equipment, protective smocks and
hair/beard nets.

5. IV. Results
Figure 1
The Cajun spice blend included only dry spices. No extra moisture other than the
cold water was added (Fig 1).

6. Figure 2
The color of the ground pork upon tumbling was a brownish-orange color speckled
with white fat and maroon spices. The coarseness of each strand of raw extruded
sausage was roughly ¼” in diameter (Fig 2).
Figure 3
There were several air pockets and breaks in the casing.

7. V. Discussion
The purpose of this experiment was to test the flavor and texture of a
coarsely ground Cajun Andouille sausage. The hypothesis was that the
sausage would taste peppery, spicy and smoky and would have a chunky
texture. The sausage patty that was evaluated had a mellow, rounded spicy
flavor and a semi-jellied texture. The outside was charred from grilling and
the inside was pink due to nitrite. The heat intensity was not as high as
expected. The chunky texture was not as crumbly or fragile as expected. The
mellow spicy flavor may have been due to low concentration of capsaicin and
capsanthin in cayenne and paprika, respectively. These compounds give
these spices their pungency and color (compoundchem 2014). Alternatively,
the researchers may not have added enough spices in the first place.
However, the sausage had an underlying pepper flavor, which was expected.
Another potential reason for the lack of spiciness may have been the
addition of nonfat dry milk powder. The dairy flavor may have masked the
some of the spice.
Another potential reason for the lack of spiciness may have been that
some of the spice/meat slurry was smeared and left on the tumbler. However
this is unlikely the reason because the spice was evenly distributed
throughout the pork. A little meat lost wouldn’t influence the taste.
The sausage patty was grilled over a flame instead of smoked in a
smokehouse. This gave the meat a charred crust and relatively mellow
tasting inside. While this sample tasted smoky and favorable, it was not
expected since the researcher expected to taste a smokehouse-smoked
sausage. A smoked sausage would have had a uniform smoky taste and
brown color on the outside, along with a smoky taste inside due to high
smoke permeability of sheep casing (Sebranek 2010).
The inside of the sausage patty was expected to have a chunky, almost
crumbly texture. The resulting sausage had a jelly texture but had visible
particle definition with respect to the fat and spices. This texture was due to

8. the milk powder, which acted as a binding agent (FAO). The particle
definition may have been due to the coarse grind plate used. This plate didn’t
finely emulsify the meat, so the spices and fat were suspended in the meat
structure and not blending in all the way.
Some weaknesses of this experiment were: not having traditional
Cajun sausages for comparison, not tasting the intensity of the spices prior to
mixing, breaking the casing, producing air pockets in the casing and tasting a
grilled patty instead of an actual smoked sausage.
To minimize these weaknesses in the future, it may be beneficial to
compare the taste of traditional Cajun sausages to the experimental sausage.
It may help to taste the individual spice level of the spices to determine how
much should be added to the meat to produce a robust flavor. Also, careful
handling of the sausage stuffing will minimize tears and air pockets in the
casing. Doing so will ensure uniform cooking.

9. VI. Conclusion
It was concluded that although the Cajun spice blend used for this
experiment was not as spicy as expected for traditional Andouille sausage,
the flavor was mellow and well rounded. The texture was uniform with
visible particle definition and was enjoyed by the research team.

10. VII. References
American Association of Meat Processors. 2010. Natural vs. Artificial Casings:
Evaluating Which Is Best For Your Product.
www.aamp.com/documents/NaturalvsArtificialCasings.pdf. Accessed 2016 June 1.
Compoundchem. 2014. Chemical Compounds in Herbs & Spices.
www.compoundchem.com/2014/03/13/chemical-compounds-in-herbs-spices/.
Accessed 2016 June 1.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Methods of processing and
preservation of meat. fao.org/docrep/t0562e/T0562E03.htm. Accessed 2016 June
1.