Chapter 8
Nondairy Fermented Foods
and Products
MEAT PRODUCTS
Fermented sausages are produced generally as dry or semidry products, although some are intermediate. Dry or Italian-type sausages contain 30–40% moisture, are generally not smoked or heat
processed, and are eaten usually without cooking.
58 In their preparation, curing and seasonings are
added to ground meat, followed by its stuffing into casings and incubation for varying periods of time
at 80–95
◦ F. Incubation times are shorter when starter cultures are employed. The curing mixtures
include glucose as substrate for the fermenters and nitrates and/or nitrites as color stabilizers. When
only nitrates are used, it is necessary for the sausage to contain bacteria that reduce nitrates to nitrites,
usually micrococci present in the sausage biota or added to the mix. Following incubation, during
which fermentation occurs, the products are placed in drying rooms with a relative humidity of 55–
65% for periods ranging from 10 to 100 days, or, in the case of Hungarian salami, up to 6 months.
47
Genoa and Milano salamis are other examples of dry sausages.
In one study of dry sausages, the pH was found to decrease from 5.8 to 4.8 during the first 15
days of ripening and remained constant thereafter.
36 Nine different brands of commercially produced
dry sausages were found by these investigators to have pH values ranging from 4.5 to 5.2, with a
mean of 4.87. With respect to the changes that occur in the biota of fermenting dry sausage when
starters are not used, Urbaniak and Pezacki
82 found the homofermenters to predominate overall, with
Lactobacillus. plantarum being the most commonly isolated species. Heterofermenters such as L.
brevis and L. buchneri increased during the six-day incubation period as a result of changes in pH and
Eh brought about by the homofermenters.
Semidry sausages are prepared in essentially the same way as dry sausages but are subjected to less
drying. They contain about 50% moisture and are finished by heating to an internal temperature of
140–154
◦ F (60–68
◦ C) during smoking. Cervelat, summer sausage, and Lebanon bologna are some
examples of semidry sausages. “Summer sausage” refers to those traditionally of northern European
origin, made during colder months, stored, aged, and then eaten during summer months. They may be
dry or semidry.
Lebanon bologna is typical of a semidry sausage. This product, originally produced in the Lebanon,
Pennsylvania area, is an all-beef, heavily smoked, spiced product that may be prepared by the use of
175
Nondairy Fermented Foods
and Products
MEAT PRODUCTS
Fermented sausages are produced generally as dry or semidry products, although some are intermediate. Dry or Italian-type sausages contain 30–40% moisture, are generally not smoked or heat
processed, and are eaten usually without cooking.
58 In their preparation, curing and seasonings are
added to ground meat, followed by its stuffing into casings and incubation for varying periods of time
at 80–95
◦ F. Incubation times are shorter when starter cultures are employed. The curing mixtures
include glucose as substrate for the fermenters and nitrates and/or nitrites as color stabilizers. When
only nitrates are used, it is necessary for the sausage to contain bacteria that reduce nitrates to nitrites,
usually micrococci present in the sausage biota or added to the mix. Following incubation, during
which fermentation occurs, the products are placed in drying rooms with a relative humidity of 55–
65% for periods ranging from 10 to 100 days, or, in the case of Hungarian salami, up to 6 months.
47
Genoa and Milano salamis are other examples of dry sausages.
In one study of dry sausages, the pH was found to decrease from 5.8 to 4.8 during the first 15
days of ripening and remained constant thereafter.
36 Nine different brands of commercially produced
dry sausages were found by these investigators to have pH values ranging from 4.5 to 5.2, with a
mean of 4.87. With respect to the changes that occur in the biota of fermenting dry sausage when
starters are not used, Urbaniak and Pezacki
82 found the homofermenters to predominate overall, with
Lactobacillus. plantarum being the most commonly isolated species. Heterofermenters such as L.
brevis and L. buchneri increased during the six-day incubation period as a result of changes in pH and
Eh brought about by the homofermenters.
Semidry sausages are prepared in essentially the same way as dry sausages but are subjected to less
drying. They contain about 50% moisture and are finished by heating to an internal temperature of
140–154
◦ F (60–68
◦ C) during smoking. Cervelat, summer sausage, and Lebanon bologna are some
examples of semidry sausages. “Summer sausage” refers to those traditionally of northern European
origin, made during colder months, stored, aged, and then eaten during summer months. They may be
dry or semidry.
Lebanon bologna is typical of a semidry sausage. This product, originally produced in the Lebanon,
Pennsylvania area, is an all-beef, heavily smoked, spiced product that may be prepared by the use of
175