228 Chapter 11
equilibrium can be reached, and sausages
with lower moisture content are then dried
further the traditional way.
In the Quick - Dry - Slice (QDS) technology
(Comaposada et al. 2008 ), sausages are
fermented, and, after fermentation, they are
frozen and sliced; in this form, they are dried
by convection and vacuum drying. This
method of drying lasts 30 minutes only, and
the products are similar in quality to the sau-
sages produced traditionally, according to the
authors.
One might call it “ indirect drying ” when
part of the meat is freeze dried, which lowers
initial moisture and shortens total drying
time.
At present, none of these technologies
can be considered to be widespread. This is
due to several reasons, such as high - energy
demand, the need for further investments, the
need for more space, problems with reaching
high quality, or even in some cases, no real -
time savings.References
Andr é s , A. , J. M. Barat , J. Grau , and P. Fito. 2007.
Principles of drying and smoking. In Handbook of
Fermented Meat and Poultry , edited by F. Toldr á.
Ames, Iowa : Blackwell Publishing.
Comaposada , J. , J. Arnau , M. Garriga , M. Xargay ó , L.
Freixanet , J. Bernardo , M. Corominas , P. Gou , J.
Lagares , and J. M. Monfort. 2008. Verfahren unter-
st ü tzt trendorientierte Formate. Fleischwirtschaft
10 : 34 – 38.
Gou , P. , J. Comaposada , and J. Arnau. 2004. Moisture
diffusivity in the lean tissue of dry - cured ham at dif-
ferent process times. Meat Science 67 : 203.
Hamm , R. 1972. Kolloidchemie des Fleisches. Berlin
and Hamburg : P. Parey.
IFT/FDA. 2003. Factors that infl uence microbial
growth. Comp Rew Food Science and Food Safety
2 : 21.
Imre , L. 1974. Drying of salami sorts. In Handbook of
Drying (in Hungarian), edited by L. Imre. Budapest :
M ü szaki Kiad ó (Publisher of the Technics).
Incze , K. 2004. Dry and semi - dry sausages. In
Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences , edited by W. K.
Jensen , C. Devine , and M. Dikeman. London : Elsevier
Academic Press.
K á rp á ti , G. 1960. The changing of salt and water content
of salami during ripening (in Hungarian). H ú sipar
(Meat Industry) 9 ( 2 ): 77.continuous, with relatively low velocity, or
periodic. With the periodic system, the room
is rinsed through with relatively dry, high -
velocity air. Then air circulation stops, and
the product saturates the air; then the rinse
comes again. In this system, the product reg-
ulates its own drying, and case hardening can
be avoided.
Smoking needs lower humidity. The
smoke hinders the growth of microbes and
rancidity on the surface, makes the evapora-
tion easier by tanning the outer sausage layer,
and gives a specifi c, pleasant fl avor.
Mold growth needs high humidity. The
cover of mold balances the drying rate,
hinders the rancidity, and helps to develop
aroma by its enzyme - activity. Smoking and
mold growth make the drying slower and
need special drying programs (Andres et al.
2007 ; Zuk á l 1973 ).
Observation of Drying
The temperature, humidity, and velocity of
the blown and sucked air are easy to measure
and register at the input and output of the air
channels. However, these data give an overall
view inside the room. This distribution must
be periodically examined at various places in
the room.
The water loss can be measured simply by
the (eventually continuous) weighing of
some of the product units in the room. This
can be solved by weighing devices mounted
on the drying frames.
Special Methods for Drying
In order to avoid case hardening, a phenom-
enon occurring mainly in the fi rst part of
ripening - drying, a method was worked out
where after stuffi ng, sausages were put in
tanks with saline. Sausages with lower salt
content lose water into the higher - concentra-
tion salt solution; in other words, the sau-
sages dry. When the salt content of the saline
and the sausage are adjusted properly, an