Hunting season is upon us and one of the great joys of this time of year, is afterwards working with and processing the meat. In South Africa we tend to make biltong and droëwors, and also use some cuts for potjie or pie meat or a braai. A growing trend is to make fermented sausage such as salami, which not only lasts a long time but is highly flavourful. Nowadays you don’t have to be a professional to make your own salami. It can be done in your own kitchen, using basic equipment, ingredients, and meat cultures.
Preserving in style
The process of fermenting and drying sausages is believed to be one of the oldest meat preservation techniques. Today, most sausage processing is based on three styles of which the fermentation and production times differ:
- North European style: The mince has no added nitrate, the sausages are smoked, production time is less than three weeks, and typical products include German mettwurst and Danish salami.
- South European style: The mince has added nitrate or a mixture of nitrite and nitrate, the sausages are typically covered with mould, production time is three weeks or longer, and typical products include French saucisson, Naples salami, Salame Milano, Italian pepperoni and Spanish chorizo.
- US style: The mince has no added nitrate, production time is two to three weeks, the final product is cooked and smoked (often right after fermentation), and typical products include American pepperoni, Summer sausage, and Lebanon Bologna.
The production process for the different styles is very similar, with differences depending first and foremost on the composition of recipes, the degree of meat mincing involved, and the fermentation and drying procedures. The sausage mince basically consists of meat, fat, curing salts, carbohydrates, spices and in modern sausage productions, starter cultures of various kinds. Often sodium ascorbate and other additives is added to the mince.
Advent of cultures
Chr. Hansen’s Bactoferm™ Meat Manual tells us that before starter cultures were available, the fermentation process relied on the indigenous bacterial flora that was favoured by pre-salting, the mincing and stuffing procedure, and climate conditions during maturation. The method was not always successful, though. Sometimes it resulted in an unfermented sausage with a too high pH, growth of spoilage bacteria and even growth of pathogenic bacteria. Growth of undesirable lactic acid bacteria able to produce gas (hetero-fermentative strains) also occurred.
As early as 1919, patents were registered for the use of microorganisms for meat fermentation, but it was not until the early sixties that the first cultures were marketed. As a consequence of improved hygiene and production methods, the application of starter cultures is now widespread and a variety of cultures from several manufacturers such as Novenesis are available, mostly including the microorganisms that predominate in the traditional fermented products.
Benefits of cultures
Using a culture secures uniform fermentation with the right homo-fermentative lactic acid bacteria while flavour development, colour formation, and colour stability are improved through an additional flora of species. The processing procedure when using a meat culture consists of nine steps designed to produce the most flavourful, attractive, and safe product: pre-grinding, mince production, stuffing, surface inoculation, smoking, fermentation, and drying.
Capturing flavour and ensuring food safety is certainly front and centre when using a culture, but this technology also ensures that your fermented meat contains the necessary lactic acid, micro flora, flavour and, ultimately, the perfect colour.
This year, be sure to end your hunting season on a ‘cultural’ high note by investing in meat cultures that will take your game meat and the eating experience to new levels. Contact us for more information.