So I keep reading and reading about settlers making "summer sausage" in the cool months to be eaten later in the hot months of summer. Was this sausage a fermented and dried sausage different than what we call summer sausage now? I ask this because I would think that the "old" summer sausage of days before refrigeration would have been more like traditional salami and not our modern summer sausage. I look forward to your input and would like a pre-refrigeration summer sausage recipe if that exists. Thanks.
Shane
Summer Sausage is traditionally a cured, fermented sausage seasoned with salt, sugar or dextrose, mustard, black pepper, and garlic with many cultural and geographic variations. Summer sausage is usually made from leftover trimmings, low quality cuts, and organ meat but can be made with higher classes of meat as well.
The fermentation process is facilitated by the addition of lactic acid bacteria starter cultures and the sausage must then be allowed time to ferment. These bacteria feed on the sugars in the meat mix and produce lactic acid as a by product which lowers the pH of the product and creates an environment unfavorable for further bacterial activity. There is usually a drying period and the combination of proper pH coupled with reduced water activity results in a product that is shelf stable and can be stored at room temperature.
In the pre USDA era lactic acid was used in the form of raw buttermilk.
Lactic acid also imparts a tangy flavor common to this type of product and can be duplicated by the addition of encapsulated citric acid when the time required for the fermentation process or the availability of starter cultures is a factor.
An excellent product can be made without fermentation, the addition of encapsulated citric acid, or the drying period but this product will be perishable and must be kept refrigerated.
Fat ratio is a matter of preference but should be between 15% – 25% (20lb lean + 5lb fat = 80/20 lean/ fat ratio)
