the present invention is now illustrated in greater detail by way of the following detailed description , but it should be understood that the present invention is not to be construed as being limited thereto . the invention utilizes a combination of one or more acidulants including but not limited to glucano - delta - lactone or encapsulated acids such as lactic , malic , citric , sorbic and the like , in conjunction with a bacterial culture typically used in the production of dry and / or semi - dry sausage products to lower the ph of the sausage and impart microbiological stability , textural qualities , microbiological properties and flavor . the process allows for manufacturers to decrease the fermentation time to less than 5 hours and more preferably less than about 3 hours by altering the ph of the system slightly by using an acidulant that changes the initial ph of the meat admixture from around 6 . 2 to a ph of around 5 . 8 and preferably lower to around 5 . 3 where the sausage product still retains sufficient plasticity so as to be able to extrude and form the product into the desired shape . this ph range is more conducive to faster fermentation by the bacterial culture . in addition to being able to process the dry or semi - dry sausage product in an expedited manner , it has been discovered that shapes other than conventional shapes may be formed from the sausage product . for example , the sausage product may be provided in geometric patterns such as stars , squares , pentagonals , hexagonals , and the like as well characters such as might appear in electronic games or in advertising or animate objects . as such , not only can the sausage producer provide ingredients to the food product manufacturer at a faster rate , the food product manufacturer can also use such products in connection with various marketing themes , advertising promotions and combinations thereof . this inventive process also allows for a slower production of acid in the product when compared with the conventional processes involving the addition of powdered or aqueous acidulants . this beneficial processing step aids in preserving the textural properties of the product by limiting the amount of protein denaturation , while also giving the sausage product a more typical or customary fermented flavor that a consumer would expect to be associated with dry and semi dry sausages . traditionally , products manufactured only with powdered or aqueous acids and / or encapsulated acids do not possess the same flavor characteristics as fermented meat products . in the exemplary embodiment described herein , the ground meat is preferably selected from pork , beef and poultry , ( chicken , turkey , etc . ), or mixtures thereof . other combinations or additions are of course possible , including alligator , bison , bear , elk , deer , ostrich , game birds and other fowl , etc . the fermentable carbohydrate is preferably selected from dextrose , sucrose , fructose , lactose , maltose and other sugars suitable for inclusion in food products and combinations thereof , with dextrose being preferred . the edible acidulant is selected from glucano - δ - lactone , lactic , malic , citric , acetic , isoascorbic , adipic , tartaric , sorbic acid and mixtures thereof . it is also preferred that the amount of ground meat to the amount of acidulant ratio is between 0 . 1 to 1 . 5 : 99 . 9 to 98 . 5 percent by weight , more preferably the amount of ground meat to the amount of acidulant ratio is between 0 . 5 to 1 : 99 . 5 to 99 percent by weight . the bacterial culture releases lactic acid upon metabolism of the sugars within the meat admixture . in the exemplary embodiment , the bacterial culture is selected from lactobacillus plantarum , lactobacillus bavarious , lactobacillus curvatus and lactobacillus sake . without being bound to any particular reasoning as to why the use of the combination of acidulant and bacterial culture in this manner produces such surprising results it is thought to be because of the following reasons . meat mixtures have significant buffering capacity that aid in negating the effects of adding acid prior to actually seeing a decrease in the ph of the mixture . the use of an acid to take the mixture “ through ” the buffering capacity of the meat is therefore useful in speeding up the process of the invention . however , the acidulant is not used during the whole process because of the historical problems of fast acidulation , namely the negative effect seen on the texture of the meat product arising because of the rapid denaturation of the meat protein . this rapid denaturation prevents the proteins from binding to each other to achieve the desired textural matrix that one normally associates with conventionally fermented meat products . in the present invention , by utilizing a combination of slow release acidulant and a bacterial culture it is possible to mitigate and even eliminate what is effectively an activation barrier arising from the buffering capacity of the meat without affecting too dramatically the ph of the meat admixture . in addition , the slower acidification arises from the presence of the bacteria in the culture . that is the bacteria produces additional acid . in light of this situation , the slower acidification then moves faster than one would normally otherwise observe as the bacteria in the culture tends to produce more lactic acid at a quicker rate which correspondingly accelerates the rate of growth of the bacteria when compared with the normal fermentation scenario . this results in the finished product reaching the desired ph much more quickly than in a typical fermentation process . the addition of the acidulant does not adversely affect the textural , flavor and microbiological qualities of the meat mixture . turning now to fig1 , an exemplary flow chart of the present process is illustrated and includes the meat being initially provided at step 10 . the meat is then placed at a grinder 20 , which may be any conventional grinder , meat blender or the like . next , an edible acidulant at 15 and possibly other ingredients 17 , seasonings , etc . as described herein are added to the meat . the combined mixture is further ground and prior to passing the meat mixture to the forming stage , a bacterial culture is added at 25 . the culture in combination with the acidulant begins the fermentation process , that is the bacteria begins to produce acid in addition to the beneficial addition of the acidulant . next , the mixture is passed to a forming and shaping step designated at 30 in which the meat is extruded to form the desired shape . the shaped sausage is allowed to ferment for a period of time at step 40 to produce a product that may undergo some additional treatment steps at 50 , such as heating , drying and / or cooking prior to being packaged . turning briefly to fig2 , the illustration depicts a number of configurations and shapes that may be produced in connection with the present embodiment . other configurations , shapes , designs , etc . are of course possible . in order to further illustrate the inventive process , the following example is given . although the example is presented to illustrate certain specific embodiments of the invention , it is not to be construed to restrict the scope and spirit of the invention . a sample of dry sausage ( pepperoni ) was produced in accordance with the inventive process . first , the meat , approximately 5 kg , was ground and then admixed with the slow release acidulant , glucanodelta - lactone ( gdl ) approximately 0 . 5 % by weight of the ground meat . dextrose is added to the meat mixture . additional spices , seasonings , a curing agent and a protein source may be added to form a sausage admixture . the meat consisted of a mix of beef and pork in a range of approximately 30 % beef and 70 % pork . the beef and pork were ground together in a conventional meat grinder prior to being admixed with the other ingredients . the total fat content in the meat was about 35 % by weight based on the weight of the meat ( meat referring to the meat mix ). the spices and seasonings used were conventional sausage or italian seasonings obtained from chris hanson corp . and included approximately 5 % by weight of the batch prepared . next , a bacterial culture selected from the group of lactobacillus plantarum , lactobacillus bavarious , lactobacillus curvatus and lactobacillus sake was added . the ground meat mix was admixed with the acidulant , spices , seasonings , curing agent in a conventional meat blender for approximately 4 minutes . the sausage admixture is then formed to a desired shape and is continuously extruded into a plurality of rectangular strips , each strip being approximately 4 inches wide and ⅜ of an inch high . the strips were extruded by loading the sausage admixture into an extrusion chamber and using a piston to push the admixture through an extrusion head . the shaped sausage was then allowed to ferment at a temperature of 110 ° f . for about 90 to 120 minutes until the ph of the meat dropped below 5 . 0 . the shaped sausage product may be put through a heating device , which cooks and dries the shaped sausage pieces . an exemplary device for this purpose is a conventional batch oven that operates at a temperature of approximately 120 ° f . to 150 ° f . and the time required for drying was approximately 30 minutes . a few of the pieces were analyzed upon exiting the oven . the pieces looked and tasted like conventional pepperoni , had a ph level of around 4 . 3 and a moisture to protein ratio of 1 . 6 : 1 or less . the required finished product moisture to product ratio for various types of dry and semi - dry sausage products is shown below . the drying step can be carried out using many different types of heating devices , including but not limited to linear forced air dryers / oven , vacuum dryers , spiral forced air dryers , batch ovens and the like . once the drying step is completed , any dried off cuts resulting from the slicing , dicing or cutting step can be separated and removed from the desired products . the off cuts can then be fed back into the process as a protein source that can be ground up with the next batch of meat destined for processing in a further cycle of the process . the remaining dried and suitably shaped products can then be packaged , chilled , optionally frozen and shipped / stored as required . the dry or semi - dry sausage product produced in accordance with the above - mentioned process may be produced in a number of configurations , including conventional shapes . however , the process envisions that the product may be provided in unique shapes or themes to supplement a particular marketing promotion . for example , the pieces may be provided in geometric patterns such as stars , squares , pentagonals , hexagonals , and the like as well characters such as might appear in electronic games or in advertising or animate objects . it will thus be seen according to the present invention a highly advantageous process for producing dry and semi - dry sausage has been provided . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment , that many modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made thereof within the scope of the invention , which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products .
the present invention provides a process for rapidly producing dry and / or semi - dry sausage products through the use of a single extrusion step that is capable of both drying and cooking the sausage product . the present invention is capable of production of non - conventionally shaped sausage products for use as food and pizza toppings , snacks and ready to eat meal pieces .