Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF
Maybe I made a mistake, but I definitely recall something about dry aging meats going into sausage for them to be drier. The drier the meat, the less time you'd have to continue letting it dry after it's in the casing. I also read that you basically have to slow dry the sausage in a humid environment so that the casing doesn't dry out too fast, screwing up the whole thing.
But I don't recall where I saw that, so just assume I misread for now. Otherwise someone's going to mess up and get sick.
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Bacteria doesn't penetrate beef and pork very well, that's why you are able to dry age steaks and full cuts. Once you mince the meat, however, you are exposing the entirety of the meat to bacteria. I suppose you could dry the meat for a relatively short amount of time (maybe hours instead of days) before putting it into the casing, but I wouldn't go very long. If you add heat or dryness, you also run the risk of cooking the meat.
There are special dry aging fridges you can buy. You can get away with most sausages and cured meats in a regular fridge though by hanging them from a string.