Effect of drying on the quality of low-temperature sausage

Low-temperature sausage was made from pork and surimi by the combination of air hot drying and microwave. Effects of parameters such as hot air drying time, microwave power and microwave time on the quality of low-temperature sausage were studied. Microwave treatment owned the advantage of rapid and uniform heating which was beneficial for balancing the moisture, keeping the uniformity of color and improving the sensory quality of low-temperature sausage. With the increase of hot air drying time (>10h) , the sensory quality of the sausage was improved and the moisture inside and outside the sausage tended to be equilibrate.But the further extension of hot air drying time (>14h) would lead to significant reduction in springiness and increase in hardness. While treated by microwave time above 90 s, the moisture inside of the sausage decreased corresponding to worse taste, higher hardness and inferior color. The results showed that the optimal drying condition of the low-temperature sausage was hot air drying at 55℃ for 14 h followed by microwave drying at 250 W for 90 s.