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Meat from France

Saucisson sec d'Auvergne / Saucisse sèche d'Auvergne IGPSaucisson sec d'Auvergne

Saucisson sec d'Auvergne is a raw pork sausage that is fermented and then dried, with no smoke and no herb coat. A lean mix rich in garlic is stuffed into casings, rested cold, warmed to 15–27 °C for 2 to 8 days to ferment, and then matured; the whole process takes 18 to 42 days or more.

Fully documentedMeat21 days – 55 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification gives ranges per kilogram of mix for salt, garlic and sugars; each maker sets the exact recipe.
Meat from sows over 120 kg and/or pigs over 93 kg carcass weightat least 70 % of the mix[eu-auvergne-2016]
Salt22–35 g/kg of mix[cdc-auvergne-2016]
Garlic1–3 g/kg of mix (pulp)Always added; or the same amount as powder[cdc-auvergne-2016]
Sugars (glucose, sucrose, dextrose, lactose)under 20 g/kg of mix[cdc-auvergne-2016]
Pepper, spices, wine, spirits, liqueurs, maturing cultures[cdc-auvergne-2016]
Sodium or potassium nitrate, or nitrite mixed at 0.60 % with salt; ascorbate[cdc-auvergne-2016]
Startermaturing cultures allowed; otherwise spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 55 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 4 °C

What changes: Selected lean and fat are trimmed and kept cold

Step 1 of 6
Select and chill the cuts
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 4 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli

Fresh meat is used within 6 days of slaughter. Pre-salting the lean is allowed at 4 °C or lower for up to 4 days.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Saucisson sec d'Auvergne is a raw pork sausage that is fermented and then dried, with no smoke and no herb coat. A lean mix rich in garlic is stuffed into casings, rested cold, warmed to 15–27 °C for 2 to 8 days to ferment, and then matured; the whole process takes 18 to 42 days or more. Made in 6 steps over 21 days – 55 days. The longest step, mature and dry, takes 18–42 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2016). Salt is 2.2–3.5 % (Ministère de l'agriculture 2016). Internal flora responsible for the fermentation, with optional maturing cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step18–42 daysSet[cdc-auvergne-2016][eu-auvergne-2016]Mature and dry
Temperatureup to 4 °CSet[cdc-auvergne-2016]Select and chill the cuts
Salt2.2–3.5 %Set[cdc-auvergne-2016]Mince and mix with salt and garlic
AciditypH at least 5Set[eu-auvergne-2016]Mature and dry

What makes this one different

Auvergne saucisson always contains garlic, at two to ten times the usual dose, and its mix is at least 70 % meat from heavy sows or pigs, which gives a dark red slice. The specification also fixes a cold rest before the warm fermentation.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Saucisse sèche d'AuvergneA thinner sausage in small intestine; horseshoe, straight or coiled; at least 18 or 28 days.

Safety

The specification caps moisture on a fat-free basis at 52 % (56 % for wide pieces), keeps meat at 4 °C or lower before use and limits nitrite to a 0.60 % mix with salt. These are figures for controlled production, not a home method. Washington State University Extension does not recommend making dry sausage at home, because S. aureus toxin can form if fermentation is not rigidly controlled.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Listed as a speciality in the 1926 Larousse ménager and by Curnonsky and Croze (1933). The Label Rouge for Auvergne dry sausage and ham has been held since 1977 by the regional processors' association. Its PGI file took more than ten years between 1995 and 2006, and INAO validated it on 5 December 2006. The name was registered as a PGI by Regulation (EU) 2016/1676. The traditional Auvergne saucisson is lean and dark in colour.

  1. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  2. [eu-auvergne-2016] European Commission 2016, Publication of an application, Saucisson sec d'Auvergne / Saucisse sèche d'Auvergne PGI, single document, Official Journal C 160, 4.5.2016 (CELEX 52016XC0504(02)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  3. [cdc-auvergne-2016] Ministère de l'agriculture 2016, Cahier des charges de la dénomination Saucisson sec d'Auvergne / Saucisse sèche d'Auvergne, approved by the arrêté of 29 October 2015 and associated with Regulation (EU) 2016/1676, Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture n° 39-2016spec
  4. [reussir-2007] Giraud S., Saint-André R. 2007, Les salaisons d'Auvergne décrochent leur IGP, L'Union du Cantal (Réussir), 9 January 2007web
  5. [draaf-charcuterie] DRAAF Auvergne and NutriFizz, Charcuterie et salaisons (educational factsheet series "De la tradition et du goût"), Direction régionale de l'alimentation, de l'agriculture et de la forêt Auvergne-Rhône-Alpesgov