Effects of Pre-cure Storage and Smoking on the Microflora and Palatability of Aged Dry-cured Hams

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Abstract
Forty-two similar weight hams were held 3 and 6 days postmortem at 2 C, dry-cured, and held at 13 C for 4 weeks for salt equalization. Half were then smoked and half were not smoked. All hams were aged for 3 months at 24 C. Six hams from each group were selected for external microbial evaluation and three were selected for internal microbial evaluation before curing, after curing, after salt equalization or smoking, and after aging 1, 2 and 3 months. Aerobic counts were higher in hams held 6 days than in those held 3 days but the difference decreased as processing time progressed. Smoking decreased surface counts. Enterococci, Bacillus cereus and fluorescent pseudomonads counts were initially low and these organisms were virtually absent after aging 1 month. Coliforms were initially low and were not detected after salt equalization. Staphylococci increased through 3 months of aging with very few isolates being coagulase-positive. Yeasts and molds increased gradually through processing and aging. No Clostridium perfringens or Salmonella were detected in uncured hams. There were no significant differences in palatability traits due either to pre-cure holding time or smoking.