Manufacture of dry-cured ham: A review. Part 2. Drying kinetics, modeling and equipment

Abstract

Dehydration in foodstuff manufacture is a process when a product loses the weight by reduction in water content. Regarding the production of dry-cured ham, dehydration mainly takes place during the drying stage. However, during the salting and the resting steps, water content of the hams also reduces by 3–4 %, which should be taken into account in order to adjust the necessary rate of the further drying. In addition, such parameters as pH of the raw material and salt content of being dried hams also influence the drying rate and the quality of the final product. The present paper is devoted to highlighting processes and parameters influencing the dehydration of dry-cured ham during the manufacture. Industrial drying systems used for the manufacture of dry-cured ham are described for the comparison of construction and energy consumption. Mathematical models mostly used to predict the drying behavior of dry-cured ham are described.