weight of the batch prepared next a bacterial culture selected from the group of lactobacillus plantarum lactobacillus bavarious lactobacillus curvatus and lactobacillus sake was added the ground meat mix was admixed with the acidulant spices seasonings curing agent in a conventional meat blender for approximately 4 minutes the sausage admixture is then formed to a desired shape and is continuously extruded into a plurality of rectangular strips each strip being approximately 4 inches wide and u215c of an inch high the strips were extruded by loading the sausage admixture into an extrusion chamber and using a piston to push the admixture through an extrusion head the shaped sausage was then allowed to ferment at a temperature of 110 u00b0 f for about 90 to 120 minutes until the ph of the meat dropped below 5 0 the shaped sausage product may be put through a heating device which cooks and dries the shaped sausage pieces an exemplary device for this purpose is a conventional batch oven that operates at a temperature of approximately 120 u00b0 f to 150 u00b0 f and the time required for drying was approximately 30 minutes a few of the pieces were analyzed upon exiting the oven the pieces looked and tasted like conventional pepperoni had a ph level.