Air drying after smoking

[john128]

Hi All
I have just made some fast fermented pepperoni from Stanley Marianski's book. Used cure #1, but omitted the starter culture as I didn't have any.
I fermented at 100f for 16 hours and then raised smoker temp to 150f gradually until IT hit 145f.
Stanley says that for a drier sausage to air dry for 2 days at 70-60f at 65% humidity and I am currently doing this.
It seems a bit weird for me to have cooked meat airing for 2 days. Does anyone have experience with this process? Is it safe?
Thanks, John

Note I also posted on Smokingmeatforums.

[johngaltsmotor]

I do this frequently with snack sticks. Get the smoke in and cook them, then let them dry to reduce the moisture content so they store longer. I won't say last longer as it tends to concentrate the flavors a bit and make them even more irresistible