The organoleptic and other properties of dry sausages depend not only upon the products of sugar bacterial fermentation but are also strongly influenced by biochemical and physical changes occurring during the long drying or ageing process. The use of starter cultures for this category of raw sausages is less successful than for the semidry varieties. The length of production, either with or without smoking, and drying periods depends upon a multiplicity of factors, such as diameter and physical properties of casings, sausage formulation, choice and methods of preparing meat, conditions of drying etc. but overall processing time may require up to 90 days. The final pH of dry sausages is usually somewhat higher (5.0–5.5) than in semidry sausages, and it increases during the second part of this long ageing process.