Contamination with Salmonella spp. is ubiquitous across dry environments due to the persistence of this organism during desiccation and the subsequently induced cross-tolerance. For low-moisture food manufacturing, wet cleaning is limited owing to the need for a complete dry-out and that moisture trapped within surface pits and crevices breeds pathogens. Likewise, alcohol wipes are prioritized over bulk-water systems to sanitize the equipment based upon quick evaporation. Alcohol-based systems, however, must be applied only when the machinery is turned off and allowed for cooldown due to flammability, introducing downtime. This work explored the use of oil as a delivery system for organic acids to inactivate foodborne bacterial pathogens desiccated on stainless steel. A controlled, low level of water dispersion (0.3% v/v) enhanced the bactericidal efficacy of acetic acid-acidified oil by a pronounced margin. Desiccated Salmonella was reduced by greater than 6.5 log after treatment with acidified water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion (200 mM acetic acid) for 20 min at room temperature (20−22 °C), or for 15 min at 45 °C. The dispersed water droplets allowed the partitioning of acetic acid and created imbalanced vapor pressure at the cell-oil interface, prompting osmotic downshift and lysing the cells with a damaged membrane. A decrease in Salmonella membrane viscosity was evident with increasing temperature, effectively allowing extracellular compounds to permeate into the cells. A tubing system loaded with inoculated peanut butter was used to evaluate a dry cleaning and sanitation procedure involving flushing with fresh oil under laminar flow, followed by holding with the formulated antimicrobial oils. System decontamination was achieved by a 3.6-min oil flush and a 30-min contact with acidified W/O emulsion at 60 °C. Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 may be used as a Salmonella surrogate to validate such a process based upon the more conservative inactivation kinetics consistently exhibited by the former. Furthermore, Salmonella biofilms grown using the CDC Biofilm Reactor were reduced to a level undetectable by enrichment after a 60-min contact with acidified W/O emulsion at 60 °C, regardless of the biofilm matrix hydration levels. The established oil-based approach allows a paradigm shift precluding traditional wet cleaning and flammable alcohol sanitizers.