www.sausagemaking.org

Hi All,

I joined today after discovering these forums. My heritage is German and I've always been fascinated by the way German sausages are made (and their history). I would like to try the following recipe:



Based on the description, the recipe calls for the following:

1.5 kg pork belly,
0.5 kg of pork shoulder,
1-2 hog casing,
2 egg whites,
Spices / kg:
20 gram salt,
2 gram pepper ,
1 gram Allspice,
1 gram Ingver,
0.5 gram cardamom,

As this is the first ever sausage I'm going to attempt, I don't know much about curing. I've already read the curing FAQ on the site so I'm assuming the 20g salt will be the 'cure'? Is it recommended to use another 'Prague' cure instead?

Thanks!

soibcp - because they are a fresh sausage that needs to be refrigerated you do not need to cure the meat. The salt is for flavor in this case. If you were going to smoke the sausage or hang it to dry for any length of time you would need to use cure in order to prevent bacteria growth.

This bratwurst is what is known as a cooked sausage. After you make the sausage, you poach it just until it is cooked, and then put it in a cold water bath to stop the cooking. To eat it, you reheat it and brown it. So basically, you treat it as you would a fully-cooked hotdog you bought at the store, only this will be much, much better. It isn't cured, so you don't need to use a Prague Powder or any other cure; you are pre-cooking it, instead. Because it isn't cured, it needs to be refrigerated, and you should plan on eating it within about 5 days or freeze what you don't eat. To reheat, try frying/browning them in a little butter!

Since you are just getting started, I suggest you pick up a copy of Home Sausage Making, 3rd ed. by Susan Peery and Charles Reavis. You should be able to find it new or used. If you find an older edition, it will be by Reavis, alone. Although the 3rd edition is the best (in my opinion), the 1st edition is also good. Avoid the 2nd edition, because he tried to make all the recipes low-fat and low-salt and did a poor job of it. The 3rd edition restored, improved and expanded the recipes. This book is a great beginner's book, with successful recipes, and it will help you learn the difference between fresh sausages, cooked sausages, and cured sausages.

Welcome to sausagemaking.org. You'll learn a lot, here, too. Don't hesitate to ask questions. We're a friendly bunch.

Ingver = ginger???

johngaltsmotor wrote:soibcp - because they are a fresh sausage that needs to be refrigerated you do not need to cure the meat. The salt is for flavor in this case.

Thanks for the tip!

vagreys wrote:I suggest you pick up a copy of Home Sausage Making, 3rd ed. by Susan Peery and Charles Reavis.

Will check out the book.

herjac wrote:Ingver = ginger???

Haha yep, use Germans are funny like that