I hope you are ready because this recipe is hard core!! Mettwurst is a German sausage. This sausage has many different styles of preparation as you might find mettwurst in casings, fully dried, in a jar, or spreadable.
Today’s version of mettwurst is a semi dried cured and cold smoked sausage that can be eaten as is or over bread with onions. This recipe came from the German You Tuber LittleGastHaus and it’s awesome.
The recipe below has an additional “fermentation” step that I added in. I like fermenting meats because I really enjoy the complexities of flavors that come from fermenting but it also adds an additional layer of protection. If you make this recipe I highly suggest incorporating this step.
Whichever method you choose you need to make sure that the meat you use for this recipe is incredibly fresh! I’m talking recently slaughtered and processed by a reputable butcher. Don’t buy grocery store pork for this recipe.
There are several important pieces of equipment you’ll need in this recipe. The first and most important is a drying chamber. You can visit a previous post (How to build a drying chamber for salami) to see how one is made. This chamber regulates the drying so that your mettwurst doesn’t dry to fast. The conditions are very specific in a drying chamber. The temperature is kept at 55F while the humidity is kept around 80%. This is made possible by the use of a couple controllers by InkBird.
The refrigerator is connected to one controller. This controller turns the fridge on and off there by regulating the temperature. The other controller has a humidifier and a dehumidifier connected to it. This controller cuts those on and off there by increasing or decreasing the humidity in the chamber.
Having a drying chamber allows you to make an assortment of different charcuterie like Salami, semi dried sausages, and whole muscle curing. You can even brew wine, make cheese, and grow mushrooms in a drying chamber.
Follow basic fermented sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F)
- Any liquid that is added to the mince needs to be ice cold
- Mix your very chilled meat and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky
- Stuff the mince into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
- Ferment at room temperature for 24 hours then place it in a drying chamber for 2-3 days.
- Cold Smoke for a total of 6 hours and enjoy!!
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Chef Knife – KOTAI
- Boning Knife
- Sausage Pricker
- Iwatani Professional Chef Torch
- Flavor of Italy
- Apera pH Meter with Bluetooth
- Dextrose
- Insta Cure #1
- Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
- Meat Grinders
- Meat Mixers
- Sausage Stuffers
- Smokers
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
- InkBird Controllers temp & Humidity
- Dehumidifier Eva Dry 1100
- Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. If you make this at home I’d love to hear about how it came out!!
If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.
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Mettwurst
Ingredients
- 1362 g pork shoulder
- 681 g pork belly
- 227 g pork back fat
- 56 g kosher salt
- 5.7 g insta cure #1
- .6 g garlic
- .9 g nutmeg
- 2.3 g paprika
- 6.8 g white pepper
- 2.3 g all spice
- 13.62 g mustard seed
- 5 g dextrose
- hog casings 28mm – 30mm
Optional fermenting ingredients
- Flavor of Italy Starter Culture 1/2 tsp of starter culture dissolved in 1/4 cup of distilled water. Let rehydrate for 30 minutes prior to using (this is for every 5 pounds of meat that you have)
Instructions
- Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Place in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F.
- Prepare all of your seasonings, clean and rehydrate your casings, and if you plan on using a starter culture go ahead and rehydrate your starter culture at this point.
- Add your seasonings to the meat and toss to combine. Then grind your very chilled meat on a 4.5mm plate. Rechill your meat after grinding.
- If you plan on using a starter culture add it now to your ground meat then mix till it becomes very tacky. If you grab a small handful it will stick to your hand if you hold your hand upside down.
- Stuff your mince meat into the casings, link, and prick out any air pockets.
Fermenting, drying, and smoking instructions
- To ferment your sausage hang at room temperature (75F-85F) for 24 hours
- after fermentation place the meat in a drying chamber where the temperature is 55F and the humidity is 80% for 2-3 days.
- After 2 days in the drying chamber, cold smoke your mettwurst with your favorite wood for 3 hours then return to the drying chamber.
- The next day cold smoke your mettwurst for 3 more hours.
- Enjoy as is or with raw onions and bread. Yummy!!!
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