Kochwurst – The How-to for Rotwurst, Leberwurst and Sülze

Having wrapped up my three-month-long internship with a butcher in Mechterstädt, I was extremely grateful to have been introduced to Knackwurst, a fermented sausage, as well as some other delicious treats (like Fleischsalat and Rinderrouladen) and the useful process for Schmalz (tr., Lard).  And while Knackwurst is his major seller, the second place in terms of turnover is his selection of Kochwurst.

Kochwurst (tr., cooked sausage) is an umbrella term for the sausage that is pre-cooked, seasoned, congealed, and then canned or stuffed into a natural casing.  As tends to be the case for many handmade products, there was no set recipe of what to include in each sausage; that said, the below captures my observations during my internship.

Rotwurst

Wikipedia informs me that each of the sausages I had learned to make is regionally named.  As such, Rotwurst (tr., red sausage) is also known as Blutwurst (tr., blood sausage), Beutelwurst (tr., pouch or bag sausage), or Grützwurst (tr., grits sausage).  There are other varieties listed that include words like liver, tongue and pig.  This sausage typically includes liver, tongue and pig.

Cuts of meat are boiled for one or two hours prior to dicing.  This water will be reused, so do not discard; this is Brühe (tr., broth).  If you are simultaneously making both Rotwurst and Sülze, reserve the fattier pieces for the Rotwurst.  The boiled meat should be cubed into one-quarter to one-half inch pieces.  For presentation purposes, kidney and tongue pieces should be up to three-quarters inch.

Recipe: (per kilo of meat)

• 25 g Salz (tr., salz (not nitrate))
• 6 g Pfeffer (tr., pepper)
• 2-3 g Kümmel (tr., caraway)
• 0.5 Zwiebel (tr., onion)
• 100 g Leber (tr., liver)
• 0.5 Zunge (tr., tongue)
• Marojan (tr., wild oregeno)
• Muskat (tr., nutmeg)
• Piment (tr., allspice)
• 100 mL Brühe (tr., broth) [approximately]
• 1/6 L Blut (tr., blood) [approximately]
• 50 g Schwarte (tr., pigskin)

The onions and the skin are the binding agents.  For Rotwurst, the blood will also hold the meat cubes together once cooked.  Note that the skin is boiled for approximately 30 minutes before being put through the meat grinder with the onions and liver.  Nothing else in this recipe goes through the grinder.

The key is to mix in the ground skin as quickly as possible; as it cools, it will start clumping.  In fact, once ground, all ingredients (excluding the tongue) should be thoroughly mixed.  I assume larger butcher shops have machines for that purpose, but that was my task every other Wednesday: arm-deep in a tub full of meat, blood, and skin.

The Rotwurst was packaged in a variety of vessels where I interned: jars (i.e., canned), natural casing (usually cow), and Blasen (tr., pig bladders).   The first two did not include any tongue; the tongue was reserved for the pig bladders.

The cans are boiled for two hours, but the casing and bladders are cooked in a water bath at around 80°C (176°F) for about one hour.  The goal is a temperature between 70°C (158°F) and 75°C (167°F) in the middle of the sausage.

Sülze

This, too, has a variety of names, but the general theme is that it includes the word “Sülze” (tr., galantine).  The process for this cooked sausage is near identical to Rotwurst; however, there is no blood, no allspice, no tongue, and no liver included.  The lack of blood puts more pressure on the onions and skin for binding purposes.

 Recipe: (per kilo of meat)

• 25 g Salz (tr., salz (not nitrate))
• 6 g Pfeffer (tr., pepper)
• 2-3 g Kümmel (tr., caraway)
• 0.5 Zwiebel (tr., onion)
• 100 g Leber (tr., liver)
• 0.5 Zunge (tr., tongue)
• Marojan (tr., wild oregeno)
• Muskat (tr., nutmeg)
• Piment (tr., allspice)
• 100 mL Brühe (tr., broth) [approximately]
• 1/6 L Blut (tr., blood) [approximately]
• 50 g Schwarte (tr., pigskin)

With the reduction of fluids from the exclusion of the blood, more broth will be used to compensate.  Also note that the size of the cubed meat for Sülze can be larger, around one-half inch and up to three-quarters inch.  The key to success with Sülze is cooling the final mixture before putting in casing in order to allow for better binding (it will be less fluid after it is cooled).

In addition to cans, natural casing, and bladders, Sülze was also packaged in a plastic casing – large diameter tubes that mimicked cow bung casing.  The bladders and natural casing were then smoked after cooking, which imparted even more flavor.  The cans and plastic casing were obviously not smoked.

Leberwurst

This may be my favorite sausage we made at my first butcher internship (naturally after Knackwurst).  However, Leberwurst (tr., liver sausage) is truly made of the junk left over from the other sausages.   Ugly pieces from Knackwurst, whatever one could strip off a pig leg, and extra pieces of fat from the other cooked sausages would be thrown into a bin and reserved for liver sausage.

A good quantity of spices is used in Leberwurst, which may be intended to cover up any meat flavors.  However, the final product is easily spreadable and tastes great.  The meat is put through the meat grinder twice in order to really make a puree of the mixture.

Recipe: (per kilo of meat)

• 25 g Salz (tr., salt)
• 6-7 g Pfeffer (tr., pepper)
• 200 g Leber (tr., liver)
• 0.5 Zwiebel (tr., onion)
• 1 oz Zitronensaft (tr., lemon juice)
• A small amount of Kümmel (tr., caraway)
• A lot of Marojan (tr., wild oregeno)
• Very little Muskat (tr., nutmeg)
• A bit Piment (tr., allspice)

One will add quite a lot of Brühe (tr., broth) to this mixture.  You will have added enough liquid when you can make waves on the surface by pulsing with your palm, but the movement quickly stops.  You will not be able to clump the mixture in your hands.

Most of this is canned, but some portion of it was put into the middle Darm (tr., casing) from a cow.  This was given a water bath for one hour at 80°C (176°F).  It was then smoked.  It was then delicious.