Great Thuringer Bratwurst recipe

[razvan]

Hi all!
After reading many thuringer bratwurst recipes on german forums, I created my own recipe with the most common ingredients. The result was a great sausage, so I had to share! Eat it with dijon mustard and sauerkraut. Please try it and let me know what you think.

1kg meat - 50% pork shoulder and 50% pork belly
Total fat content: 25% - 30%
Salt 15g
White + black pepper 3g
Caraway seed cracked 2.5g
Marjoram dry 1.5g
Garlic fresh 10g
Ginger powder 0.5g

Cube the meat
Partially freeze the meat
Mix with all the spices
Grind all meat once trough 1/4" or 3/16" plate
Mix well
Stuff into pork casings

 

[chef jimmyj]

Sounds tasty. I've not had this style before...JJ

 

[DanMcG]

Thanks for sharing your recipe, I'll be putting it on my list.
Is the white and black pepper measurement 3g of each or total?

 

[razvan]

3g of pepper in total. Only black pepper or only white pepper can be used, but I like to mix them

 

[Homers1951]

3g of pepper in total. Only black pepper or only white pepper can be used, but I like to mix them

One of the secrets I learned in Germany was putting lemon zest in the mix. Have you tried that? By the way, too much really affects the taste in a negative way. B

 

[razvan]

One of the secrets I learned in Germany was putting lemon zest in the mix. Have you tried that? By the way, too much really affects the taste in a negative way. B

I read about lemon zest in some recipes. Someone said it can be substituted with a few drops of lemon essence. I will buy lemon zest powder and try it in the next recipe.
How much should I use? About 1 gram/kg? I am from Europe so i'm not so good with US measures. Thanks!

 

[Homers1951]

I read about lemon zest in some recipes. Someone said it can be substituted with a few drops of lemon essence. I will buy lemon zest powder and try it in the next recipe.
How much should I use? About 1 gram/kg? I am from Europe so i'm not so good with US measures. Thanks!

I have only used lemon zest. For your recipe no more than 1/2 lemon. I put a whole one in plus juice and it was too much. I have an Italian sausage recipe where I do the same and it is great. Remember you are still experimenting with this recipe, I think. B

 

[chopsaw]

I read about lemon zest in some recipes.

I've used lemon extract . Works good just be careful to not use to much . Now what I like may be to much for you , so just test it for your taste .
Recently made some Brats that called for citric acid . It had some what the same effect as the extract .

 

[zwiller]

Thanks for posting! Trying Thuringer style next. I can tell your recipe is good as it is spot on my formula for my nurburger in pepper and marjoram. Most recipes are too low IMO. 10g fresh garlic WOW. Sounds tasty!

Last run of Nurnberger I used 1.5% lemon juice and seemed ok but nothing major. IMO perfecting german sausage is like brewing their beer. There is not really a secret ingredient and it is the mastery of the basics. IE fresh ground spice vs store bough ground.

 

[razvan]

[QUOTE="zwiller, post 10g fresh garlic WOW. Sounds tasty! [/QUOTE]

10g may be too much, try 5g first. I am from Romania and we love garlic in our traditional sausages. It is common for recipes here to call for 20-25g fresh garlic for 1 kilo of meat.

 

[razvan]

Last run of Nurnberger I used 1.5% lemon juice and seemed ok but nothing major. IMO perfecting german sausage is like brewing their beer. There is not really a secret ingredient and it is the mastery of the basics. IE fresh ground spice vs store bough ground.

Would you please share your Nurnberger recipe? I am looking to try Nurnberger next

 

[zwiller]

Too much garlic?! There's no such thing! Wait a minute, wasn't Vlad/Dracula from Romania?!?! So it's a safety thing???

My nurnberger is still a work in progress. Not keeping a log but this is I think V7. From a spreadsheet (I get mixed up on grams v. percentages still)

MEAT 1000 grams
WATER 100 10.00% 45.4
SALT 20 2.00% 9.08
SUGAR 10 1.00% 4.5
STPP 0.05 0.50% 2.3
MARJORAM 1.5 0.15% 0.7
MACE 0.00% 0.0
NUTMEG FRESH! 2 0.20% 0.9
WHITE PEPPER FRESH! 3 0.30% 1.4
LEMON JUICE 15 1.50% 6.8

 

[razvan]

No vampire could stand the garlic breath from a romanian sausage

 

[razvan]

My nurnberger is still a work in progress.

Try this recipe:

1kg meat
Salt 13g
White pepper 3g
Onion fresh 40g or 3g onion powder
Marjoram 1.5g
Nutmeg 0.5g
Lemon zest 1g (don't use the juice)
Ginger powder 0.5g
2 egg whites (optional, for binding}
50ml milk (optional)

 

[zwiller]

My reference point is:

Supposedly 500 YO recipe. I am not even in the ballpark yet. That being said, I think fresh nutmeg will change that. I could be wrong but I believe the "hallmark" of this style is the white pepper mixing with the nutmeg. Honestly tho, the Thuringer sounds crazy good!