Make beef sausage yourself – Very tasty and easy to make

beef sausage - ready
Type
Bratwurst
Level
Easy

In this post I’m going to show you how to make beef sausage yourself. It’s easy and super quick to make and perfect for beginners.

The beef bratwurst is a really great alternative to the classic bratwurst. So if you’re looking for a little variety at a barbecue, I highly recommend it.

You can find even more variety in my recipe book “24 Bratwurst Recipes for a Perfect Barbecue Experience”.

But now enough chatter … 

Here you can find the complete beef sausage recipe as a video or to read through.

Have fun and good luck making it! I would be happy if you leave me a comment if you succeeded.

Beef sausage – What do you need to make it?

beef sausage - all ingredients
g

Ingredients per 1 kg

Ingredient Grams Percent
milder version from the video
lean beef 750 g 75 %
pork backfat 250 g 25 %
alternative (beef only)
lean beef 800 g 80 %
beef fat 200 g 20 %

Spices per 1 kg

Ingredient Grams
salt 18 g
white pepper 3 g
paprika powder 2 g
mace 1 g
garlic powder 1 g
coriander seeds 1 g
allspice 0.5 g
ginger powder 0.5 g

The equipment to make beef sausage

Meat Grinder

You need a meat grinder to “grind” the meat. The meat is chopped into small chunks with it.

Sausage filler / attachment for the meat grinder / hand filling funnel

You need this to get your meat mass into the casing. For starters, a filler attachment for your meat grinder or a hand filler funnel will work for this.

Natural casings

Beef sausages are traditionally stuffed into natural casings.

I use sheep casings caliber 22 / 24. For thicker beef sausages I recommend pork casings caliber 28 / 30.

If you want to prepare the beef sausages without intestines, you can use jars and boil down the mass.

Make beef sausage – Step-By-Step Instructions

1

Cut your meat and back fat into strips. The size varies depending on how big your meat grinder is. The bigger the grinder, the bigger your pieces of meat can be.

beef sausage - cut
2

Put the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help later on with the grinding process and the temperature.

beef sausage - freeze
3

Grind the spices into a fine powder. This way they will be evenly distributed throughout the sausages. 

beef sausage - spices
4

Now you can grind the meat. Depending on how coarse or fine you want your beef sausage, you can use different perforated discs.

To be honest, this is a matter of taste. I personally used the finest perforated disc (3 mm). But as I said … You have to like it.

beef sausage - grind
5

Add the spices to the minced mixture and knead it well. It is up to you whether you do the kneading by hand or with a hand mixer.

beef sausage - mix
6

Next, put the casing on the sausage stuffer. I use 22/24 caliber sheep casing.

In the end, it’s your decision whether you prefer to make thinner or thicker sausages. As with the texture, this is a matter of taste and can be decided by you.

beef sausage - casing
7

Now fill the meat into the casing. To do this, hold the casing tightly on the filling spout and let it slowly fill up more and more. This part needs some practice. Don’t worry if it doesn’t work 100% right away. Important: Do not fill the casing too tightly, otherwise it will burst later during frying.

beef sausage - fill
8

Now it is time to link the sausages. You can decide for yourself how big your sausage should be. 

Take the desired length between your fingers and rotate the sausage forward. After that, leave out one length of sausage. Take another one between your fingers and rotate it forward again. So the intermediate piece is also twisted off and you get great sausages.

beef sausage - twist
9

Your beef sausage is ready. Enjoy it! If you need more information on making your own bratwurst, check out this post as well. There I have answered many questions about making bratwurst.

beef sausage - ready

Frequently asked questions

What is a beef sausage?

What is a beef sausage?

A beef sausage is a fresh bratwurst made from beef instead of pork, and the recipe above gives you two ways to build one. The milder version from the video keeps 25 % pork backfat, which is the softer fat and lets the beef sit in the background. The all-beef alternative swaps it for 20 % beef fat, which is harder and stronger-tasting, so the sausage comes out firmer and beefier. Everything else is the same: same spices, same batch weight, same method.

So a beef sausage is not automatically an all-beef sausage. If that is what you are after, take the second option.

How do you serve beef sausage?

How do you serve beef sausage?

As a barbecue sausage, first of all. I stuff mine into sheep casing caliber 22/24 for a thin sausage and pork casing caliber 28/30 when I want them thicker, and from there they go on the grill or into the pan the way any fresh bratwurst does. Do not fill the casing too tightly, or it bursts while frying.

If you would rather have them ready to slice, poach them straight after stuffing, which is what the shelf-life section below describes. Without casings you can boil the mixture down in jars instead.

How long is the shelf life of the beef sausage?

How long is the shelf life of the beef sausage?

The beef sausage can be kept raw in the refrigerator for about 1-2 days.

You can also poach it immediately at 75 degrees Celsius (167 Fahrenheit) for 25 minutes. Then it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Alternatively, you can also freeze it raw or scalded, then it will keep for up to 6 months and will not lose any flavor.

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Have you tried this recipe?

Rate it to help other sausage makers.

2 comments

  1. Joshua Rejoice

    Please I need a typical recipe of sausage using 1kg lean beef

    1. Daniel Author

      You always need fat in your sausage otherwise it will be crumbly and does not taste.

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