Make beef sausage yourself – Very tasty and easy to make

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.

Making your own beef sausage – What do you need?

INGREDIENTS PER 1 KG 

Milder version from the video:

• 75 % lean beef (750 g)
• 25 % pork backfat (250 g)

Alternative (beef only):

• 80 % lean beef (800 g)
• 20 % beef fat (200 g)

SPICES PER KG OF MEAT

• 18 g salt
• 3 g white pepper
• 2 g paprika powder
• 1 g mace
• 1 g garlic powder
• 1 g coriander seeds
• 0,5 g allspice
• 0,5 g ginger powder

Equipment for making 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.

Making 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (175 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.