In this post, I’ll show you how to make a Bockwurst yourself. It’s simple and super quick to make.
Bockwurst is a German classic. It’s super snappy and just goes with any occasion. Be it as a snack with a good potato salad or on the hand with a good mustard. It also makes a great Currywurst when sautéed with a curry sauce.
For the preparation you need a smoker. Alternatively, you can just scald it, which will result in no smoky flavor to the Bockwurst.
Here you can find the complete Bockwurst 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.
Table of Contents
Making your own Bockwurst – What do you need?

Ingredients for your Bockwurst
Meat for 1 kg Bockwurst:
- 40% Pork shoulder (400g)
- 20% crushed ice / ice water (200g)
- 15% pork back fat (150g)
- 15% pork cheek (150g)
- 10% lean beef (100g)
Spices per 1 kg meat:
- 15.5 g salt
- 2.5 g Cure #1
- 3 g white pepper
- 3 g Cutter Phosphates
- 2 g paprika sweet
- 2 g sugar
- 2 g onion powder
- 1 g garlic powder
- 1 g mace
- 0,5 g coriander
Equipment for making Bockwurst
You need a meat grinder to “grind” the meat. The meat is chopped into small chunks and can then be mixed.
Cutter / powerful food processor
The sausage meat is very fine. To produce this consistency, you need a cutter or a powerful food processor.
You need a sausage stuffer to get your meat mass into the casing. In the beginning you can also add a filler to your grinder or use a modified plastic bottle or funnel.
Smoker
The bockwurst must be smoked before it is cooked. For this reason you need a smoker.
Casings
You need casings for the bockwurst. The size is up to you. I recommend pork casings caliber 28/30.
Making Bockwurst – Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Cut the meat into strips. You can vary the size depending on how big your meat grinder is.

2. Let the meat and fat freeze in the freezer for about 1 hour. The freezing makes it easier for you to grind the meat later.

3. Now finely grind your spices except for the cutter phosphates.

4. Now the meat and the fat are grinded. Depending on how coarse you want your final sausage meat, you can use different perforated discs here.
I use the smallest perforated disc (3 mm) and run the fat through twice first and then the meat twice.

5. Put the meat into the cutter or a food processor.

6. Now you can add the spices and the cutter phosphates.

7. Let the meat mix well and add the fat little by little.

8. Add the crushed ice from time to time so that the mixture does not get too warm. Measure the temperature from time to time. It should not exceed 12 degrees Celsius (53,6 F°).

9. Fill the meat mixture into casings. Make sure that as little air as possible is trapped.

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

11. Hang your bockwurst in a smoker for about 1 hour to dry. Alternatively, you can let it dry like I did without smoke, for 10-15 minutes at 40 degrees (104 F°) in the smoker without smoke.

12. When your sausages are a bit drier, you can hot smoke them at 60-70 C° (140 – 158 F°) for 60 minutes. The duration depends on your personal preferences. Depending on how much smoke and what color you want.

13. After smoking, the Bockwurst must be scalded for about 15 minutes at 75 – 80 C° (167 – 176 F°).

14. Your bockwurst is ready 😄. Enjoy it.

What is the shelf life of Bockwurst?
If you vacuum them, they should keep refrigerated for about 3 weeks. If you store them in the refrigerator without vacuum about 1 week.