Make your own Mettwurst – Super tasty spreadable variant

In this post I’ll show you how to make your own Mettwurst.

Mettwurst can be made in different variants: spreadable and sliceable. In this post, I’ll show you a version that you can spread on bread.

The Mettwurst typically is cold smoked. You can also omit the cold smoking, but of course, this changes the taste. A variant without smoking for example would be my Zwiebelmettwurst.

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

Have fun and good luck making it!

Making your own Mettwurst – What do you need?

Ingredients for your Mettwurst 

Ingredients per 1 kg 

• 60 % pork shoulder (600g)
• 25 % pork belly (250g)
• 15 % pork back fat (150g)

Spices per KG meat

• 19.5 g salt
• 2.5 g Cure #1
• 2 g white pepper
• 2 g mace 
• 1 g coriander 
• 1 g allspice 

Equipment for making Mettwurst

Meat Grinder

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

Spice grinder / mortar

To grind your spices, it is best to use a spice mill. Alternatively, a mortar is also suitable. Or you can use already ground spices. I recommend grinding them yourself.

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 or smokeable artificial casings

For filling your mass you need natural casings or artificial casings that can be smoked and are suitable for drying the sausage later on. 

Smoker

You need the smoker to smoke your Mettwurst. 

Cold Smoke Generator and smoking flour 

The cold smoke generator burns for about 12 hours. This saves you to constantly refill the smoking flour. 

Making Mettwurst – 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 your spices to a fine powder.

4. Now it’s time to grind the meat. Grind the meat through the medium perforated disc (4.5 mm). 

5. Add the spices, salt and cure to the meat mass and mix it for a few minutes until it has a nice binding.

6. You can fill the mass into the casings. Make sure that not much air gets into the casings. You need to use casings that are suitable for cured sausages and smoking.

7. Tie a knot at the end of the casing.

8. Hang the Mettwurst at room temperature for 24 hours. The humidity should be around 80%. You can spray them with water from time to time or hang a damp towel next to them.

9. You can now hang them in the smoker and cold smoke them. I did 3 runs here. One run means 12 hours of smoke and 12 hours of no smoke. The temperature should ideally be between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius (59 – 68 °F).

10. After the third round, the sausage will have a nice color. If you want it to be firmer, you can let it ripen and dry for a few more days at a lower temperature. 

11. Your Mettwurst is ready 😄. Enjoy it. 

What is the shelf life of Mettwurst?

Thanks to smoking and drying, your Mettwurst will keep longer. 

To prevent the sausages from drying out or losing their flavor, it’s best to pack them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

In general, I would also recommend using them within 7 days.

This should not be a problem because of the delicious taste ;).