Make your own Mettwurst – Super tasty spreadable variant
- Type
- Cured sausage
- Level
- Medium
- Rating
- Rate this recipe
In this post I’ll show you how to make your own Mettwurst.
My guide to why cured meat is pink explains the colour of cured sausages.
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!
Table of Contents
Mettwurst – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| pork shoulder | 600 g | 60 % |
| pork belly | 250 g | 25 % |
| pork back fat | 150 g | 15 % |
Spices per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| salt | 19.5 g |
| Cure #1 | 2.5 g |
| white pepper | 2 g |
| mace | 2 g |
| coriander | 1 g |
| allspice | 1 g |
The equipment to make Mettwurst
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.
Make Mettwurst – Step-By-Step Instructions
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.
Put the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help later on with the grinding process and the temperature.
Grind your spices to a fine powder.
Now it’s time to grind the meat. Grind the meat through the medium perforated disc (4.5 mm).
Add the spices, salt and cure to the meat mass and mix it for a few minutes until it has a nice binding.
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.
Tie a knot at the end of the casing.
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.
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).
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.
Your Mettwurst is ready 😄. Enjoy it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mettwurst?
What is Mettwurst?
Mett is the German word for raw minced pork, seasoned and ready to eat exactly as it is. A Mettwurst is that mince turned into a sausage that keeps: cured, stuffed into a casing and then left to redden and dry. It is never cooked, and it is not meant to be. The cure, the drying and the smoke do the work that heat does in a Brühwurst, which is what puts this sausage in the Rohwurst family, the German raw sausages.
Inside that family the split is by texture rather than by recipe, and what decides it is the casing and the clock. A narrower casing and a longer maturing period drive out more moisture and leave you a sausage firm enough to slice; a wider casing and a shorter stay leave it soft enough to go on bread with a knife. The same mince and the same spice list can end up as either one.
What is the shelf life of Mettwurst?
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 ;).
Amazing sausage recipe love your way
I assume you can grind the meat finer and even run it thru a food processor; the Mettwurst I grew up with was almost a paste consistency like liverwurst, to make it spreadable. Can't wait to try this, I've already done Leberkase, took a few trys but it was delicious. Do you have any recipes for Weisswurst or Gelbwurst? Thanks for all the time and effort putting this together.