Meats and Sausages
Frankfurter-Wiener Würstel
The Viennese Frankfurters also known as “Wiener Würstel” were first produced in Vienna in 1805 by the German butcher Johann Georg Lahner (1772-1845), born in Gasseldorf, Bavaria, who immigrated to Vienna and started experimenting with new sausages which people seem to like. He did an apprenticeship as a butcher in Frankfurt and decided to call his most popular sausage the “Frankfurter.” His Frankfurter had nothing in common with sausages in Germany where sausages were made either from pork or from beef, but not from combination of both. Such restrictions did not exist in Austria and Johann Lahner mixed pork and beef together, mincing them very finely. The sausage was lightly smoked and cooked and became a hit in Vienna, then in the rest of Europe and the USA.
Frankfurter is a thin sausage, made from pork, beef, pork belly fat and spices, finely ground, stuffed in sheep casings, lightly smoked and cooked in water.
| Materials | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Beef and /or pork, best quality | 420 g | 0.92 lb |
| Pork belly | 250 g | 0.55 lb |
| Water | 330 ml | 11 oz fl |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of materials
| Salt | 15 g | 2.5 tsp |
| Cure #1 | 2.0 g | 1/3 tsp |
| White pepper | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Mace | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Garlic, smashed | 2.5 g | 1 clove |
Instructions
- Grind meat through 5 mm (1/4”) plate.
- Grind fat through 5 mm (1/4”) plate
- Using food processor emulsify ground meat, water and all ingredients together. Add fat and emulsify until fine paste is obtained.
- Stuff sausages into 24 mm sheep casings forming 20 cm (8”) links. Hang sausages in smokehouse (no smoke applied) at 50° C (120° F) until they feel dry to touch.
- Apply smoke at 70° C (158° F) for 50 minutes. Original frankfurters were smoked with beech wood.
- Cook sausages in water at 75-80° C (167-176° F) until they reach 70° C (158° F) internal temperature. This should take about 20 minutes.
- Immerse in cold water for 5 minutes. Hold in air to evaporate moisture.
- Refrigerate.
Notes
Frankfurter is served with a roll, sweet or hot mustard, horseradish or ketchup.
