Take it from a guy who normally doesn’t like liver, these braunschweiger sausages will make a believer out of you. Smoky, rich and only slightly livery, this is a great use for any sort of liver you happen to have on hand.
Traditionally, braunschweiger is an all pork sausage, or a sausage with beef, pork and pork liver. And you can certainly do that with this recipe.
But as a hunter, I find myself with wild game livers big and small, and like I said, I am no fan of liver’s texture. So for years, I made an Umbrian liver sausage mazzafegati, and I still love it. But there had to be another liver sausage out there I’d like.
Liverwurst? Not my thing. Just too livery. Braunschweiger, on the other hand, is smoked, which adds another element of flavor, and it contains meat and fat, too, to balance the liver.
Brunswick, where braunschweiger comes from, is a city in north-central Germany, near Hanover. The sausage is at least 200 years old, and maybe much older than that. Several recipes exist, but they are feature liver prominently, and are almost always smoked.
Incidentally, this is the main difference between liverwurst and braunschweiger: Liverwurst is never smoked. It also tends to be up to 50 percent liver, too.
Depending on the recipe, some variants of braunschweiger are spreadable, almost like a German nduja or pate in a casing. This is not that kind. This is a solid, sliceable sausage you can eat like a normal link.
Pretty much always pork fat and some pork, for starters. And of course liver, usually pork liver.
Speaking of livers, while pork is good, so too would be livers from young game animals, like a little buck, a raghorn elk, fawns and young does. Older animals tend to have darker, stronger-tasting livers. This is also why I don’t recommend beef liver, although calves’ livers are a good option.
For this particular recipe I used fatty wild duck livers, which are a thing. Chicken and turkey livers are a great choice as well. I prefer bird livers because they tend to not be as strong-tasting as those of mammals.
Spices are pretty simple: white pepper, marjoram, ginger, sage, mustard and a little clove and mace. None in large amounts, so the flavor is meaty and smoky, with a back hit of the spices.
I need to state at the outset that making braunschweiger isn’t simple. It’s definitely a “Sausage Making 2.0” recipe. If you’ve made fresh sausages before, you should be fine. If not, you will want to read my tutorial on how to make sausage, try a few simple ones first, then come back to this one.
No matter what style you are making, braunschweiger is a very finely grained sausage. You can get there either by emulsifying the meat-fat-liver mixture, or, if you have a variety of dies for your meat grinder, you can grind the mix three times, ending with the 3 mm die. That’s what I did.
If this is not an option, you still need at least a 4.5 mm die to make this sausage. There’s no other way around it. Thankfully, even most basic meat grinders have one: It’s normally the “fine” die on cheap models.
A food processor is a decent way to emulsify sausage, too. After grinding through a regular, 4.5 mm die, partially freeze the mix for an hour or so. Mix with crushed ice and buzz in a food processor in batches. The problem with this method is that unless you have a really big food processor, you will need to do a batch, put the finished, emulsified sausage in the fridge, clean and re-chill the processor parts, then do it again.
This is the trick to making braunschweiger, or any emulsified sausage: Cold matters. A lot. Like, really cold. Colder than freezing, around 28°F. It won’t actually be frozen because of the salt, but you need such low temperatures or the emulsion will break.
The best way to finish your braunschweiger is to poach it in steaming water until it is mostly cooked, then shock it cold in ice water, then dry it and smoke it.
I do this because uncooked braunschweiger is a very soft sausage that will deform if you lay the links on a smoking rack. If you can hang them, you can skip the poaching step.
I smoke very cool because the links are already basically cooked, about 175°F for three hours or so. You are looking for an internal temperature of about 160°F.
Originally from Germany, Braunschweiger is a type of sausage made from ground pork livers, along with other pork scraps, then blended with various seasonings and ground into a smooth texture then stuffed into a casing that is typically smoked.
Speaking of livers, while pork is good, so too would be livers from young game animals, like a little buck, a raghorn elk, fawns and young does. Older animals tend to have darker, stronger-tasting livers. This is also why I don’t recommend beef liver, although calves’ livers are a good option.
A food processor is a decent way to emulsify sausage, too. After grinding through a regular, 4.5 mm die, partially freeze the mix for an hour or so. Mix with crushed ice and buzz in a food processor in batches. The problem with this method is that unless you have a really big food processor, you will need to do a batch, put the finished, emulsified sausage in the fridge, clean and re-chill the processor parts, then do it again.
Incidentally, this is the main difference between liverwurst and braunschweiger: Liverwurst is never smoked. It also tends to be up to 50 percent liver, too.
Pretty much always pork fat and some pork, for starters. And of course liver, usually pork liver.
Depending on the recipe, some variants of braunschweiger are spreadable, almost like a German nduja or pate in a casing. This is not that kind. This is a solid, sliceable sausage you can eat like a normal link.
(a) “Braunschweiger” is a cooked sausage made from fresh, cured, and/or frozen pork, beef, and/or veal and at least 30 percent pork, beef, and/or veal livers computed on the weight of the fresh livers. It may also contain pork and/or beef fat. Mechanically Separated (Species) may be used in accordance with § 319.6. Binders and extenders may be used as permitted in § 319.140. The product may have a smoked taste characteristic, which may be imparted by use of smoked meats, smoke flavoring or smoking. If prepared from components of a single species, the product name may reflect the species, e.g., “Beef Braunschweiger.” Braunschweiger may also be labeled as any of the following: “Braunschweiger—A Liver Sausage,” “Braunschweiger—A Liverwurst,” or “Braunschweiger (Liver Sausage)” or “Braunschweiger (Liverwurst).”
(b) “Liver Sausage” or “Liverwurst” is a cooked sausage made from fresh, cured, and/or frozen pork, beef, and/or veal and at least 30 percent pork, beef, veal, sheep, and/or goat livers computed on the weight of the fresh livers. It may also contain pork and/or beef byproducts. Mechanically Separated (Species) may be used in accordance with § 319.6. Binders and extenders maybe used as permitted in § 319.140. If prepared from components of a single species, the product name may reflect that species, e.g., “Pork Liver Sausage.” [
A Tasty Gameday Treat with a Surprising Ingredient
FAQ
Is goose liver and Braunschweiger the same thing?
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