Braunschweiger II (Smoked Liverwurst) with too many pix

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couger78

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
May 3, 2011
679
243
Northern California
I made another batch of braunschweiger, using a different recipe than the one I use last time. That particular recipe used a combination of three proteins (chicken, pork and beef). This recipe is much simpler with regard to the ingredients, but requires more ‘steps’ by the sausage maker.

First you start with some fresh pork jowls….


Then you’ll need some pork liver ( about 3.5lbs here):


And the ingredients:


To make the desired amount of braunschweiger, I realized I didn’t have quite enough jowl meat, so I added some thick-cut bacon to bring the quantity up to the desired level ( I adjusted the amount of cure used to allow for the addition of cured meat to the mix.). This meat was cut into small cubes & well-chilled:


Liver Time

I soaked the pork liver for some time in cold water, changing & rinsing it regularly until the water ran clear. I pulled off any undesired pieces, clots, fat and sinewy bits.

Sliced, weighed and ready to go to the next step:


The recipe called for a low-temp poach (194°F) for about 10 minutes. Not a pleasant sight nor endearing aroma….


The liver slices are then cooled under cold water & rinsed of any coagulated bits that formed on the exterior:


For a finer grind, I’m using a 3mm plate:


First grind of the poached liver:


Second grind. This was probably unnecessary, but it’s my usual practice when I do emulsified sausages:


Jowl & bacon grind: a single pass through the plate should suffice:


The Mix

Everything into the tub for hand-mixing.


After about 10 minutes of aggressive mixing, I wasn’t happy with the uniformity of the mix. So I opted to use my processor in order to really get a smooth paste. A few batches done with some ice-cold water yielded a fairly-smooth meat paste:


Into the little Grizzly stuffer:


Results: two long chubs, a medium chub, and a mini chub (chubbette? chubbini?):


Second Poach:

Into a hot water bath (175°F) went the chubs. These took about an hour to reach the desired internal temp of 154°F.


Whew! The chubs are now hanging in my fridge to firm up overnight.

Tomorrow its on to the smoker for about 5-6 hours of cold smoke!

More to come!

Kevin
 
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Nice so far Kevin.............Looks awesome............
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With the chubs already cooked are they going to take on the smoke? I would assune the pores in the casings are closed/blocked after cooking and wont allow the smoke to permeate... Just a thought.. you might have different results....... Lookiing good so far...........
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I wondered the same—but this is the second braunchweiger recipe that has called for smoking post-poach. The last batch had a great smokey flavor after 4-5 hours of smoke applied. BUT it also had the addition of liquid smoke. This version will be cold-smoked for 6-7 hours (no liquid smoke) so I suppose the REAL test will be the tasting afterwards. 
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Kevin
 
Sounds great but wouldn't the cure be eliminated by the poaching?  Leaving the sausage in the danger zone while cold smoking? ( I am a beginner at sausage and I LOVE Liverwurst so I would like to make this.)
 
Sounds great but wouldn't the cure be eliminated by the poaching?  Leaving the sausage in the danger zone while cold smoking? ( I am a beginner at sausage and I LOVE Liverwurst so I would like to make this.)
Mike, Since we're in the middle of an early 'heat wave' in Nor Cal, these chubs went into the smoker about 3:00am (cool of the night) with an 2 ice blocks which kept the box's temp down around 40°F & I pulled them around 7:30am as daytime temps started to creep up a bit.

Kevin
 
After nearly 5 hours of cold hickory smoke (started at 3:00am) & before the outdoor temps get too hot, I pulled the chubs from the smoker.

Early morning shot before removing the chubs...


Sample time:

Usually I'll let these rest and sit overnight after an intense cold smoke (time can help mellow any sharpness in the taste—same when you smoke cheese), but I'm tired of waiting... 

Texture is good when slicing; not crumbly. Still moist. VERY smokey taste at this point (as expected). Soft, yet firm texture. The liver taste is there, obviously, and marries well with the onion nicely. This recipe is probably CLOSER to 'true' braunschweiger— REAL pork liver taste, but not overpowering as I feared. Nicely balanced. It will only improve as it rests a day or two and any harshness in the smoke subsides a bit.


Gotta have it with crackers, too!

 
Great thread, thanks.  Sausage is one of the things I have never made,  guess I enjoy shopping for it too much.  One of my favorite sandwiches,  Smoked Braunschweiger, onion, Limburger, sardines and brown mustard on rye please.
 
From last July's throwdown.  Give it a try.

 The Gasser :
A smoked Limburger cheese sandwich with brown mustard, red onion, sardines in mustard sauce topped with smoked Braunsweiger on a homemade dark rye bun. Served with a smoked spicy hot pickled egg on a bed of pickled onions and jalapeño peppers with a side of Korean kimchi.
 

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This looks great!  I don't have a stuffer but since it's in paste form I wonder if you can roll down those large casings and stuff with a spatula and roll it up as you go?
 
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