"Wurst 101"

A beginners guide to wurst making.

What happens when 8 Germans meet 300 pounds of meat? They make WURST!

For many years a handful of dedicated Danube Schwabians have come together to make old fashioned German wurst.

Every two months this group meets at St. Stephan's kitchen promptly at 7:00 AM to make wurst for a long list of loyal customers as well as wurst for those Sunday afternoon church lunches.

We can all thank the volunteer efforts of Frank & Kathe Frank, Johnny Weiss, Alfons Gerger, Barbara Krispel, Xaver Krammer, Leonard Fuesterer and Leni Gauss.

If your "wurst" skills have gotten a little rusty over the years or you just can't find that old family wurst recipe, I hope this helps.

Oh! Their wurst does not taste like Chicken!

 

St. Stephen's "Wurst - Makers"

Alfons Gerger

Johnny Weiss

Kathe Frank

Toni Frank

Barbara Krispel

Leni Gauss

Xavier Krammer

Leonard Fuesterer

 

The Ingredients

300 pounds of quality pork butt roast

3 pounds of pork casings (1 pound for every 100 pounds of meat)
Fancy paprika Ground pepper & salt

Leni's "secret" homemade garlic puree.

4 -5 heads of garlic, peeled and chopped very fine.

1 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper

1teaspoon of Morton's salt

Pour 2 cups of water into a food processor, mix with garlic. Pour this garlic mixture into a 32 oz. jar. Add cayenne pepper and salt. Fill the jar with water. Shake well and refrigerate over night. Each jar is enough for 100 pounds of meat.

Leni's "secret" homemade garlic puree.

  

 

Let's Start!
First -Wash EVERYTHING!!! Hands, utensils, tables, bowls - EVERYTHING!
There is a "dress code" for wurst making! Toni models his "Schuerze" from home!
The meat gets trimmed. Everyone takes part. Remember, the knives are sharp!
Didn't I say the knives were sharp! Remember, we're not making Blutwurst!
If you do it right, you'll end up with 26 pounds of bones from the original 300 pounds of meat. What happens to the bones? They're given to the Hungarians for their soup.
While the meat is being cut and trimmed, Kathe and Leni thoroughly wash the casings  - twice! Very Important!
When the meat is trimmed, Johnny uses the reliable 50 year old Kitchen Aid mixer / grinder to grind the meat.
Now it's time for the spices. We have the "Original Spice Girls" helping.
That little blue scrap of paper in Alfons' hand is the "secret" recipe!

Alfons and Tony worked for years for Farmer John and Oscar Mayer but that's not the recipe they use here. They use one passed down over the years - a Glogoner Bratwurst recipe from, where else, "da Heim".

Here it is!

100 pounds of pork butt roast

20 oz. of salt

22 oz. of Paprika

10 oz. of pepper

1 jar of Leni's "secret" garlic mix

If you're not making 100 pounds, you can adjust down!

 
Alfons measures out the exact amount of each spice. It's taken very seriously!
While the spices are prepared, Xavier lays out the first 150 pounds on the mixing table.
Alfons adds the exact amount of spices - garlic, salt, pepper & paprika. Nothing more.
Barbara adds the water and the hand mixing gets started.
The mixed ingredients are transferred into stainless steel bowls weighing 30 pounds each. The second batch of 150 pounds begins.
Making wurst is hard work! Just ask Toni.
Before the mixed meat is cased, it's time to taste the mix to make sure that everything is perfect. The judges are Toni and Alfons.
Not everyone tests the wurst!
When the tasting is completed and approved, Xavier fills the caser.
Xavier and Alfons begin the casing process.
Everyone gets involved in twisting individual pieces - it's all in the wrist!
The final product!
   
Barbara and Leni diligently weigh out and package all the wurst for delivery to customers and the Church.
After a long day of wurst making, it's time to reward the wurst-maker!

 

Next time you're having lunch at St. Stephen's, you might want to thank those

that volunteer their time and expertise to keep an old tradition alive.