Boerewors Sausage

Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 July 2011 14:59 Written by Mike Bowler Tuesday, 19 July 2011 14:56

Choosing your meat
Beef, Pork, Mutton or combinations of these meats, together with Speck. Top grade meats are best, but make sure that all the gristle and connective tissue is removed before mincing the meat. Meat from younger animals is preferable as older animals tend to negatively affect the colour and binding of the sausage.

Never wash the meat in water, as it will toughen the end product and increases the chances of mould setting in. Use only fresh, not frozen, meats.

Basic preparation

• The ratio of Beef to Pork is a preference, mostly 2 parts Beef to 1 parts Pork, and six parts meat to 1 part Speck usually produces the best results.(Speck is Pork belly fat usually cut into slabs from a Baconer. It is easier to cut it into slices, squares, or dice if it is chilled for at least half an hour beforehand.)

• Cut the Meat into 50 mm Cubes, spread them on a clean surface and sprinkle a layer of spice over and mix briefly. Dice the Speck into 3 mm cubes or if you have a special coarse mincer plate it can be minced separately.

• Mince the meat, sprinkling the Speck evenly through the minced meat. Try to handle the mixed product as little as possible, or it could end up the consistency of Polony! Boerewors should be a loose, coarse texture and it is important to always use very sharp mincer blades and plates with large 9 mm holes, as smaller hole will result in a firmer textured sausage.

Spices
Salt and Pepper are the main seasonings for all Boerewors with dried Coriander seeds (Cilantro) Spices should be used sparingly so as not to overpower the flavour of the meat.