Sausages
Käsekrainer
Austrian Cheese-Filled Smoked Sausage (Kasekrainer)
Käsekrainer is a smoked sausage built on a 75% pork / 25% lean meat blend, using pork butt or pork shoulder. Smoke at 130-150°F (54-66°C), then poach at 165-170°F and finish at an internal 152°F (67°C), stuff into 28-32 mm natural hog casing, grind at 1/4" then 1/8". Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.
The cheese is supposed to run. Austrian street stands split these on the grill with Swiss melting out of the cut, and high-temp cheese, the kind made not to melt, defeats the whole point. Freeze the cubes before they go in and fold them in last so they stay cubes instead of smearing into the meat. Keep the smoker and the poaching water gentle, or the casing splits and the cheese leaks out before anyone gets a bite.
- Internal temp
- 152°F (67°C)
- Smoker temp
- 130-150°F (54-66°C), then poach at 165-170°F
- Casing size
- 28-32 mm
- Casing
- Natural Hog
- Bloom
- 1 hour
What goes in it
- Kosher Salt
- Cure #1
- Swiss or Emmentaler Cheese (1/4" cubes, ice cold)
- Coarse Black Pepper
- Sweet Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Ground Allspice
- Ground Nutmeg
- Dextrose
- Ice Cold Water
Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.
The meat
Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder · Lean Beef · Lean Wild Game
Bear or wild hog: take it to 165°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not reliably kill trichinella — only heat does.
How it's made
- Cube the cheese into 1/4" pieces and freeze it for 30 minutes so it stays firm.
- Grind the pork and lean meat through a 1/4" plate, then regrind through a 1/8" plate. Keep everything below 34°F.
- Mix all the dry seasonings together, salt included.
- Dissolve the cure in the ice cold water.
- Add the water and the dry seasonings to the meat. Mix until the meat is very tacky.
- Fry a small test patty and taste it. If it tastes flat it is under-salted, not under-spiced.
- Add the cheese and mix only until it is evenly spread through.
- Stuff into 28-32 mm natural hog casings and twist into 6-7" links.
- Hang at room temperature for 1 hour, until the casings are dry to the touch.
- Place in the smoker at 130°F for 30 minutes with the damper open.
- Raise to 150°F and apply smoke for 1 hour.
- Poach in 165-170°F water until the internal temperature reaches 152°F, about 20-25 minutes. Do not let the water boil.
- Cool them down promptly. (Optional - an ice bath is not required. It is personal preference; many just let them cool at room temp, or outside in cold weather. Just cool them down promptly.)
- Refrigerate overnight. To serve, grill or pan-fry over medium heat until the casing browns and the cheese starts to bubble out. Käsekrainer is usually made with pork and a little beef. Our recipe uses 75% pork with 25% lean beef or lean wild game.
Wood
Oak · Cherry · Apple
Safety
- Cure #1 at 0.25% is required and locked. This sausage is held for hours at low temperature in the danger zone and must be cured. Do not reduce or omit it.
- Use real Swiss or Emmentaler, not high-temp cheese. The cheese is supposed to melt and run out when you bite or cut it.
- Keep the cheese and meat below 34°F until they are stuffed. Warm cheese smears into the meat instead of staying in cubes.
- Never let the smoker go above 170°F or the water boil. Too much heat splits the casings and the cheese leaks out before you ever eat it.
- Cook to 152°F internal, verified with a probe. Do not judge by time or color alone.
- Cool them down promptly once they hit temperature.
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