Sausages
Mettwurst
Smoked Cincinnati-Style Mettwurst
Mettwurst is a smoked sausage built on a 65% pork / 35% lean meat blend, using pork butt or pork shoulder. Smoke at 130°F, then 155°F, finish 175°F and finish at an internal 152°F (67°C), stuff into 32-35 mm natural hog casing, grind at Coarse (3/8") then Medium (1/4"). Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.
This is the smoked, fully cooked mett from Cincinnati and Midwest butcher cases, not the raw spreadable German kind. It leans on pork more than most sausages, because a lean mett eats dry, and a coarse grind with half run back through a smaller plate gives it a loose, juicy bite. Whole mustard seed and white pepper are the signature. Split them and sear them on the grill, or simmer them in beer and onions first.
- Internal temp
- 152°F (67°C)
- Smoker temp
- 130°F, then 155°F, finish 175°F
- Casing size
- 32-35 mm
- Casing
- Natural Hog
- Bloom
- 30-60 minutes
What goes in it
- Kosher Salt
- Cure #1
- White Pepper
- Whole Yellow Mustard Seed
- Garlic Powder
- Sweet Paprika
- Ground Mace
- Ground Coriander
- Ground Allspice
- Ground Cardamom
- 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 Wild Game · Lean Beef
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 meat and pork and chill until the edges are firm. Keep everything below 34°F.
- Grind everything through the 3/8" plate, then run half of it back through the 1/4" plate.
- Mix all the dry seasonings together, salt included. Leave the mustard seed whole.
- Dissolve the cure into the ice cold water.
- Add the water and all the dry seasonings to the meat. Mix 3 to 4 minutes until the meat is tacky.
- Fry a small test patty and taste it. If it tastes flat it is under-salted, not under-spiced.
- Stuff into 32-35 mm natural hog casings and twist into 6 inch links. Prick any air pockets.
- Hang at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes, until the casings are dry to the touch.
- Place in the smoker at 130°F for 1 hour with the damper open and no smoke.
- Raise to 155°F and apply hickory smoke for 2 to 3 hours.
- Raise to 175°F until the internal temperature reaches 152°F.
- 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.)
- Hang at room temperature for 1 hour to bloom, then refrigerate overnight.
- Serve them split and seared on the grill, or simmered in beer with onions and finished on the grill. Mettwurst is usually made with pork, sometimes with a little beef. Our recipe uses 65% pork with 35% lean wild game or beef.
Wood
Hickory · Oak · Cherry
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.
- This is a cooked mettwurst. The raw, spreadable German styles are never cooked and depend on controlled fermentation; this recipe is not one of them. Always take it to 152°F.
- Keep the meat below 34°F through grinding, mixing and stuffing.
- Cook to 152°F internal, verified with a probe in the thickest link. Do not judge by time or color alone.
- Cool them down promptly once they hit temperature.
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