This one is one of my favorites and I make them on a regular basis. I call this one “Waldheimer” because It’s inspired by a sausage I used to love when I lived in this small town in Saxony, Germany years ago. The original recipe had no Parmesan or garlic, but this ‘evolved’ over time to fit what I wanted.
The key that makes this a little more German would be the beef and the cold smoking. After that, it’s just some strange bastardization to fit my taste. And that is my philosophy when making any kind of charcuterie: take a recipe you enjoy, and then tweak it to make it ‘yours’.
In this one I also add larger chunks of fat, just because I like them, but just like with any ingredients, feel free to tweak it around. You may also notice the low salt volume here, and together with the fact that this sausage is not fermented, you may be a little (or a lot) alarmed about food safety. It’s great that I have zero training in food safety! Part of the low salt level is that I’m adding lots of Parmesan cheese that already comes with salt and partially, because I personally don’t like salty charcuterie. Just like with anything, I’m not telling you to do it like this; I’m just sharing what I do.
Ingredients:
Grind Together:
400 g Lean Pork
400 g Lean Beef
100 g Pork Back fat
Hand-Chop:
100 g Pork Back fat
Total Meat—-> 1,000 g
Salts:
¼ tsp (~ 1.5 g) Curing Salt #2 (below the recommended amount of ½ tsp (2.5 g)!!)
2 ½ tsp (~12 g) Table Salt (Well below the recommended 3% (30 g)!!)
Spices:
¾ tsp (~ 3 g) Sugar
¾ tsp (~ 2 g) Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp (~2 g) Ground Fennel Seed
1 ½ tsp (~3 g) Sweet Paprika
1 ½ tsp (~7 g) Fresh Crush Garlic (That’s a lot by the way!)
1 TBL Whole Peppercorns, or as much/little as you want!
⅓ Cup Parmesan Crumbs, I like the big chunks of Parmesan so I cut a slice about 1/8 in (1/2 cm) thick then break up with my hands.
Stuff as normal in medium diameter casings and place in curing chamber in cold-humid setting (40F-50F / 5C-10C) with 75%. The temperature setting here is a little lower than usual, I do this to account for the fact that this is not fermented. 24 hour later, I move to the cold smoking chamber and use a fruity wood, such as Apple, to smoke for about 6 hours, making sure I do this at night or on a cold day, so the sausages don’t warm up too much.
Then right back to the curing chamber, after the first 2 weeks the sausages are dry enough that its OK for them to get a little warmer and by 4 weeks they are stable at room temperature and ready to enjoy!
