South African Sausage (Boerewors)

Submitted by Zookeenee

"This is the best sausage I have ever had. It will make any South African Homesick instantly. It is very filling. I got it when I lived in South Africa for a couple of years."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 40 sausages

ingredients

• 2 kg well matured beef
• 1 kg fatty pork (neck, shoulder, belly)
• 45 ml whole coriander seeds
• 5 ml whole cloves
• 30 ml salt
• 15 ml fresh ground black pepper
• 2 ml grated nutmeg
• 10 ml ground allspice
• 10 ml brown sugar
• 125 ml dry red wine or 125 ml dark vinegar
• 90 g thick sausage casings, soaked in water

directions

1. Skip the first few steps if you are using ground beef and pork.
2. Prepare beef and pork by trimming off all sinew, and other nasty bits and pieces that may affect the texture.
3. To facilitate mincing, cut meat into long, narrow strips about 3 inch in diameter and freeze for about 30 minutes.
4. Mince meat through a course mincer for a rough texture, or finely if you prefer.
5. Allow the meat to be fed through with very little assistance from the tamper.
6. Finish off by mincing a piece of bread to remove every vestige of meat from the mincer.
7. Roast coriander and cloves in a dry frying pan, tossing the spices about until uniformly brown and aromatic.
8. Don’t allow to burn.
9. Grind spices with a pestle and mortar, sift to remove husks, mix with remaining spices and sugar and sprinkle over the mince.
10. Lightly mix in wine or vinegar.
11. Drain the casings and place over one end of the filling horn (I use the kitchen aid attachment and carefully push all of the casings on leaving a 3 inch length hanging down).
12. Tie a knot in this.
13. Grabbing hold of a second pair of hands at this point makes wors-making less traumatic.
14. You can then feed the mixture in while your assistant hold the casings, guiding the filling inches.
15. Feed the mixture into the mincer a little at a time, while securing the casing with a gentle pressure of one hand on the horn to control the unrolling of the casing as its filled.
16. Mould the sausage with your hand to make it uniformly thick.
17. Don’t pack the casings too full, or the wors will burst while cooking, but try to avoid air bubbles.
18. After the casing has been filled, remove it – still attached to the horn – from the machine.
19. Push any remaining filling into the casing and tie a knot in the end.
20. BBQ quickly over hot coals.
21. The skin should be crisp and the middle just pink.
22. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[Scoopers]

I made this recipe, with a total 1 kilo of meat, in the form of meatballs and then pan fried them, and served them over brown basmati rice. I omitted the sugar, and used a food processor to mix the meat and spices, as well as 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. The flavour was delicious - these were exactly the right spices. Balanced, so that you could taste all of them, but not overwhelming. I am South African and loved them, and my husband who isn't also really enjoyed them.

 

[Tom M.]

Really good recipe ... I've made these sausages 5 times now and each time was a success.

 

[Stanley B.]

Made this today..my 1st ever attempt..used slightly less pork and had to double up the recipe as I had 4kg brisket...came out excellent..thanks for sharing

 

[jackieborder]

I halved the recipe and made 10 5.5 oz boerewors burgers. Absolutely delicious. A real taste of South Africa.

 

[Dirk V.]

Fabulous recipe. I used red wine vinegar and used 2kg pork shoulder and 1kg brisket very successfully here. I also forgot to toast the cloves and coriander before grinding but the spice turned out really well in spite of that. Pic shows one of several coils I made, used hog casings; some on the horn and some still soaking. Fabulous taste and texture.