Skip to Content

Austrian Käsekrainer Sausage Recipe

Austrian Käsekrainer Sausage Recipe

Käsekrainer is a type of Austrian sausage that is stuffed with small chunks of cheese. It is typically made using pork or a mixture of pork, beef, and various different spices. Generally Swiss Emmental is the cheese used to stuff the sausage. Although käsekrainer can be boiled, baked, or grilled, they are typically slightly smoked over Applewood.

Considered to be one of Austria’s favorite street food snacks, käsekrainer can be found at street food stands throughout the country. It is generally served with bread rolls, slices of dark bread, or small baguette-like rolls, and condiments like mustard, curry sauce, horseradish, ketchup, pickles and hot peppers.

Origin & Cultural Significance

It is believed that the first person to prepare käsekrainer was Franz Thalhammer in the year 1971, in Austria. He ingeniously mixed a Carniolan sausage (a pork and beef Slovenian sausage) with Swiss cheese, garlic, onion, and spices to invent what is now known as Kaesekrainer.

Käsekrainer was first served in Austria in the early 1980s. Today, they are commonly served at sausage stands (Würstelstände).

Käsekrainer Sausage

Austrian Käsekrainer Recipe

Yield: 20
Prep Time: 12 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 14 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 day 3 hours 30 minutes

Käsekrainer is a type of Austrian sausage that is stuffed with small chunks of cheese. It is typically made using pork or a mixture of pork, beef, and various different spices. Generally Swiss Emmental is the cheese used to stuff the sausage.

Ingredients

  • Pork belly (without rind) - 1 kg
  • Streaky beef (shoulder) - 750g
  • Nitrite curing salt - 30g
  • Ground white pepper - 4g
  • Ground allspice - 3g
  • Boiled pork rind - 250g
  • Emmental cheese - 300g
  • Sugar - 6g
  • Garlic - 3 clobes
  • Freshly grated nutmeg - 2g
  • Milk - 100ml

Instructions

  1. Begin by cutting the pork belly and beef into cubes of about 2 cm. Place them in two different bowls and sprinkle both with half the curing salt.
  2. In order to redden the meat, place it into refrigerator for about 8 hours, if possible, overnight. Cut the cheese into ½ cm cubes and put them in the refrigerator too, along with the movable meat grinder parts.
  3. After 8 hours, or the following day, take a large bowl and pour lukewarm water into it. Soak the hog casings for 2 hours, and make sure to wash them multiple times.
  4. Next, take the garlic and chop it finely. Transfer the beef twice through the medium perforated disc (3 mm) of the meat grinder. Now take the pork belly and mince it with the prepared rind and garlic through the fine disc (2 mm). Combine the meat masses and mix well with Emmental cheese, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, sugar and milk in the food processor with the dough for 8-10 minutes.
  5. The next step is to attach the stuffing tube (26 mm) to the meat grinder or sausage stuffer and pull on the casing. Take the casing and stuff it with the meat mixture. Once stuffed, remember to twist off the sausage about 20 cm long. Keep it aside (or hang it) and let it dry at room temperature. This should take you approximately 2 hours.
  6. The final step is to heat the sausage in a smoker over hickory smoke for about an hour at 60°. Take a large pot containing hot water and scald the sausages in it for approximately 30 minutes at 70-75°.
  7. Allow them to cool in ice-cold water before drying with paper towels. You can either eat them directly after smoking or you can shift to an iced water bath. Iced water bath will prevent the sausage from over- cooking and it will also stop the sausage from wrinkling. You can store cooled sausages in the refrigerator for a few days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 378Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 975mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 33g

Photo credit: Kobako

Share on Social:

Skip to Recipe