First Braunschweiger Attempt
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 21:35
I thought I`d take a stab at making something my wife really enjoys: smoked liverwurst ("Braunschweiger"). In the past, I could tolerate the stuff, but all I've had is the grayish-brown tubes in the grocery store shelves. I'm hoping what I create at home improves upon THAT stuff....
Most recipes I`ve come across use pork liver, pork jowls, other innards, etc-but I found that pork liver is next to impossible to get here. So I found a Len Poli recipe that uses a combination of pork shoulder, lean beef & chicken livers that sounded appealing, and I 'tweaked' a few things-particularly in the 'finishing stage'-no emulsifying; just 2 fine grinds.
Cubed & well-chilled (near-frozen) meats...
After the grind, I`ll add these ingredients...
Two fine grinds with a 3.0mm plate. The first...
After near-freezing the first grind, time for the second time through the grinder... "Liver spaghetti" anyone?
Add the ingredients and do a thorough mixing. It definitely has a nice `liverwurst` aroma...
Once stuffed into casings, I poached all the chubs at 165° for about 90 minutes, until the IT hit the 150° mark. The chubs then got a quick -cool ice bath and I hung them overnight in the fridge.
No poaching pix as I was up to my elbows in bologna at the time...
NEXT DAY: Into a warm smoker (110°) to dry for an hour before applying a heavy application of hickory smoke. I`ll give the chubs about 3 hours of smoke with no additional heat. One hour into the smoke...
Hang `em overnight to get well-chilled in the fridge.
Sample time!
I was glad to see how nice & firm the braunschweiger turned out! It sliced beautifully into tender slices-NOT mushy!
Pleasing smokey taste with a subtle 'liver' flavor that even most 'liver haters' would enjoy...
My wife gave it a BIG thumbs-up. Put a dab of mustard with a slice on a cracker.
Very tasty! This ones' a keeper!! Even my youngest son (not a liver fan) wants to try it!
If anyone is interested, I'll post the recipe I used.
Kevin
Most recipes I`ve come across use pork liver, pork jowls, other innards, etc-but I found that pork liver is next to impossible to get here. So I found a Len Poli recipe that uses a combination of pork shoulder, lean beef & chicken livers that sounded appealing, and I 'tweaked' a few things-particularly in the 'finishing stage'-no emulsifying; just 2 fine grinds.
Cubed & well-chilled (near-frozen) meats...
After the grind, I`ll add these ingredients...
Two fine grinds with a 3.0mm plate. The first...
After near-freezing the first grind, time for the second time through the grinder... "Liver spaghetti" anyone?
Add the ingredients and do a thorough mixing. It definitely has a nice `liverwurst` aroma...
Once stuffed into casings, I poached all the chubs at 165° for about 90 minutes, until the IT hit the 150° mark. The chubs then got a quick -cool ice bath and I hung them overnight in the fridge.
No poaching pix as I was up to my elbows in bologna at the time...
NEXT DAY: Into a warm smoker (110°) to dry for an hour before applying a heavy application of hickory smoke. I`ll give the chubs about 3 hours of smoke with no additional heat. One hour into the smoke...
Hang `em overnight to get well-chilled in the fridge.
Sample time!
I was glad to see how nice & firm the braunschweiger turned out! It sliced beautifully into tender slices-NOT mushy!
Pleasing smokey taste with a subtle 'liver' flavor that even most 'liver haters' would enjoy...
My wife gave it a BIG thumbs-up. Put a dab of mustard with a slice on a cracker.
Very tasty! This ones' a keeper!! Even my youngest son (not a liver fan) wants to try it!
If anyone is interested, I'll post the recipe I used.
Kevin