Crafting Bavarian Meats: The Art Of Making Landjager

Bavarian Meats' Landjäger is a type of German dry-cured sausage made with beef and pork. It is a hunter's sausage, perfect for taking on outdoor trips as it is extremely portable and keeps very well. To make Landjäger, you will need to ferment the sausage mixture, cold-smoke it, and then hang it to dry. This process requires some advanced sausage-making techniques and equipment. The end result is a delicious, savoury, meaty, and smoky snack.

Landjäger is a German, dry-cured, fermented sausage

Making Landjäger requires some advanced sausage-making skills and equipment. The process involves several steps, including curing, fermenting, smoking, and drying. The sausage is cured with a special bacterial starter culture that ensures the growth of good bacteria and prevents the growth of harmful bacteria. The bacteria also lower the pH, developing flavour, colour, and aroma.

After curing, the sausage is fermented for 12-24 hours (or up to 48 hours) at a specific temperature and humidity level. During fermentation, the sausage is spritzed with water to keep it moist.

Following fermentation, the sausage is cold-smoked for 4-8 hours using a particular type of wood like applewood, pecan, or cherry. Smoking imparts a unique flavour to the sausage and helps prevent the growth of mould.

The final step is drying. The sausage is hung in a controlled environment of specific temperature and humidity until it loses about 40% of its weight. This process can take several weeks.

The result is a delicious, dry-cured sausage that is perfect for snacking on-the-go or enjoying as an appetizer. Landjäger has a long shelf life and can be stored at room temperature for a few days, in the refrigerator for weeks, or in the freezer indefinitely.

It is made with beef, pork and/or venison

Landjäger is a German dry-cured sausage, traditionally made with beef and pork, but can be made with any red meat, including venison. The process involves fermenting, smoking, and dry-curing the meat.

To make Landjäger with beef, pork, and/or venison, you will need the following ingredients:

• Beef, pork, and/or venison
• Pork back fat
• Salt
• Sugar or dextrose
• Curing salt (InstaCure No. 1 or No. 2)
• Garlic powder
• Caraway seed
• Coriander seed (ground or powder)
• Black pepper (ground)
• Allspice (ground)
• Celery seed
• Starter culture (such as Flavor of Italy or T-SPX)
• Distilled water

Optional ingredients include cayenne pepper and crushed red peppers for a spicy kick.

• Cut the meat and fat into chunks that will fit into your grinder. Remove any sinew and silverskin.
• Mix the salt and curing salt with the meat and fat, and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, chill the grinding equipment and meat mixture in the freezer.
• Grind the meat and fat mixture through a coarse die (6mm) of your grinder.
• If the meat temperature is 35°F or lower, grind half of the mixture again through a fine die (4.5mm). If it's warmer, chill further before grinding.
• Put the ground meat and fat back in the freezer while cleaning the equipment.
• Dissolve the starter culture in distilled water and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
• When the meat mixture is below 35°F, mix it with the starter culture by hand or in a stand mixer.
• Prepare hog casings by soaking them in warm water.
• Stuff the sausage mixture into the casings, leaving a "tail" of 4-6 inches.
• Tie off links of about 6-8 inches with butcher's twine.
• Gently rotate the links to compress the meat and remove air bubbles. Prick with a needle to remove any remaining air pockets.
• Hang the sausages at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
• Ferment the sausages by tenting them with plastic and maintaining high humidity (85-90%). Spritz them with water occasionally to keep them moist. Ferment for 24-48 hours.
• Cold smoke the sausages for 4-8 hours using applewood, pecan, cherry, oak, hickory, or fruit/nut wood. Avoid mesquite and pine.
• Dry the sausages in a chamber with controlled temperature (55°F) and humidity (80%). Let them dry until they lose about 38-40% of their weight, which can take 4-5 weeks.

Landjäger is a challenging sausage to make, requiring advanced sausage-making skills and equipment. However, the result is a delicious, portable, and long-lasting sausage perfect for outdoor activities or appetizers.

It is smoked for 4-8 hours

Smoking the landjäger is an important step in the process of making this German dry-cured sausage. The smoking process is done during the fermentation stage and is done at a low temperature, known as cold smoking. The sausage is smoked for 4-8 hours with applewood, pecan, cherry wood, oak, hickory, or any fruit or nut wood. Mesquite and pine are woods that should be avoided as they are too distinctive or have too much resin.

The smoking process is done to give the sausage a good smokey flavour. It is important to keep the temperature cool, and if the temperature goes above 125°F, the sausage should be doused in an ice water bath to stop any cooking.

The cold smoke generator is a useful tool for this process as it can generate up to 10 hours of true cold smoke. The cold smoke generator by Smokin-it, called Bella's Cold Smoke Generator, is a good option for this.

After the smoking process, the sausage is then hung in a drying chamber at 55°F (13°C) with 80% humidity until it reaches a 38%-40% weight loss. This process can take about 4-5 weeks.

It is hung to dry for 4-5 weeks

Once the sausage has been cold-smoked for 4-8 hours, it is hung to dry for 4-5 weeks. This is where the sausage-making process comes together. A modified refrigerator can be used to control the humidity and temperature. The ideal conditions for drying Landjäger are 55°Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. The sausage will be hung until it has lost about 40% of its weight.

The length of time the sausage is hung for will depend on the type of casing used. If you are using a 32-35mm natural hog casing, it is recommended that you dry the sausage for about 4-5 weeks. However, if you are using narrower sheep casings, the drying time may be shorter, around 12 days.

During the drying process, it is important to maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels. This can be achieved by using a temperature regulator and a humidifier in an old refrigerator. The sausages should be hung on "S" hooks or a similar wooden rack.

After the drying process is complete, the Landjäger can be stored in the refrigerator or vacuum-sealed in the freezer. It will keep in the fridge for weeks and indefinitely in the freezer. At room temperature, it will last a few days.

It is a great snack for hiking and biking

Landjäger is a delicious, portable, and long-lasting German sausage. It is a great snack for hiking and biking, as it is small enough to fit into your coat pocket. It is also a good source of protein for kids' lunches and can be cut into bite-sized pieces for appetizers.

The process of making Landjäger involves several steps, including grinding and mixing the meat, adding spices and starter culture, stuffing and fermenting the sausage, and finally, cold-smoking and drying it. The recipe requires specific equipment, such as a grinder, smoker, and a place to hang the sausages during fermentation and drying.

The ingredients for Landjäger include a combination of beef and pork or other red meat, such as venison, goat, or lamb. The spices used are coriander powder, garlic powder, caraway seed, ground black pepper, ground allspice, and celery seed. The starter culture is essential for fermentation, and curing salt is also required for food safety.

The preparation process begins with grinding the meat and fat, mixing in the spices, and then stuffing the mixture into casings. The sausages are then fermented for 12-24 hours, or up to 48 hours, in a humid environment. After fermentation, the sausages are cold-smoked for 4-8 hours and then hung to dry for several weeks.

The result is a delicious, dry-cured sausage that is perfect for outdoor activities like hiking and biking. It is a convenient, shelf-stable protein source that can be enjoyed as a snack or part of a meal.

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