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Making The Wurst Of It – A Lesson in Wurst Making

Germany is famous for its sausages. So we wanted to learn the magic of how to make wurst. Come along with us for some sausage making lessons.


When you think of Germany, you think of bratwurst! There is no German food that is better known worldwide. Available in every city, whether in a restaurant, pub, at a festival, or buying some to grill yourself in the grocery store, they are everywhere.

Living in the Grafenwoehr and Vilseck area, for a number of years, we felt it was high time to learn a little more about this tasty icon of German culture. The first bratwurst was recorded in Nuremberg in 1313, and this city is still the best place to try them.

In this article, you will learn about:

Traditional sauerkraut and German bratwurst.

Wurst Making – The Famous German Bratwurst

 A heart-shaped bratwurst and salad on a plate.
My “heart” belongs to German Bratwurst!

So one fine spring day we decided it was time. Off to Nuremberg, we went (well, a tad bit south of Nuremberg) to learn the secrets to making the best bratwurst.  

What we thought would be a straightforward lesson in how-to, turned into a day of sausage fun.  In one day, we ate more German bratwurst sausage than in the entire year.

Little beer and snacks held by four of us.
Prosit! Claus and his wife welcomed us with a taste of pork and beer before we started our bratwurst cooking lesson.

Learning How to Make Wurst

We booked our lesson with Metzgerei Böbel, in Rittersbach about 30 kilometers south of Nuremberg. This small family-owned bakery highlights German wurst in a whole new way!

With much of their business mailing out all kinds of German butchered goods all over the world, they knew that their cooking bratwurst lessons would be a hit.  

One bite of bratwurst with sauerkraut.

They were not wrong. Claus and his wife greeted us with a small pork snack and a tiny beer to get us into the German taste zone, preparing us for what was ahead.

Corinne butchering some pork ribs with Claus standing by as we learn how to make wurst.

Sausage Making Lessons – Butchering the Pig

The first step in cooking bratwurst is making it. This is what we came for, but we didn’t know how far to the beginning Claus was going to take us. After a thorough hand-washing, we were taken into the bowels of the butchery where we donned chain-mail aprons and gloves to begin processing a side of pork.

Devon running the pork grinder to make the bratwurst.

We each took turns cutting off parts and de-boning the ribs. As an introduction to sausage-making, it wasn’t for the faint of heart. We ended up with over seven kilograms of chunked meat that we would then mince in the industrial-strength grinder.

Smelling the herbs and spices that we will put in the sausage mixture as we learn how to make wurst.

It was at this juncture that I realized that we weren’t using off-cuts or leftovers in this famous German sausage. We were using prime pork, the good bits.

It was time to season it, and as with most recipes, there was plenty of weighing, math, and precision measuring. Some of the ingredients we used included garlic, marjoram, nutmeg, cumin, and allspice. These were all hand-mixed into the meat and thoroughly massaged into the raw meat.

Dried racks of German bratwurst and other sausages.

We had a large green tub filled with the aromatic pork mixture and it was time for our first tasting. Claus gleefully brought out some dark bread  and onion slices.

He made us a raw pork sandwich. He was smiling so large, that at first we thought he was kidding, but he ate the entire thing in a couple of bites.

After all these years living in Germany, I did not know that raw pork was a dish that is so popular. Claus told us that they sell over two kilos of it each day for the locals’ lunches.

Jim putting the casing on the bratwurst as we learn how to make wurst.

Raw pork was not the only surprise tasting. Five hours later we’d tried seven different courses of the pork mixture made in a variety of ways, but the most important one, the best one, was why we were there. We had German bratwurst boiled, grilled, and even as a candy.

Stuffing the Nuremberg Wurst

We still had not stuffed our bratwurst into the casings, and luckily that was the next item on the agenda. We all learned how to hold our hands around the spout of the sausage machine, then try our turn at stuffing the casings ourselves.

I tried first on the slow speed, which I by no means mastered, then Claus had me try it at professional speed. Guess what? I’m no professional.  This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and it was amazing fun.

A pan of cooked homemade bratwurst after learning how to make wurst all day.

Our heads and bellies full of new information and how to cook sausage seven ways, we left the butchery and headed home.  What a day!

Conclusion

If you are interested in learning how to make German Bratwurst, or any other sausage or butcher products, contact Claus and Metzgerei Böbel. He’ll help you out, and you’ll have a lot of fun!

Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

Pin Wurst making and German sausage making lessons for later!

German Sausages, How to Make and Cook Bratwurst!

travelsewhere

Thursday 27th of July 2017

They say you never want to know how the sausage gets made, but turns out it was pretty interesting! Every time I pop through Germany I make sure to have a wurst because I really associate that with Germany. Thanks for sharing such a neat experience. #Wkendtravelinspiration

Corinne Vail

Thursday 27th of July 2017

Yes, I think wurst is very German. We loved learning how to make it.

Talin

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

What an amazing and fun experience. I need to figure out a place that does this locally to take my husband. Or, we'll just have to go to Germany =P Great post and cool pics!

Corinne Vail

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

Talin, Yes, come to Germany! LOL...We had been looking for an opportunity to make sausage for a long time, so we were really pleased to find a place only an hour and a half from our house.

malaysianmeanders

Monday 24th of July 2017

This sounds like so much fun! I wasn't expecting the lesson to start with carving the meat off the bone. They really want you to know every step, don't they. At least, that way your are assured it wasn't sphincters and snouts like some people claim. Not sure if I'd be up for eating the raw pork, but everything else sounds good to me. #WkendTravelInspiration

Corinne Vail

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

Michele, I know exactly what you mean! It was an enlightening day in many ways. I learned a lot!

Ruth

Sunday 23rd of July 2017

To me Germany is a sausage and food paradise. I ate so many kind of sausages during my last visit and all of them were delicious. I have never tried to prepare sausage. My dad is a butcher and I am sure he has not prepared sausages either (I have to ask him though). I need to learn a bit of these techniques (to give honor to my last name and all the butchers in the family). #wkendtravelinspiration

Corinne Vail

Sunday 23rd of July 2017

Ruth, I guess there's not much reason for butcher's to make sausage in America. Interesting.

Rhonda Albom

Saturday 22nd of July 2017

This looks like a lot of fun but no vegetarians need apply to this cooking school. I think you need a little more practise on the sausage making :)

Corinne Vail

Sunday 23rd of July 2017

Rhonda, Yeah, I don't think I'll be putting it on my resume. It was fun, though.