Let me first refer you to my post Wurst – Sausage and Luncheon Meats to explain why I use the German word.

I will cover the “why” here and also a simple way to start this hobby without buying all the expensive equipment and finally I will cover for you the basic machines you will need if you want to go further into the art of Wurst making and some of those Tim, the Toolman, Taylor gadgets which really make it fun.

The Why:

• Price – A pound of Ground Meat is a lot cheaper, than finished Lunch meat.
• Fat Content – Especially if you grind your own meat at home you can easily keep this under control.
• Salt – Most commercial Wurst is made with a large amount of salt, which can be cut down to where you still like the taste and off setting it with other herbs and spices.
• Unnecessary Ingredients – Go and read the labels and tell me if you need all that extra sugar in the forms of sugar, dextrose, sorbitol, corn syrup and whatever else they find to make more money during production.
• Taste – If you make your own you can (probably after a few tries) get the taste to exactly what you like.
• Health in General – Besides the above mentioned points you can select to use the meats that you consider like buffalo, ostrich, turkey or other poultry. Here I mean the good stuff, not the mechanical de-boned ingredients you find in many Lunch meats.

I could come up with more reasons but I do believe I made my point, so let us look into what you have to buy to get started with your first attempt.

Two ingredients are needed:

Pink Cure and Smoke flavored Salt

The Pink Cure can be ordered online from places like Butcher and Packer in Michigan and the Smoke Salt can be replaced by Liquid Smoke.

And if you don’t own one already you need an inexpensive gram scale.

There is no other special equipment needed that is not found in any normal kitchen.

It really is easy to make!

If you want to try it go to our Wurst – Base Recipe – on our Inge’s Kitchen website.

So you made the sausage and liked the taste.

It is time to buy some equipment.
First I would invest in a meat grinder. Followed by a 5 pound Sausage Stuffer and if you want to turn into “purist” you will have to get yourself a smoke house.

I will add a list of helpful equipment soon.