How to Make Wiener Sausages: Scalded Sausage Guide

# Making Wiener Sausages at Home: The Ultimate Scalded Sausage Guide

Wiener sausages are among the most famous sausages in the world – yet very few people have ever made them from scratch. But the truth is, making them isn't nearly as complicated as it might sound. With the right knowledge, a bit of patience, and the proper equipment, you can whip up a scalded sausage at home that easily rivals what your local butcher has to offer. This guide walks you through it step by step – from selecting your meat to the finished sausage in a jar of water.

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What Makes a Wiener Sausage Special?

Before we dive into the details, a quick bit of theory: Wiener sausages are classic scalded sausages. This means they're cooked (scalded) in hot water or steam after being stuffed – not smoked like, say, a mettwurst. Interestingly, in Germany they're officially called "Frankfurter Würstchen" when they're made from pure pork – that's a protected geographical designation. Authentic Viennese sausages from Austria, on the other hand, are allowed to contain beef.

For this guide, we're making the classic version: finely emulsified scalded sausage made from pork with a touch of beef, mildly seasoned, lightly smoked, and then scalded. Exactly the way you know them.

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The Equipment – What You Really Need

You don't need professional butcher's equipment. But a few basics are essential:

• Meat grinder with a fine blade (3–4 mm / ⅛ inch)
• Stand mixer or cutter – this is the key factor for scalded sausages
• Sausage stuffer or attachment for the meat grinder
• Sheep casings, caliber 22/24 – for the typical thin wiener shape
• Thermometer (instant-read and bath thermometer)
• Large pot or sous-vide stick for the scalding bath

The cutter or mixer is absolutely essential for scalded sausages. You need a fine, creamy emulsion – not coarsely ground meat. In a pinch, a powerful immersion blender works, but a high-powered stand mixer makes the job much easier.

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Ingredients for About 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of Wiener Sausages

Here's the tried-and-true basic recipe:

Important: Curing salt (NPS) not only gives the typical reddish color and cured flavor, but is also recommended for food safety reasons when making scalded sausage. As an alternative, you can use regular salt – the sausage will just be grayer.

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Step by Step: Making Wiener Sausages at Home

1. Preparation – Cold is Your Best Friend

The most important rule when making scalded sausage: Everything must stay cold. The emulsion of meat, fat, and water only works if the batter temperature stays below 12 °C (54 °F) throughout processing – ideally below 10 °C (50 °F).

Here's how to do it:

• Cut meat into small cubes (about 3 × 3 cm / 1.2 × 1.2 inches)
• Place in the freezer for 2–3 hours until slightly frozen (not completely frozen)
• Pre-chill the bowl, grinder blades, and all equipment parts
• Prepare ice water or crushed ice

2. Grinding the Meat

Run the chilled meat through the fine blade (3–4 mm / ⅛ inch) first. For extra safety, you can grind it twice. This step is especially important if you don't have a powerful cutter – the finer the starting product, the better the final emulsion.

3. Cutting the Batter – The Crucial Step

Now comes the magic. Add the ground meat to your stand mixer or cutter and first add the curing salt and all seasonings. Mix on the lowest speed until everything is combined.

Now for the ice – and do this gradually:

• Add the ice water or crushed ice in three to four portions
• Mix on a higher speed after each addition
• Check the batter temperature regularly with your thermometer
• Stop at 12 °C (54 °F) – then either take a break to cool down or continue with fresh ice

The batter is ready when it's a glossy, creamy, uniform mass. It should stretch easily between your fingers without tearing – this is called "shine" or "sheen." The total processing time in the cutter is about 8–12 minutes, spread across multiple rounds.

Tip: Do a quick test cook before filling. Fry a bit of batter in a pan and taste it. Now's the time to adjust seasonings if needed.

4. Preparing the Casings

Sheep casings usually come salted. Here's how to prepare them:

• Soak casings in lukewarm water for 30–60 minutes
• Rinse the inside (just let water run through)
• Keep in water until you're ready to use them

5. Filling the Sausages

Attach the appropriate filling tube for sheep casings to your sausage stuffer. The casing gets threaded on – like an accordion – and the batter is filled in evenly.

A few tips:

• Don't fill too tightly – the batter expands slightly during scalding
• Keep the casing taut with one hand to prevent air pockets
• If air bubbles do form, just prick them with a fine needle

After filling, you twist off the sausages: two to three twists in alternating directions. For classic wiener sausage size, aim for a length of about 12–15 cm (5–6 inches).

6. Smoking (Optional, But Recommended)

Smoking is really what gives wieners their characteristic flavor. Traditionally done at either cold or warm smoke:

• Cold smoke: 15–25 °C (59–77 °F), 60–90 minutes
• Warm smoke: 50–55 °C (122–131 °F), 30–60 minutes

Use beechwood smoke – that's the classic choice for Frankfurt/Wiener sausages. Important: After smoking, the surface should be slightly dry and golden brown.

If you don't have a smoker, you can skip this step – you'll get a milder "white" version that's also delicious.

7. Scalding – The Final Step

Now the raw batter becomes the finished scalded sausage. Heat a large pot of water to 75–78 °C (167–172 °F) – don't boil! Add the sausages to the water and keep the temperature constant.

Cooking time: Depending on thickness, roughly 20–25 minutes at 75 °C (167 °F)

The internal temperature must reach at least 70 °C (158 °F) for at least 2 minutes – this is the critical food safety requirement.

After scalding: Immediately plunge into ice water for 5–10 minutes. This stops the cooking process, gives you a firmer casing, and creates a nice glossy surface.

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Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Batter Becomes Greasy or Separates (Fat Loss)

This happens when the batter gets too warm. The emulsion breaks down and fat separates from the protein. Solution: Work colder, use more ice, and take more frequent breaks.

Sausages Burst During Scalding

Either they're overstuffed, or the scalding temperature was too high. When scalding, never go above 80 °C (176 °F).

Gray Core

Internal temperature wasn't reached during scalding, or the curing salt wasn't properly incorporated. Make sure the internal temperature really does reach 70 °C (158 °F).

Sausages Are Too Firm or Too Soft

• Too firm: too little ice water, batter cut too long or too warm
• Too soft: too much water, poor emulsion

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Storage and Shelf Life

Keep your homemade wieners fresh this way:

To reheat, don't boil the sausages – that makes the casing mushy and they'll burst. Instead, warm them in hot water at about 70 °C (158 °F) for 10 minutes. Just like at the butcher shop.

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Curination Tip: Manage Your Recipes and Protocols Digitally

If you make sausages more often, you'll realize: documentation is everything. Which recipe was that? How long did I smoke it? What was the scalding bath temperature? With the Curination app, you can record your recipes, process parameters, and results directly on your smartphone – that way you'll never lose track and can repeat every recipe precisely or make targeted improvements.

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Variations: Get Creative with Your Wiener Sausages

The basic recipe is wonderfully adaptable:

• Herb Wieners: Parsley, chives (5 g each per 1 kg batter)
• Cheese Wieners: Emmental cheese cubes (about 50 g) folded in before filling
• Spicy Version: Increase chili or cayenne pepper
• Poultry Wieners: Chicken breast instead of pork, then casings in 20/22 caliber work better

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Summary

Making wiener sausages at home seems complicated at first – but with a little practice quickly becomes routine. The key points at a glance:

• Cold is critical – keep batter below 12 °C (54 °F)
• Good cutting creates the creamy emulsion – this is the core process
• Beechwood smoke gives the typical flavor
• Scald at 75–78 °C (167–172 °F), internal temperature at least 70 °C (158 °F)
• Ice bath after scalding – don't skip it
• Don't overstuff – or the sausages will burst

With these fundamentals, you'll make wiener sausages that really taste better than anything from the supermarket. And once you know how, you'll never look back. Have fun making sausages!