Sausage, Sucuk (Intense Turkish Garlic Sausage)

You know what they say: When in Turkey, try sucuk! Although that might not be a popular phrase, it does give you a reason to try this delicious beef (and sometimes lamb) sausage — which is one of Turkey’s national dishes. Since Turkey has a large Muslim population, this sausage is not made with pork. Some geographical variations, such as in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, may use horse meat.

To prepare the sausage, the meat is seasoned amply with cumin, sumac, and other Turkish spices before being piped into natural or plastic casings. After curing for several weeks, the meat becomes more firm and flavorful. This sausage is often enjoyed pan-fried as a component of a traditional Turkish breakfast alongside cheeses, jam, toast, and olives.

Ingredients

Meat for 1 kg Sucuk

• 75 % beef brisket (750 g)
• 25 % lamb shoulder (250 g)

Spices per 1 kg meat

• 22 g salt
• 0.25 g Cure #1
• 80 g garlic cloves
• 35 g paprika powder
• 20 g cumin
• 15 g black pepper
• Sausage casings

Directions

Sewing needle or sausage picker

1. You will need the needle if air got into the sausage during filling.

Homemade Sucuk – Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Cut the meat into strips or cubes. You can vary the size depending on how big your meat grinder is.
2. Put it into the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help your grinding process later and make sure that the mixture does not get too warm.
3. Grate the garlic into and process it into a paste.
4. Grind the spices into a fine powder.
5. Now you can grind the meat. I used the smallest perforated disc (2.5 mm). If you want it coarser you can also use the medium or large disc.
6. Add the spices, salt , cure and garlic to the meat and massage it in.
7. Mix the meat mass for 2-3 minutes. You can either knead the meat with a food processor with a kneading attachment or mix it vigorously by hand. This ensures that the sausage meat will bind well and the sausage will not be crumbly later on.
8. Now put the casing onto your sausage stuffer and fill the mass into the casings. As soon as the mass arrives in the casing, you can make a knot at the end.
9. Fill the mass into the casings and make sure that there is trapped as little air as possible.
10. Tie a knot with a butchers twine at the end of the casing.
11. Take a needle and prick the sausage to open any air holes.
12. Now it is time for the drying process. Hang the sausage in a dark place for one day. The place should have about 18-20 C° (65 – 68 °F) and 70 – 80 % humidity.
13. Tip: If you do not have a place with such humidity hang them in the bathroom and spray with water from time to time.
14. After 24 hours the sausage changed its color, and you can hang it up in any cool place. The air humidity should be about 70%. For me the cellar worked out. After about 1 week, your sucuk will be ready to eat. I let it mature for about 3 weeks. This makes it harder and intensifies the flavor.
15. Your Sucuk is ready. Enjoy.
16. Sucuk as “Bratwurst” without curing and drying
17. You can also make my Sucuk recipe as bratwurst.

For this you simply have to not use the Cure #2 .

1. After filling it, you can throw it directly onto the grill or into the pan.
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