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I am going to be trying my hand at bockwurst tomorrow evening, and will be going to the butcher shortly to have meat cut for the process. For the pork, I'm going with shoulder/butt. I can't seem to find any recommendation on what veal cuts are best for sausage making.

Are there standard cuts of veal which are traditionally reserved for making sausage?

Matthew
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  • Regarding veal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bockwurst says it's made from half veal, half pork. However, the German Wikipedia only states pork and bacon. If other meat is used, the product needs to be labeled as a bockwurst, e.g., Kalbsbockwurst (veal bockwurst). – Robert Sep 24 '15 at 20:30

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Remember that veal is merely very young beef; the chuck (which is the beef equivalent to the pork shoulder) is probably your best choices. The chuck naturally has that best proportion of muscle to fat for sausage making.

That said I would actually discourage you from choosing veal as a meat for sausage making, ground veal is [IMHO] really 'nothing special' in terms of flavor. Veal's 'specialness' is in its tenderness, which is irrelevant in a sausage. You would be better served to use an mature beef chuck from an angus or longhorn. Lamb would also be a nice ancient flavor.

Cos Callis
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  • I understand, however, the recipe is for bockwurst, which requires veal (usually 50/50 between pork and veal). I appreciate the feedback. – Matthew Sep 04 '13 at 16:25
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I agree with Cos - Veal is wasted in sausage in terms of flavor and especially in terms of fat content (not to mention the money you'd be spending!)

When making sausage, fat is crucial - in fact when I've made venison sausage in the past, I've always added some fatty cuts of pork (shoulder or similar) along with the venison as otherwise when it's cooked it's dry, unpalatable and the flavor you really want doesn't come through. That said, I think you could make veal sausage so long as you mix in some fat - but you could also try something that goes with veal and also has some fat of its own - maybe sundried tomatoes?

dax
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There are two variations of bockwurst - Bavarian (a small weisswurst that can be grilled) and Berliner (larger and stronger flavored, commonly grilled/smoked and used for currywurst). Both are made primarily with veal. Veal/beef fat isn't the best for sausage-making. I would get the cheapest, clear, veal trimmings (neck, rump), and mix with pork belly or back fat to get your +/- 70:30 ratio.

DBF

D B Fisher
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