Jul Korv (Swedish Christmas Sausage)
We had this on Christmas Eve when I was little. It is worth the effort.
We had this on Christmas Eve when I was little. It is worth the effort.
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large onion minced
- 2.5 cups mashed potatoes
- 2 tbs salt (plus more for the broth)
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice (plus 12 whole allspice for broth)
- 1.5 cups icy cold water
- 8 feet italian sausage-size casings
- 2 bay leaves for the broth
- cut-off top quarter of a plastic milk jug can be used as a stuffer
- Carbohydrate 136.16707875 g
- Cholesterol 513.9875307 mg
- Fat 166.8405841015 g
- Fiber 22.3986875100136 g
- Protein 126.16867229 g
- Saturated Fat 63.0673323592 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1756g)
- Sodium 2055.0170015 mg
- Sugar 113.768391239986 g
- Trans Fat 34.5291413135 g
- Calories 2545 calories
Step-by-step
- Wash casings well by running cold water over and through them.
- Let them soak in the cold water.
- Mix pork, beef, potatoes, onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg, powdered allspice, and the water.
- Mix well.
- You need two people to stuff.
- Take one end of the casings from the bowl of water and thread it over the mouth of the plastic milkjug.
- One person holds it in place and holds the sausage.
- The other person stuffs the meat in my hand or with a small spoon.
- Once you have an italian-sausage-size sausage (6" long, 1" across), cut the casing, leaving an extra 1" empty casing at each end to expand.
- Do not tie them off.
- Refrigerate the sausages overnight so that the flavors blend.
- Cook sausages in boiling salted water with 12 allspice and 2 bay leaves.
- Simmer for an hour and serve.
Mashed potatoes act as a structural binder and a moisture retainer within the dense matrix of pork and beef, preventing the lean meats from turning chalky during a long simmer. Combining ground pork and ground beef requires keeping the mixture exceptionally cold; maintaining a temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit during mixing ensures the fat emulsifies properly with the starches rather than smearing and separating. When rinsing salt-packed collagen or natural casings, flush them thoroughly under cold running water and let them soak for at least thirty minutes to restore elasticity and reveal any microscopic tears before stuffing begins. Because the spicing relies on warm aromatics like nutmeg and allspice, resting the stuffed links uncovered in the refrigerator overnight allows the seasonings to penetrate the meat thoroughly while the surface dehydrates slightly to hold its shape better in the pot. Simmering the links in salted water infused with whole allspice and bay leaves must happen at a gentle bubble rather than a rolling boil, as violent agitation will rupture the delicate casings and wash out the potato binder. For those needing dietary modifications, the pork and beef ratio can be substituted entirely with ground turkey or a plant-based mince, provided extra binders like tapioca starch are added to compensate for the missing potato density. Uncooked links hold safely in the refrigerator for up to forty-eight hours before cooking, or they can be frozen raw for up to three months if wrapped tightly to prevent freezer burn.
