Leberkäse - A German Specialty You Have To Make At Home

"Livercheese" - yes, that's what this southern German specialty literally translates to. The name may stipulate otherwise, but there is neither liver nor cheese in it. While there are a few recipes that include a little liver, the name has more to do with color and consistency. Cooked liver is grey and this type of baked meat loaf has the consistency of cheese. Leberkäse - which is the original German word for it - is made from pork, beef and a handful of spices. If you like Franks or Wiener Sausages, you will like this one. It's easy to make too. Amazon Affiliate Links: 🌐 2lb Loaf Pans: https://amzn.to/402PTQB 🌐 Spice Scale I use: https://amzn.to/3BU8qo4 🌐 Kitchen Scale: https://amzn.to/3NsKkDq Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission for qualifying purchases from the links above without any additional cost to you. Recipe: Important: keep all the meat/fat as close to freezing as possible until using (about 34 degrees or a half hour stint in the freezer before using). The colder the meat is, the easier everything comes together. 400g lean ground pork (around 10% fat, maybe 15) 200g pork fat or fatty pork belly ground 200g ground beef (I used 80/20, but even 93/7 if you want a little less fat is just fine) 200g finely crushed ice (use a blender to "snowify" ice cubes) 22g Salt (see video about pink cure - not recommended!) 1g Nutmeg or Mace 3g Onion Powder 3g White Pepper ground 2g Marjoram ground 2g Phosphate containing baking powder or butchers phosphate according to label for sausages Method: In a large enough food processor (7 cups +) combine all ingredients except the ice and the fat/pork belly. Run the food processor until everything is an almost smooth paste. Add half the ice and all of the fat/pork belly. Keep grinding until smooth. Add the remaining ice and run the food processor to incorporate. At no time should the temperature of the mixture exceed 50F/10C (or at least not by much - grinding produces heat, so if the ingredients are all pre-ground it's much better) Fill the mass into a regular loaf pan. I use the tinfoil loaf pans you can get at DollarTree (best price) or most other supermarkets. Feel free to use a reuseable one, maybe spray that with a little non stick spray but generally that's not really needed since the mix is fatty enough on it's own to not stick. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree (F) oven, that's about 180 degrees C, for 45 minutes to an hour. Use a thermometer to check the core temperature which should be at 165 degrees. Either enjoy hot or cold. Can be roasted the next day - see my video about Strammer Max which utilizes the leftover Leberkäse on a later day. Chapters: 0:00 Leberkäse 0:37 Ingredients 1:17 Method 2:21 Second Grind 2:43 Add Fat and Ice 3:11 Add Final Ice 3:55 Sample or not? 4:19 Pack in forms 5:19 Smoothing and Decorations 5:47 Baking Instructions 6:03 Second batch with Nitrate 6:36 Caution with Nitrates! 7:52 Time to bake both loafs 8:44 Comparison Nitrate or not 9:49 The End