Homemade Droëwors
Recipes with Droëwors
Making droëwors at home requires a meat grinder, a sausage stuffer, thin casings, and somewhere dry and well-ventilated to hang the sausages for several days. The process is not difficult. It is mostly waiting. This recipe follows the traditional Highveld method: coarsely ground beef, toasted coriander, and a drying period of four to six days depending on the climate.
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
0 min
Servings
10
Difficulty
Hard
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef shoulder (80/20 lean to fat ratio)
- 200 g beef fat (brisket or suet), cut into chunks
- 30 ml brown vinegar
- 22 g fine salt
- 20 g coriander seeds
- 3 g black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1.5 g ground cloves
- 1 g ground nutmeg
- 18–22 mm sheep casings, soaked in water for 30 min
- Drying hooks or a clean wire rack for hanging
Steps
Toast the coriander seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant and slightly darkened. Remove from the heat and crack them coarsely in a mortar or under the flat of a knife. They should be broken, not powdered.
Cut the beef and fat into chunks that fit your grinder. Keep the meat cold: place it in the freezer for 20 minutes before grinding if it has warmed up. Cold meat grinds cleanly without smearing.
Pass the beef and fat together through the coarse plate (8 mm) of the grinder. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add the cracked coriander, salt, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and vinegar to the ground meat. Mix by hand for 2 to 3 minutes until the fat is evenly distributed and the spices are throughout. Do not overmix: the texture should remain coarse.
Thread the soaked casings onto the sausage stuffer tube. Stuff the sausage mix into the casings firmly, avoiding air pockets, and tie off into 25 cm lengths.
Hang the sausages on hooks or a wire rack in a cool, well-ventilated room. Aim for 15 to 18°C and low humidity. A dedicated drying box with small fans improves air circulation. Do not allow the sausages to touch each other.
Leave the droëwors to dry for 4 to 6 days. Check daily. The droëwors is ready when the surface is dark and firm, the casing has tightened fully around the meat, and a stick snaps cleanly rather than bending. The sausage should have lost roughly 45% of its original weight.
Tips
Humidity is the main variable. In dry Highveld weather, droëwors can be ready in four days. In coastal or humid climates, use a fan-assisted drying box to prevent surface sliming. If white spots appear on the surface after drying, that is rendered fat, not mould. Pink or green patches are mould: discard the sausage. Do not use a refrigerator for drying as the air is too humid and not circulating.