The Texas BBQ Forum

Has to be Opa's smoked beef links, from Fredricksberg TX. In my humble opinion this sausage beats the pants off anything from Elgin, the presumed king of Texas sausage. Opa's is full bodied, well seasoned and wonderful smoked on the pit. I have found all Elgin sausages I've tried to be really bland in general. Just my taste.

If anyone is familiar with Opa's beef sausage and has insight into how it's seasoned or put together I would be eternally grateful for a recipe or tips/hints. If I were to make my own sausage again this would be it along with a good Italian.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers

Opals is good but not among my favorite sausages. My fav. next to homemade in my opinion are
Nemeceks- West, Texas- hot chubbies- won a sausage cookoff (Thorndale)with these babies- best sausage for kolaches . Great meat market as well.
Meyers-Elgin love there garlic sausages, cooked some beef sausages once for my scout troop. Several dads said best ever.
Greens Saugage House- Zabcikville, great smoked pork, beef, and JC sausage. Also a great meat market and a great backery.
Just my two cents and I hope ya find there recipe.

I like many, many brands and style sausages... however, if I am in Hillje, TX or anywhere close... I find myself making a stop at Prasek's. Snook, TX the same goes for Slovacek.

Kicking this one up. Anyone know the generic name for this type of German sausage so I can find a general recipe and zero in on my preferred taste?

Cheers

Well QShack I guess you're just gonna have to send me some for analysis....

Papa Tom wrote:Well QShack I guess you're just gonna have to send me some for analysis....

Papa Tom, Opals uses a traditional German beef recipe. Bet ya have several.
Here is one you sent me last year, although it has pork mixed in.
This recipe is similar to the one we used to make at my inlaws .

German Sausage
10 lbs of ground beef 30 lbs. of ground pork
3/4 cup salt 1/2 cup black pepper
1 cup brown sugar (optional) 1/2 of a 1.25 oz. bottle of garlic powder
The sausage needs to be mixed thoroughly to distribute the seasonings evenly.Test fry a patty to check
the seasoning.When you are satisfied with the seasoning, stuff the sausage. If you don’t own a sausage
stuffer you can freeze the sausage in patties or in small bulk packages.

Opa's is ok, to me Slovacek's is the best I've had that I can pick up locally.

Years ago, there was a restaurant/buthcer shop just outside of Granbury - a German place. Had great smoked sausage. Haven't been that way in over 10 years. Don't even know if it's still there. Had lot of brats, smoked sausage, different salamis ----- anyone out that way know if it's still there?

I really appreciate the input, folks. Never tried, or even heard of Slovaceks, sounds Polish. Would love to try. This Opa's beef has A LOT of black pepper, probably garlic and I'm thinking some sort of cure to get that tang and nice red color. Other than that I can't find a recipe online that describes a style that comes close to this product. I've heard that beef heart is sometimes used in beef sausages but what are some other typical beef cuts to use? Again, any info/tips are greatly appreciated.

Cheers

BTW, Bludawg posted this site awhile back and it's still a great resource for all kinds of sausage recipes.
http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm" target="_blank

Cheers

JaCK2U2 wrote:Years ago, there was a restaurant/buthcer shop just outside of Granbury - a German place. Had great smoked sausage. Haven't been that way in over 10 years. Don't even know if it's still there. Had lot of brats, smoked sausage, different salamis ----- anyone out that way know if it's still there?

I think the place is called Niesters Restaurant and Deli on 377, they do have great sausages and baked goodies.

Qshack wrote:I really appreciate the input, folks. Never tried, or even heard of Slovaceks, sounds Polish. Would love to try. This Opa's beef has A LOT of black pepper, probably garlic and I'm thinking some sort of cure to get that tang and nice red color. Other than that I can't find a recipe online that describes a style that comes close to this product. I've heard that beef heart is sometimes used in beef sausages but what are some other typical beef cuts to use? Again, any info/tips are greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Its kinda hard to duplicate a certain brand like Opals, I don't know if they add cure or smoke there sausages. I think you are gonna need to do some experimenting with small batches. I have never cooked a beef sausage but I know you will have to have add at least 20% fat. Pork and venison are what I am used to making with our family.
Here are some good websites with great recipes.
Hope this helps ya out,
http://www.stuffers.com click on sausage recipes - will give you a pdf file.
www.deejayssmokepit.net

This is good. Thanks for the "links" throwdown.

Cheers

Tell ya what Qshack just attend Tex Toby's Sausage makin' session in the next month or two and I'll bet your perception of "best ever" changes.

Papa Tom wrote:Tell ya what Qshack just attend Tex Toby's Sausage makin' session in the next month or two and I'll bet your perception of "best ever" changes.

Amen Papa Tom, nothing like homemade. I think we made 6 or 7 varieties at your wurstfest and they were all good. You will learn a lot from attending Toby's session next month.