Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
updated Sep 3, 2022
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Sausages, brats, bangers, and dogs are terms that are often used when referring to any of the fresh sausage links we adore for their ability to pair well with ball games and beer. It is likely that you can distinguish a hot dog from the bunch, but do you know the difference between a sausage and a bratwurst? The difference between the two lies in its preparation, ingredients, and varieties. Here’s a detailed information about their differences.
What’s the Difference Between Sausage and Bratwurst?
Sausage is a preparation of ground meat that can be found in dried or fresh varieties and sold either in casing as links or in bulk. Bratwurst is a specific type of fresh link sausage made with pork or veal.
What Is a Sausage?
Sausage is a meat product made from minced or ground beef, pork, veal, or chicken that is mixed with fat, salt, herbs, and spices. It is also important to distinguish between dried sausage, smoked sausage, and fresh sausage here.
Dried sausage was born from a need to preserve meat trimmings before the advent of refrigeration. The word sausage is reportedly derived from the Latin salsicus,meaning seasoned of salt. Dried sausages are rarely found with a casing, since the casing helps protect the meat during the drying. Pepperoni, sopressata, salami, and Spanish chorizo are all types of dried sausage and can be sliced and eaten as is.
Smoked sausage is also made of ground meat, herbs, and spices; forced into casings; and smoked. Most varieties are sold cooked, although some specialty butchers produce lightly smoked fresh sausages as well. Kielbasa and Andouille are popular varieties of smoked sausage.
Fresh sausage is sold raw in both bulk form (think breakfast sausage) and forced into casings and sold as links. Fresh pork sausage is what you’ll find at most supermarkets. This sausage must be fully cooked — grilled, boiled, pan-fried, or baked — before enjoying. Country sausage and bratwursts are all types of fresh sausage.
What Is a Bratwurst?
Bratwurst is a specific type of fresh link sausage that originated in Germany. Typically it’s made with pork and veal, and seasoned with ginger, nutmeg, coriander, or caraway. Very traditional recipes call for both cream and eggs in their preparation. Bratwurst recipes are different in every region of Germany, and some regions of the United States. Sheboygan-style bratwursts are a popular variation out of Wisconsin. If you’re looking for a recipe to make, try sheet pan bratwursts, beets, and chard.
And What About Hot Dogs?
Technically hot dogs are a type of sausage, as they are
made from meat trimming mixed with spices
Learn How to Make Your Own: Make Homemade Sausage
