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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Switzerland, southern Germany

Landjäger

Beef or pork lean is minced with back fat, curing salt and spices such as caraway, pepper and coriander, stuffed in pairs into narrow pork casing and pressed flat. The links are fermented, cold-smoked or air-dried, and eaten raw as a hard, square-sided snack sausage. Made in 6 steps over 3 days. The longest step, ferment warm, takes 3 days (Rivera M 2015) and runs at 24 °C (Rivera M 2015). Salt is up to 2.5 % (Schweizer Fleisch-Fachverband (SFF) 2022). Pediococcus acidilactici and P. pentosaceus and Latilactobacillus sakei do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[rivera2015]Ferment warm
Temperature24 °CReported[rivera2015]Ferment warm
Saltup to 2.5 %Set[sff2022]Mix with curing salt and spices
AciditypH 4.8Reported[rivera2015]Ferment warm

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are per kg of sausage mix in the recipe example of the Swiss Meat Federation's quality guidelines (2022).
75 %Beef · Of the total mass in the Swiss recipe example[sff2022]
21 %Pork back fat[sff2022]
20 g per kgNitrite curing salt[sff2022]
5 g per kgSalt · Total salt is capped at 25 g per kg of raw mix[sff2022]
5 g per kgRed wine[sff2022]
3 g per kgCaraway, whole or cracked[sff2022]
1 g per kg eachPepper, coriander and garlic[sff2022]
Sugar, additives and starter culture (optional) · Glucono-delta-lactone (E575) is allowed; a starter culture is not required[sff2022]
Starterspontaneous or defined culture (not required)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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What changes: Lean meat is minced and the fat cut coarser so it shows in the slice

Step 1 of 6
Mince lean meat; cut the fat coarser
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The meat is chopped or bowl-cut; the back fat is cut less fine so it shows in the slice. Output: coarse sausage mix with visible fat.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Landjäger is stuffed in pairs into narrow pork casing and pressed flat, which gives it its square shape. It is a firm raw sausage that keeps without chilling, unlike spreadable Mettwurst.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Appenzeller PantliAn angular pressed raw sausage of beef, pork and bacon from Appenzell, protected as an IGP.
  • Tiroler LandjägerNot pressed.

Safety

Landjäger is eaten raw, so fermentation and drying are the only kill steps. In one challenge study, fermenting to pH about 4.8 and drying to water activity 0.88 cut Listeria and Salmonella by 4–5.6 log but E. coli O157:H7 by only 3–4 log.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli O157:H7 (only 3–4 log reduction by fermenting and drying); Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name may come from Alemannic "lang tige(n)", meaning long smoked or dried.

  1. [sff2022] Schweizer Fleisch-Fachverband (SFF) 2022, Qualitätsleitsätze für Fleisch und Fleischprodukte, Version 4 (Landjäger, p. 33)spec
  2. [leitsaetze2022] Deutsche Lebensmittelbuch-Kommission 2022, Leitsätze für Fleisch und Fleischerzeugnisse, BAnz AT 28.07.2022 B1, No. 2.4.1.1.14 (Landjäger)gov
  3. [rivera2015] Rivera M., Campbell J., Cutter C. 2015, Pathogen reductions associated with traditional processing of Landjäger, a pilot study, IAFP Annual Meeting poster P2-98 (abstract)paper
  4. [wp-de] German Wikipedia, Landjäger (name history only)wiki