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Can’t Wait for Spring

Let me start by saying thanks to all of our loyal customers for another great year at Usinger’s Sausage.  I hope your holiday season was a happy one and I hope you received everything you wanted.  You did all want sausage didn’t you?  Just kidding.  We have finished our website remodel
which many of you probably noticed during the holidays, and hope it worked well for you.  We are planning on doing more internet oriented promotions in the coming year and I invite you to sign up for the Usinger newsletter so you don’t miss any of them.  We’ll have a valuable coupon offer showing up there soon.  Scroll down to the bottom of our homepage to “Subscribe here” and click, or just click this link: Usinger newsletter.  If you’re getting tired of Winter already, try some of our Sausage Chili.  Just put it in a pan, heat and eat.  It’s that simple and it’s really good…just enough kick to warm you up without setting your tongue ablaze.  Hang in there, Spring Training starts next month and grilling season isn’t far behind.
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Holiday Traditions

Family traditions, are what make the holidays so memorable for each generation. Whether It’s decorating a tree, baking holiday treats, attending a church service, or even shopping for gifts … the tradition Is special.

One of my favorite holiday traditions on Christmas morning is to fire up the grill and cook up some tasty, Sauclsschen (narrow pork sausage rolled into a small coil held In place with a skewer). Served hot off the grill It’s the centerpiece to a hearty holiday breakfast.

Another of my favorite holiday traditions is spending time working In the Uslnger gift box Annex. It’s great to get to meet so many of our customers face to face during the holidays. It also really lets you experience the hustle and bustle of the season firsthand. At Uslnger’s we’re very proud to have been a part of so many family holiday celebrations over the last 130 years. Here’s to wishing you and your family the very best this holiday season and hoping to see you all at the gift box annex (located next to our retail store on Old World Third St.), opening Friday December 6th.

Cheersl

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When it’s cold outside, it’s Chili time inside!

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder and longer.  So what’s the best way to heat things up …  how about a steaming hot bowl of chili?  There are a lot of great family chili recipes, but these days not everyone has the time to make them.  We think the Usinger Sausage Chili recipe is a good one too!  The best part is ours involves no slicing, dicing and chopping on your part, we’ve done the work for you.  Just put a package or two of Usinger’s Sausage Chili in pan, add a little water and heat slowly.  Available in 16 ounce tubes it’s easy to make just the right amount whether serving one or ten.  You can embellish it with rice, pasta or even a baked potato if you like, or just serve it straight up.  Usinger’s Sausage Chili contains no MSG and is gluten free.  You can find the complete recipe under the Recipes tab on our website.  In the Milwaukee area, it’s available at Sendik’s, Woodman’s, Sentry, Pick N Save, Piggly Wiggly, and other independent stores.  If your grocer doesn’t have it, ask if they can order it for you…otherwise you can order it from usinger.com yourself, or go to the recipe and make it from scratch.  Enjoy a great tasting bowl of chili tonight …and stay warm.

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Oktoberfest!

‘Tis the season.  Like we really need an excuse for beer and brats right off the grill.  If you haven’t tried it before, Fall is a great time to dress up those brats with Usinger Festival Sauerkraut.  We make it ourselves; kraut simmered with apples, onions, brown sugar and smoky Usinger apple wood smoked bacon pieces.  Conveniently packed in 1 Lb. tubes, it’s easy to use … just heat and eat.  Nothing warms up a crisp fall day like a hot grill of sizzling Usinger sausages.

That’s the real smell of Autumn.

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As One Summer Season Ends Another Begins

Autumn is summer sausage season in Wisconsin. A snacking staple while watching Badger and Packer games, summer sausage is the faithful platter companion of crackers and Wisconsin cheeses.

What makes summer sausage so popular is the subtle marriage of smoky and tangy flavors. Our summer sausage develops this unique flavor while hanging for 24 hours over smoldering hardwood fires in our old fashioned brick smoke houses.

For over 130 years Usinger’s has made it the same way…. Quality meats, natural spices and know how. NO MSG, Gluten Free and NO Artificial Flavorings.

Our summer sausage comes in many different sizes. We even make one in the shape of a football!

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Welcome to the Fair

Hard to believe it’s already August. Time for the Wisconsin State Fair and Usinger’s is proud to be part of this great Wisconsin tradition!  It’s a terrific showcase for Wisconsin agriculture and meat producers as well as food producers of all types.  Which is why we love being there too.  Look for us in the Wisconsin Products Pavillion right inside the main entrance.  We are featuring four sandwiches each priced at only $3.  All are served on locally made Miller Bakery Pretzilla soft Pretzel buns and include our famous Frankfurter, Italian, Bratwurst and new this year our smoked Jalapeno Cheddar Bratwurst served Reuben style with sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.  It truly is the best Meal Deal at the Fair!  Hope to see there!

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Finding Your Favorites

One thing I hear from time to time is that a customer can’t find some of our products at their local grocery store.  Some of grandma’s favorite dishes that you remember as a kid may require a product that isn’t available at the local grocer.  At Usinger’s, we make over 100 different types of sausages and meats.  That’s more shelf space than you’re going to get from a typical store.  You can however, find all of our products at Usinger’s retail store on Old World 3rd street in downtown Milwaukee.  Many of the items we make are specialty sausages, these are the kind of things you won’t find at chain stores, but can find if you take a trip back in time at our turn of the century store.  There are also some great bargains on our famous seconds table.  This includes over runs, slightly over or under weight products, new products that aren’t yet being mass-produced, all types of things that are bargain priced but have the distinct flavor of Usinger’s.  I invite you to stop in.  I’ll bet you’ll find just what you’re looking for.

 

 

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Grilling Season

Before you start the grill, know your sausage.  While they all taste great, there are differences in how Usinger’s products should be prepared.

Usinger Cooked Brat –  The white brat.  Bavarian style made with finely chopped Pork and Veal.  These are the type served all over Germany.  When grilled they actually swell and get plumper as they are cooked.  Grilling gives them a crispy outer skin and smooth flavorful center.

Usinger Fresh Brat – My method for grilling a fresh brat is “low and slow”.  It’s the opposite of grilling a steak, which you sear right away to seal in the juices and then cook them at a lower temperature.  With a fresh bratwurst it has to acclimate to the heat slowly.  Too much heat too quickly can cause the brat to swell so much that it will break the casing, which is what you are really trying to avoid.  If the casing breaks, all of the juices and spices wind up in your grill.

Usinger Natural Casing Beef Frankfurters – These are meaty, juicy and have more than a hint of fresh garlic.  Grilling enhances the “pop” when you bite into the natural casing.

Usinger Smoked Andouille Sausage – This is a great sausage with lots of complex flavors.  Spicy, smoky and tangy all at once.

Additional tips – Personally, I’m not a fan of parboiling.  It can change the texture of the casing and dilute the flavor of a perfectly spiced sausage.  If you’re short on time, the pre-cooked are quick and don’t require the care of fresh meat.

If you like Kraut, try our Festival style sauerkraut.  It’s pre-cooked also and may be the only condiment you need.

Enjoy!

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Real Smoke

Real smoke means real flavor.  At Usinger’s, our sausage is smoked in authentic two story brick smokehouses, just like it was back in 1880.  Usinger’s doesn’t use artificial smoke flavor injections or spray tan like coatings on casings.  We prefer natural hardwoods like Hickory, Oak and Ash.  Our smoke products spend hours over smoldering sawdust and logs, more like cooking over a campfire.  It takes time and some acquired technique to make sausage this way, which is why a lot of companies don’t do it.  When you do it right however, the taste is unmatched.  That’s the taste we’re looking for at Usinger’s.

 

 

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Do You Need MSG?

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), what is it? Simply put, MSG is a flavor enhancer. It provides a savory background flavor so fewer expensive spices are needed. Some people have sensitivity to MSG and get headaches from it.

We don’t use MSG in Usinger products. Instead we use natural spices and herbs to season our sausages the same way they were made 133 years ago by my great grand father. Many companies use MSG. Read the ingredients statement on the package label.

At Usinger’s our philosophy is that the shorter the ingredients statement is, the better the product is.