Swiss sausage sizzler 4.0 hits 200 bangers per hour

With a bank holiday looming (in the UK and US at least) thoughts are turning to barbecues and the traditional burning-of-the-meat. However, retired Swiss engineer Gabriel Strebel (a man with way too much time on his hands) has put his skills to good use by devising a vaguely terrifying sausage spinner to avoid a blackened …

[A K Stiles]

specific sausage style

from the picture, it'd struggle to deal with something like a cumberland or a boerewors, but maybe they're not standard bbq fair in Switzerland.

( icon for what usually happens when I get let loose on the bbq/braai )

[et tu, brute?]

Re: specific sausage style

From the picture on ElReg, yeah... but looking at the picture from the linked article, boerie would be possible if you make smaller portions, and not want to braai the whole roll of wors at once...

--> perfect addition to said boerie...

[Mark 85]

Re: specific sausage style

And from that referenced photo, it appears that the sausages have proper grill marks also. There is a certain break with tradition here that a certain number of the sausages need to be burned and thus given to the household lupine beast. I'm sure said "beast" will not be pleased...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: specific sausage style

The Reg image, that is not a sausage.

It looks like some reconstituted mechanically recovered chicken and pork sludge.

Yes folks those "Premium" ye olde oak hotdogs...yum yum...

"Hotdogs: Mechanically Separated Chicken (71%), Water, Pork (8%), Starch, Beef Collagen Casing, Salt, Pork Collagen, Smoke Flavouring, Pork Fat, Stabiliser (Triphosphates), Coriander, Dextrose, Spices, Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins, Thickener (Guar Gum), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite), Spice Extract, Brine: Water, Smoke Flavouring"

[Korev]

Competition?

Who can come up with the Würst pun?

[Vinyl-Junkie]

Re: Competition?

Don't knock the wurst pun...

[Hollerithevo]

Re: Competition?

Only a brat.

[Jay Lenovo]

Re: Competition?

It's rumored that sausage machine killed a man.

Forensics are reviewing the "casings" found at the scene.

[Mage]

Re: Competition?

The Germans have a hot sausage vending machine.

The Wurst time to be alive!

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: Competition?

Lock, bock and two smoking bratwurst....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Competition?

Maybe Cervelat or Bratwürst?

[Anonymous Coward]

"It could be used in the bedroom!"

Just to be clear bbq's give off carbon monoxide and should never be used in an enclosed place.

I know most commentards and readers are quite clued up but there are some idiots such as myself.

[vir]

Re: "It could be used in the bedroom!"

That's what the electric model is for.

[Robert Helpmann??]

Re: "It could be used in the bedroom!"

This has all the makings of a real sausage party. Beverage of choice to go with the bangers.

[onefang]

Re: "It could be used in the bedroom!"

Reminds me of a certain cyclone we had many years ago. Only one person was killed. He ran a genny in his shed to keep the lights on, in his shed, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, in his shed.

[Anonymous Coward]

My god, 200 sausages per hour? Even Elton john would struggle with that. Looking at the linked article I can safely ask what the f*ck are you smoking and why has she got a huge smile?

Also...

"The personal record of Gabriel Strebel? It is 34 tons grilled in two days. It was during the opening of the Gotthard railway tunnel."

That's one way to open a tunnel...

[chivo243]

No Char

No Thanks! I prefer a bit of browning and charring, that's where the extra flavor is!

[Mark 85]

Re: No Char

I upvoted you for the "extra flavor" part. But go look at the picture in the link. Those sausages have some nice browning and charring in the right places.

I'll take mine on a bun with sauerkraut and a beer to chase it. Beer icon since there's no sausage icon.

[Korev]

Re: No Char

The sausages like the ones in the picture tend to be pretty flavourless*; charing the outside gives them a bit of flavour.

*Even after quite a few years living on the Swiss/German border, I still haven't grown to love their sausages. And don't get met started on Fleischkäse, which is kind of a solid pâte-like hunk of processed meat that is fried - the literal translation of the name is "meat cheese"...

[anothercynic]

Re: No Char

What's wrong with Fleischkäse (Leberkäse)? It's great with brauner Butter (beurre noisette) and Kartoffelbrei (mashed potatoes for y'all Englishfolk).

A good Bratwurst is hard to beat, and it beats the crap 'sausages' you get in your average food van at British events... Cumberlands or good quality English sausages of various counties are smashingly good though. :-)

[BebopWeBop]

Re: No Char

Of course the problem is that the average Bratwurst is also pretty crap...

[anothercynic]

Re: No Char

@BebopWeBop, HERETIC!!! :-D

[Sam Therapy]

Re: No Char

Aye, Bratwurst, that's the stuff. Had some tonight. With beer, of course.

[John Smith 19]

Judging by the mugshot I'd say he definitely deserves a "Man In Shed" award.

Clearly a fellow with a fine shed of delights to work in.

[Arthur the cat]

Re: Judging by the mugshot I'd say he definitely deserves a "Man In Shed" award.

Clearly a fellow with a fine shed of delights to work in.

And a pipe to go with it.

[Chemist]

Re: Judging by the mugshot I'd say he definitely deserves a "Man In Shed" award.

"Clearly a fellow with a fine shed of delights to work in."

Sheds are called 'stadel' around those parts - although more like a small, massively built, barn.

Our local butcher does a line in what look like small cumberlands pinned with a stick but the machine looks like it is designed for bratwurst or kalbsbratwurst

[The Dogs Meevonks]

I'm betting it couldn't handle a decent British banger and is more suited to those disgusting processed 'frankfurter' type things you get.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd be willing to take that bet.

That's because I'm not a lazy, thick twat who couldn't be bothered to click on the link in the El Reg article so I saw the photo of the device with a bunch of sausages that are clearly not frankfurters.

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly you take your sausage seriously.

[Daedalus]

Needs to get out more

If he'd been in many US eateries he would have seen frankfurters spinning away on hot rollers decades ago.

[Stoneshop]

Re: Needs to get out more

That's an entirely different way of heating sausages; there's a near-total absence of roasting, only mild grilling.

[jake]

1400 degrees?

So the sausages are par-boiled, then? Because at that kind of temperature, if you start from raw by the time the interior is done, the outside will be incinerated.

Taking this to it's ultimate level of millennial must-haves, for sausages you'll need a sous-vide machine and this thing. Me, I use a $20 cast iron skillet.

On the list of useless kitchen gadgets, I'm not certain where this invention should be placed. Probably just under avocado and banana slicers and just above egg separators and the butter spreader.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 1400 degrees?

"On the list of useless kitchen gadgets, I'm not certain where this invention should be placed."

Not in the home kitchen, that's where (unless you have a need to grill 200 sausages an hour at home).

[jake]

Re: 1400 degrees?

Maybe not 200/hr "at home"[0], but I need to make 80 or so in around 20 minutes several times per year. (It's nice to cook for mom & dad, my siblings & our spouses and all the grand-sprog occasionally!)

[0] I'll have ~300 going into the smokehouse on Friday night ... Catering a sunrise wedding breakfast reception on Saturday.

[JassMan]

Re: 1400 degrees?

Yep. This thing must be built out of serious quality materials. Many steels melt or at least soften at only 1350C. The linked article also states that the fat is collected by dropping into cold water to prevent it smoking but surely the water would also boil away within seconds. Maybe that is why the inventor is also looking slightly charred compared to the woman who is presumably his wife.

Actually, I think the 1400 is only the theoretical temperature of the nichrome element. The actual cooking temperature is probably only 160-180ish. Still it does sound impressive if it will vaporize any flies attracted to the smell of cooking sausages.

[onefang]

Re: 1400 degrees?

"Still it does sound impressive if it will vaporize any flies attracted to the smell of cooking sausages."

Do you want flies with that?

[anothercynic]

Re: 1400 degrees?

@jake, what about the banana hammock? Where does that go?? :-D

[MonkeyCee]

Re: 1400 degrees?

"you'll need a sous-vide machine"

Round these parts that's a chilly pin and a thermometer :) frozen burger patties into warm water, add boiling water as needed.

It's a fantastically good way to cook a large amount of meat so it's tender, then pop it on a skillet, grill, BBQ, roasting pit, blowtorch etc, and serve. You can throw out a lot of meat in short time, which is what you need with flogging a sausage inna bun* to the hungry masses.

It's like a steam table. Way too much effort if you're prepping veg for less than 20 people. Massive time saver if you're doing it for 200+ covers. Sous vide for a dozen steaks? Overkill. Serving whatever portion of 250 wedding guests want steak, you might get the mains out to the stragglers before the head table finishes desert :)

The sausage sellers round these vaguely germanic parts often have a large (2-3m diameter) circular griddle that can be rotated, suspended above the coals

*copyright CMOT Dibbler

[Sam Therapy]

Re: 1400 degrees?

Upvoted for Dibbler ref.

[NXM]

Re: 1400 degrees?

I'm not so sure - it looks like the sausages are on prongs, which would also be hot and so cook the insides as well. A bit like a baked potato with a skewer through it.

But instant sausages are not a new thing - look up the Presto Hot Dogger, which connected them to the mains. What? Of course it's safe, dear...

[Pedigree-Pete]

Re: 1400 degrees? Butter Spreader.

"bread, toast, bagels, baguettes, muffins, pancakes, waffles"

Must be related to this guy then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec

PP

[StuntMisanthrope]

Let me step into the thong!

It's XMAS come early, for a man that know's how to party. #itswerkbutnotasyouknowIT

[niio]

Of course the wheel is vertical so you have to skewer der wieners. The same thing horizontally couldn't possibly work.

[Neil Barnes]

What a time to be alive

Truly we live in an age of wonders.

And he has the proper boffin's pipe.

[jake]

Re: What a time to be alive

Shame he can't taste anything.

[Ken Moorhouse]

“it could be used in the bedroom!”

In my youth the question would be along the lines of "Would you like to see my etchings?"

[JassMan]

Re: “it could be used in the bedroom!”

People tell me I have a great imagination but I fail to see how this could ever be used as a sex toy.

[Alister]

Re: “it could be used in the bedroom!”

That old favourite, "hunt the sausage".

Or just shouting SAUSAGE TIME!

[Francis Boyle]

Everthing

can be used as a sex toy.

If you have the imagination.

[Numen]

procine produce?

Great! They've been telling me to eat more vegetables!

[J. Cook]

I'm strange, but I cook bratwurst in an unusual style:

first I give them a nice pan sear to put the required burn marks on them, then they go into a slow cooker and drowned in a nice stout (no cheap beer here!) and cooked on the high setting for two hours, then low for 4 hours.

[Mark 85]

No fire then? <sigh> The best are cooked over and open fire or charcoal, IMO.

[jake]

My method

I cook most sausages kinda like pot-stickers. Cast iron skillet on high heat, 1/8 inch of water, add the sausages when it's simmering. Boil with lid on until the water evaporates and they start sizzling. Remove lid, turn down to medium & continue cooking, turning occasionally, until browned to taste. Remove to a warm place (200F oven works) and make gravy/veggies of choice in the drippings. There's a special place in one of the corners of hell for anyone who wastes sausage drippings ...

[PhilipN]

Pah! Away with your namby-pamby hobbyists

Look - first, young'uns, "chips" are not from potatoes. They* are Britain's finest. Grill a few extra to eat straight from the fridge, slightly shrivelled, the following day. Preferably with a slice of yesterday's toast which has absorbed all the butter. Best snack in the world.

Second, Walls's super size** - black on top and bottom. Sides optional. Wrapped in a slice of decent white bread with lashings of (melting) butter to compensate for the fat lost during the cooking process. Luxury!

* Sigh - kids today - "chipolatas".

** I hear you no longer have to pierce them with a fork?? What the hell is that??

[jake]

Re: Pah! Away with your namby-pamby hobbyists

So-called "chipolatas" aren't Britain's finest. They are Italian, by way of France. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[eamonn_gaffey]

Re: Pah! Away with your namby-pamby hobbyists

...man after my own heart - which is currrently being investigated for coronary disease :-)

[DJO]

Film of it in action

Cheesy background music so mute first.

“My grill does not produce any smoke,” - The film suggests this is not 100% true.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Wurtzlitzer 4.0

Wurlitzer

---> Flame grilled

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Allo, Allo

Oh, sorry, wrong type of Sausage

[0laf]

Glad to see the full inventors uniform in place including pipe.

[Christopher Rogers]

Thon pipe is a thing of beauty.

[PowerSurge]

I've looked with amazement but never dared

The Wurst Cafe http://www.wurstcafe.co.uk/

[onefang]

I don't want an industrial sausage cooker in the bedroom, I only keep one sausage in there, and I don't want it cooked.

[DJ Smiley]

I just did some really bad math, and came out with sausages weighing in at 3.5Kg each?!

200 hr, over 48 hrs, weighing 37 tons....

[RobertsonCR7]

i need a <b>BEER</b>