Saitlings, Brät, and Bicarbonate: The Evolution of the Vienna Sausage

By Eben & Kristi vab Tonder, 2 Jan 2025

The Heart of the Craft: A 19th-Century European Butcher’s Shop
**Credit:** Historical Archive / Public Domain Reference (Illustrating the era of Johann Georg Lahner and the traditional guild craft).

For new years day Kristi made a pork Sausage ham. The “sausage ham” is a celebration of a tradition that stretches back over two centuries and it is made with Vienna Sausages. I did an article about the philosophical background to the Wiener, in Austria, this iconic sausage made its way across the globe to South Africa, where it is known as the “Vienna.” However, while the name remains, the ingredients often tell a different story. In modern industrial production, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, the original beef-and-pork blend is frequently replaced by chicken MDM (Mechanically Deboned Meat). To appreciate the craft, one must look back at the original science of the Saitling and the meat emulsion that defined the luxury of the 19th-century butcher shop.

Table of Contents

The Linguistic Mystery of the Saitling

The word Saitling is a survivor of the medieval craft vocabulary of Southern Germany and Austria. It is not a modern colloquialism but a term that reflects a time when the distinction between a musical string and a sausage casing was purely functional. The root of the word is the Old High German seita, which transitioned into the Middle High German seite, meaning a string, cord, or thin filament. Because cleaned sheep intestines were the primary source of high-tensile cord for bowstrings and musical instruments, the butcher and the luthier often shared the same raw materials.

The addition of the suffix “-ling” creates a diminutive or a classification, literally translating to a “fine string” or “small gut.” This is confirmed in the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1893), which defines the Saitling specifically as a “darmseite” or “darmfaden”—a gut-thread—noting its primary use as a thin sheep intestine for sausage skins. When we hold a Vienna today, we are holding a piece of history where the semantic fields of music, weaponry, and butchery once overlapped.

Johann Georg Lahner and the Birth of the “Wiener”

The specific sausage we enjoy today was the brainchild of Johann Georg Lahner, a master butcher who moved from Frankfurt to Vienna in 1805. In Frankfurt, the laws of the butchers’ guilds were incredibly rigid; a butcher dealt in either pork or beef, but never both. However, Vienna offered a more liberal regulatory environment. Lahner took advantage of this freedom to innovate, creating a blend of pork and lean beef that revolutionized the texture of the small sausage.

Lahner’s decision to mix the meats was a matter of protein chemistry rather than a shortage of supply. Beef possesses a significantly higher water-binding capacity than pork. By incorporating finely minced, lean beef into the mixture, Lahner was able to create a more stable and “bouncy” emulsion. This mixture, known as Brät, allowed the sausage to remain incredibly juicy even after being smoked and scalded. The result was a sausage that was more refined and structurally sound than the pure-pork Frankfurters of his youth—and a far cry from the soft, paste-like consistency often found in modern chicken-based versions.

The Science of the Brät and the “Snap”

The interior of a Vienna sausage is a technical marvel called Brät. Derived from the Old High German brāto, meaning pure, lean meat, the Brät is a matrix of protein, fat, and water. In traditional preparation, the meat is processed in a high-speed cutter with crushed ice. This ice is vital; the friction of the blades generates heat that could easily melt the fat and ruin the texture. The ice keeps the temperature below 12^{\circ}\text{C}, ensuring the beef proteins hydrate properly to create a silky, sticky paste that firms up during cooking to provide the characteristic “snap” against the teeth.

This snap is further enhanced by the caliber of the Saitling used. For a traditional Vienna, butchers typically utilize a 20/22 mm or 18/20 mm sheep casing. These are the finest natural casings available, providing a delicate, almost imperceptible bite that nonetheless offers enough resistance to create that celebrated “pop” when the sausage is bitten.

Preparation: The Water Slide and the Bicarbonate Secret

Working with such delicate material as the Saitling requires a master’s touch, particularly when sliding the casing onto the filling horn of a sausage stuffer. To prevent tearing, traditional butchers utilize what is colloquially known as the “water slide.” By running lukewarm water through the internal cavity of the casing before threading it onto the horn, a thin film of moisture acts as a lubricant, allowing the casing to glide effortlessly.

In cases where the sheep casings are older or have become toughened by heavy salt curing, a secret of the old trade is the use of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Adding a small amount to the soaking water creates a slightly alkaline environment that “mellows” the collagen fibers of the gut.

”Ein Zusatz von etwas Soda oder doppeltkohlensaurem Natron zum Einweichwasser macht die Saitlinge weich und geschmeidig, was das Aufziehen auf das Füllhorn wesentlich erleichtert.”

(Adding some soda or sodium bicarbonate to the soaking water makes the Saitlinge soft and supple, which significantly eases the sliding onto the filling horn.)

— Handbuch der Fleischkonservierung, P. Koch, 1912.

This treatment ensures that even the finest, most brittle casings regain the elasticity needed for high-speed production, ensuring the sausage remains intact through the stuffing and smoking process.

A Legacy in Every Bite

Whether it is served as part of a Christmas ham in Graz or enjoyed as a “Vienna” in South Africa, the sausage remains a testament to 19th-century innovation. From Lahner’s daring meat blends to the precise chemistry of the Brät and the ancient linguistic roots of the Saitling, this humble sausage is a masterpiece of European culinary engineering. It is a reminder that the best traditions are those that balance the art of the craft with the rigor of science.