Smoked Sausages

Kaminwurzen from South Tyrol, spice-smoked and air-dried

The Kaminwurzen from Metzgerei Steiner are air-dried raw sausages from the Puster Valley, gently cold-smoked and aged in the South Tyrolean mountain air. Not a soft spreadable sausage, but a firm, spicy sliced sausage made from 70 percent beef and pork, just as it has been a staple of the "Marende" (snack) here for generations.

Kaminwurzen are the classic raw sausage specialty of South Tyrol, here from the Steiner butcher shop in Rasen-Antholz in the Puster Valley. They get their name from the chimney ("Kamin") over which mountain farmers once cold-smoked and air-dried their sausages. You will receive 2 pieces weighing about 130 grams each, aged in natural casing, firm to the bite and spicy in aroma – a handy piece of South Tyrol for in-between meals.

Spicy, smoky, with a firm bite

When sliced, the Kaminwurzen reveal a dark, marbled red and emit a fine smoky aroma that evokes memories of a warm farmhouse with an open hearth. The surface is dry and slightly coated from the aging process, as is proper for a true air-dried sausage.

With the first bite, they are robust, spicy, and smoky, with the clear notes of high-quality beef and a gentle smokiness that is never overpowering. The bite is firm but never dry, as the peaceful aging in the cool mountain air keeps the meat supple. Each sausage is a natural product, sometimes a bit firmer, sometimes a bit softer, and that is precisely what makes them authentic.

This is how a South Tyrolean "Marende" tastes

Kaminwurzen are the epitome of the Marende, that hearty South Tyrolean snack that you leisurely lay out on a board between meals.

Cut into thin slices, they go perfectly with spicy mountain cheese, dark farmhouse bread, and a glass of red wine; a good Marende needs nothing more. The first slice on its own highlights the smoke and spice best, even before adding cheese and bread. Kaminwurzen like it hearty and pair wonderfully with a spoonful of South Tyrolean sauerkraut or a slice of South Tyrolean speck.

Whole sausages are great to throw in your backpack when heading up the mountain, as Kaminwurzen have always been the hiker's provision: durable, satiating, and easy to share. If you like variety, we also offer these sausages in speck, stone pine, and venison varieties.

Metzgerei Steiner in Rasen-Antholz for three generations

Florian Steiner runs the Steiner butcher shop, deeply rooted in the Antholz Valley in South Tyrol's Puster Valley, where the business now includes several branches and its own gourmet shop.

What began as a small village butchery is now a family business with its own slaughterhouse and game processing facility, consolidated under one roof after the renovation in 2006. The Steiner family works with selected local farmers who raise their animals humanely and with GMO-free feed, ensuring that every step remains traceable from the farm to the finished sausage. The clear, cool air of the Antholz Valley does the rest during the aging process.

"We give our best every day," is the philosophy of the house – and you can taste it. Just how high the level of craftsmanship is here was proven in 2016 at the international IFFA quality competition in Frankfurt: Metzgerei Steiner won five gold medals for their own house-made speck, ham, and salami. Impressive indeed.

You can find further South Tyrolean specialties from Metzgerei Steiner in our assortment, from farmer's speck to Tyrolean dumplings. The Kaminwurzen are a natural product and arrive vacuum-sealed. If you notice air in the packaging upon unpacking, it is not a quality defect; remove the sausages and store them in a cool place at 6 to 8 degrees Celsius, preferably wrapped in a linen cloth in the refrigerator.