Best of the Kosher Wursts

Image by Courtesy of Jack?s Gourmet

By Blair Thornburgh June 25, 2012

The jury’s still out on the case of whether Hebrew National’s kosher or not. Luckily, there are many more meaty options for this summer’s weenie roasts, after all, there are few things are more delicious than a grilled-to-perfection hot dog. While beef hot dogs are an undeniable simple pleasure of backyard cuisine, the standard supermarket franks are far from the only options. These days, kosher cookout guests can enjoy a huge variety of the tasty and tube-shaped. From basic beef to lower-fat chicken to the more exotic tastes of chipotle peppers and smoked duck, there are plenty of bun-ready bites to sample, many sourced from grass-fed animals and sustainable farms. To be quite frank, you might need a bigger grill.

Abeles & Heymann
Beef franks are far from the only option for grilling from this New Jersey-based company. Try their Italian sausage, knockwurst, cocktail franks and chipotle pepper hot dogs. Internationally-inspired options include a traditional kishka and a kosher take on cervelat (a Swiss sausage often served in a salad).

Grow and Behold
Meat that’s pasture-raised, free of antibiotics and nitrates/nitrites, and comes in all your favorite summer flavors, from sweet kielbasa with a hint of cinnamon to the garlic-and-paprika taste of north African merguez. Grow and Behold also offers a summer sausage sampler and a mixed grill pack with franks, Italian sausage, chorizo and a few burgers for good measure.

Jack’s Gourmet
Jack’s serves up a global smorgasbord of sausage flavors, from German brats and hot Mexican chorizo to well spiced Jamaican jerk chicken sausage and South African boerewors flavored with coriander and vinegar. All the products are made from minimally-processed beef or chicken and for the indecisive (or exceptionally hungry!) the online store sells several tempting variety packs

Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage
This Los Angeles-based company puts some local flavor into recipes both traditional and modern with ingredients like fresh herbs and California wines. Go old-world with classic Polish-style sausages and veal brats or shake it up with jalapeno kosher dogs and chicken cilantro sausage.

KOL Foods
KOL prides itself on “100% grass-fed beef” and sources its meat only from non-industrial farms where animals are free to roam and graze. Beyond their nitrate-free hot dogs, bratwurst, kielbasa, and merguez, the company also sells spicy-sweet lamb sausage, kabob meats, and a summer grill sampler packed with steaks, roasts, brats and turkey chops (a lean cut of breast meat).

Prime Butcher Baker
This Manhattan butcher shop boasts both high-end versions of classic beef and chicken sausages and an exciting range of meats to make any grill fest instantly gourmet. Smoked duck, Korean BBQ beef, and miso yuzu teriyaki chicken? We’re sold.

Rockland Kosher
Fresh beef sausages come in a tempting array of flavors, including garlic, smoked, and hot or mild Italian. The company also produces appetizer-sized cocktail hot dogs and kosher chicken franks for nibbling.

And if you’re interested in some sustainable but non-tubular meats for your summer cooking, be sure to check out Wise Organic Pastures, which carries grass-fed kosher beef and poultry in great grilling cuts like BBQ ribs, wings and drumsticks.

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