It is challenge to find a good butcher in Miami.  Whole Foods and Fresh Market  attempt to mirror a butcher shop by offering cut to order meats behind a glass case, but if you have ever really been to a specialty butcher, you know you are buying antibiotic and hormone free, grass fed, organic meats and poultry from local independently owned farms and ranches and not from huge Corporate funded ranches across the country. 

Proper Sausages, in a small storefront in Miami Shores is exactly that…a specialty butcher shop making a variety of homemade artisan sausages, customized burgers, cut to order slab bacon and fresh cuts of rib-eye, pork and chicken.  The chalkboard behind the cases proudly lists their suppliers:  Beef from Jackman Ranch, Clewiston, Florida, Poultry from Lake Meadows Farms, Ocoee, Florida and Pork from Berkshire Pigs fed a natural diet and raised on Eden Farms, Iowa.

Even the name, Proper Sausages, is the result of the husband and wife owners, Freddy & Danielle Kaufmann’s, frustration with the mass produced offerings of supermarkets and when lamenting the lack of authentic English sausages, one made with quality pork and bold, yet simple flavors, Danielle could only ask, “Where are the proper sausages?”. Hence the name.

On a recent evening, I joined other food writers for a tasting of the Proper Sausages sandwich menu, now available as a “grab and go” lunch or dinner option.  All of the over eight sandwiches are piled high on a doughy Portuguese English Muffin and are made from Proper Sausages selections of beef, pork, lamb and ground turkey. Also on hand was Tank Brewing to introduce their new craft beers and was a perfect beverage to wash down the sandwiches. 

A quick run-down of these tasty sandwiches sure to please:

1.     The Roast Beef- A Florida Wagyu eye round sliced thinly and topped with crisp lettuce, garden grown tomato and horseradish mayo.

2.     The Pulled Pork- Dry rubbed Carolina slow roasted Berkshire pork with an iceberg lettuce creamy cole slaw.

3.     The Corned Beef- Corned Wagyu beef brisket, house-made cabbage kraut and whole grain Mustard Royale. Perfect for St Patrick's Day! 

4.     Fried Chicken Turkey Burger- Ground Turkey thigh, mixed with buttermilk, tarragon, cayenne and fried and topped with iceberg lettuce slaw

5.     The Cheese Ham- Proper Sausages take on the Cheesesteak, but using smoked Berkshire ham, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

6.     The Coronation Chicken Salad- Joyce Farms chicken breast, mayo, coriander, cumin, curry, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, cranberries and fresh cilantro.

7.     The BBQ Tongue- If you were not introduced to the delicate flavor of tongue as a child, this sandwich may take a leap of faith to try.  Corned Wagyu beef tongue with BBQ sauce and iceberg slaw is an easy way to experience this tasty meat.

8.     The Proper Sausage Burger- Ground Florida Wagyu chuck, lettuce, tomato and Proper Sauce.

Of course, it is the sausages that are the signature offerings and there are multiple flavors of handcrafted sausages with fresh ingredients, spices and natural casings.  The most popular, The Proper, is a nicely spiced, peppery sage sausage, but others include Fig and Blue Cheese, Chorizo, The Lamb and Harissa, Black Truffle sausage and others.

Stop in for a sandwich, grab to take home some meat or sausages, a dozen Lake Meadow Farm fresh eggs, house-made bacon, pate, mustard, pickles and even a bone for your dog!.

Proper Sausages

9722 NE 2nd Ave

Miami Shores, FL

786 334 5734