If your Memorial Day cookout menu hasn’t firmed up yet, it’s still not too late to think about serving the finest handcrafted sausages Richmond has to offer. Fortunately, several butcheries around town will be cranking out their best this Memorial Day Weekend.  

“Sausage is easy to make but hard to make well,” says Belmont Butchery chef/charcutier Chris Mattera. Thankfully, there’s no better time than now to put his all-natural, preservative-free sausage to the test. For the holiday weekend, Belmont Butchery expects to churn out 110 to 170 pounds of what Mattera calls “the best sausage south of Jersey,” in the form of bratwurst, hot dogs and jalapeño-cheddar sausage. Belmont Butchery will be open through Saturday (closed Sunday and Memorial Day), with hours running from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday, and from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Sausage prices range from $10.99 to $13.99 per pound.

The Butcher at Bon Air is offering a particularly wide palette of sausages, including bratwurst, several types of Italian, kielbasa, garlic and sage, fresh smoked Cajun, and even a Jamaican jerk sausage. Owner Barry Sweeney recommends the Cajun variety for its “special five-pepper blend.” The Butcher at Bon Air will be open through Saturday (closed Sunday and Memorial Day), from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sausage prices range from $8.99 to 9.99 per pound.

At Nadolski’s Butcher Shop, the selection of all-beef hot dogs, chorizo, andouille, chicken with tarragon and white wine, bratwurst, kielbasa, and rabbit sausage will be made fresh each morning by owner Jonathan Nadolski. According to Nadolski, this week’s pork will be especially fresh: It was raised ethically on a free-range farm and given a diet of beechwood, roots, acorns and fresh grass. Nabolski’s is your best bet for last-minute sausage shopping: They’ll be open through Memorial Day, with hours running from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The sausage is $7.99 a pound.