Andouille and Cold Smoked Polish

[alblancher]

6 pounds of Andouille hanging on the left, 9 lbs Cold Smoked Polish on the right and 70 lbs green bacon on the bottom

Both sausages are going to dry and cure for 2 days in the fridge. 

The Andouille will be dried in the hot smoker for 2 hours at 120-130 and then we'll add a bit more wood to build the heat to 170. They will end up on a couple of slices of fresh french bread for poboys.

The cold smoke Polish and bacon will rest an additional day then dry in the smokehouse for a couple of hours.  We'll close up the smokehouse and let them go until we get a nice color.   You know what happens to the bacon.  The weather will be cool next week so the Polish will go in my drying/cure room for a while until they lose about 15% of their original weight.  I like the Polish sausage simmered in beer (maybe with onions) and served with a plate of Red Beans and Rice.

It's going to be a tasty weekend!

Al

 

[BGKYSmoker]

OH YEAH

DAT look nice

 

[rbranstner]

That should be some good stuff.

 

[fpnmf]

Looking good!!!

 

[beer-b-q]

Looks Good...

 

[scarbelly]

Looks good so far

 

[old poi dog]

Oh Yeah....

 

[les3176]

thats what i like to see a smoker full of sausage and bacon!!!  NICE.

 

[boykjo]

Did you grind the meat for the andouille or grind some and chop some.  I'm getting ready to make some andouille to go in some pickled eggs. Big-guys recipe. Good luck with the smoke and waitin for the finall Q

 

[alblancher]

I think the traditional Andouille recipe calls for finely chopped lean pork.  I had the grinder out to do breakfast sausage and the Polish so I just ran it through the 3/8 plate.  The difference between good Andouille and regular Andouille is the mix of spices.  I took some liberties with a traditional recipe so I want to do a taste test before posting it but I can say I added lots of minced garlic, cracked pepper, Cayenne, onion flakes, thyme and this time I added some hot smoked paprika. 

Thanks for the nice words guys.  I'll post some picks of everything going in the smokehouse.

 

[fpnmf]

I will be waiting to see the recipes.

I have seen a bunch for andouille and polish.

I haven't seen one calling for lean pork.

Very interesting and thanks!!

  Have a great day!!

  Craig

 

[alblancher]

This is a recipe from John Folse's book "The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine"    Chef Folse is one of the more respected and popular Chefs in South Louisiana.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning this style of food. 

He did say the original recipe calls for pork butt, pork shank and a small amount of pork fat.  The sausage should be slow smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane for as much as 7-8 hours at 175.  The casing used was beef middle casing producing a sausage about 1 1/2 inches thick. The original andouille probably came from the Brittany and Normandy areas of France

5 lbs pork butt

1/2 lb pork fat

1/2 cup minced garlic

1/4 c cracked black peppercorns

2 Tbsps cayenne

2 Tbsps salt

Cube pork into 1 1/2 inch cubes and grind through a 1/4 inch plate. 

If you decide not to grind cut the pork into 1/4 inch cubes

Combine all ingredients and stuff.

Smoke between 175 and 180 for 4 - 5 hours.

Another book I recommend is "The Picayune's Creole Cook Book   The Times Picayune" This book was originally published in 1901 but is available through most outlets.  You WILL have to adapt the recipes to today's techniques but it is a great resource and fun to read.  

 

[cowgirl]

Everything looks and sounds fantastic Al!  I love John Folse too... he's one of my favorites.

 

[fpnmf]

Thanks Al.. I am off to Amazon to buy another book!!

 Yaaaaaa!

  Craig

 

[mballi3011]

Well your sausage looks awesome there Al. I really do enjoy John Folse's book too.

 

[Bearcarver]

Look out!

Al's got some good lookin' meat coming, to be viewed!

I'm ready!

Bear

 

[alblancher]

Yea,

My friend Eman and his lovely wife are coming over Saturday morning to help get all this stuff in the smoker.   Looks like nice cool weather so I think a campfire and a few coctails are on the menu for Saturday night.   When Eman comes over one thing you can be assured of is that we eat well!

 

[Bearcarver]

Yea,

My friend Eman and his lovely wife are coming over Saturday morning to help get all this stuff in the smoker.   Looks like nice cool weather so I think a campfire and a few coctails are on the menu for Saturday night.   When Eman comes over one thing you can be assured of is that we eat well!

Sounds like a lot of fun----Two of my favorites chowing down until the cows come home (Sorry---that might only be a PA Dutch saying!).

Bear

 

[alblancher]

Well,  you guys asked for Q-view so you got it!

Bacon and Polish loaded in the smoker

On the Smoke

19 hours of cold smoke later Bob and I taking the bacon off the wire hangers

Cold Smoked Polish.  Next stop a couple of weeks in a cool room to dry out a bit

Lunch Saturday  Andouille fresh from the off-set smoker

Dinner Saturday was T-bones smoked for 3 hrs then seared over a very hot pecan wood fire.  They really absorbed the smoke and where  a great way to end a long day of drinking beer and talking with friends.   Almost forget a pick of Sheri's Hurricane Cornbread just before going into the oven.   Trust me it is phenomenal.

Dessert was Sheri's homemade blueberry poundcake.  We also fried it with a little butter the next morning for breakfast.  Rounded out the plate with some warmed up Andouille, Cheese Grits, and lots of hot coffee

 Thanks for looking, I'm headed into the kitchen to fight my wife for the last piece of that blueberry pound cake!

Al 

 

[DanMcG]

The bacon and sausage look great, but you guys look a little cold! thanks for sharing the q-view, the bacon has some great color!!!

Oh I frogot to add, really nice lookin smoke house Al