I’m making two different Polish sausages— one is a basic ‘kielbasa’ I’ve made many times before with slight variations. The second is a new one for me. Many of you are familiar with it (and some have made it). It’s called, “Kiełbasa Krakowska Wędzona (Smoked Krakow Sausage), a larger diameter meat sausage that is traditionally served sliced, cold-cut style. My wife’s Polish relatives (from near Krakow) rave on about this product, so I’m up for trying it. An aunt gave me a list of the ingredients and methods. I’m using the US cure#1 (not the Polish Peklosól .6%), but other than that, I’ve tried to using the same ingredients. They (the Polish in-laws, that is) say the pork is ‘better’ tasting in Poland (less water, more fat), so I’ll do my best using quality US pork…
Three Days Ahead….
I need a little over 6 pounds of very lean pork for this 11-pound recipe, which will be cut into .75” (19mm) cubes.
I have 10 pounds of a nice pork loin.
Cut into cubes and measured out…
To these cubes, I’m adding a portion of the cure, kosher salt and sugar.
Well-mixed and ready to ‘cure’ in the fridge for several days…
On to the Kielbasa
I’m sticking with a pretty basic kielbasa recipe, with the ingredients pretty common to most recipes. Some leave out the sugar and marjoram and/or add mustard seeds. So long as there’s garlic, salt & pepper, it’ll make a good sausage…
The lean pork is coarse-ground (12mm plate used):
On the ‘fatty’ pork & fat, I used a finer plate (4.5mm):
To this, I added the ingredients and about 1 cup of ice water. I mixed the dry ingredients into the water first to help improve distribution:
After a very thorough mixing (resulting in a sticky paste), I stuffed the meat mixture into 32-34mm pork casings. These will reside in the fridge until I’m finished with the OTHER sausage so I can smoke them together.
Now, the Krakowska…
So now that the pork loin cubes have been curing for a few days, I’m ready to start the process. First the ingredients: very similar list to a garlic bologna, with the addition of marjoram…
First grind: Some lean beef (3mm plate)
Next up: grinding fatty pork…
I mixed these two meats together after the initial grind, and then fed it through twice more using the fine plate. The result is a very silky-smooth, uniform paste that mimics the emulsifying effect of using a processor:
To this smooth paste, I added the ‘curing’ cubes…
…and the spices.
A thorough mixing creates a desirable sticky meat mass…
Next up:
Stuffing the casings & into the smoker.
More to come…
Kevin
Three Days Ahead….
I need a little over 6 pounds of very lean pork for this 11-pound recipe, which will be cut into .75” (19mm) cubes.
I have 10 pounds of a nice pork loin.
Cut into cubes and measured out…
To these cubes, I’m adding a portion of the cure, kosher salt and sugar.
Well-mixed and ready to ‘cure’ in the fridge for several days…
On to the Kielbasa
I’m sticking with a pretty basic kielbasa recipe, with the ingredients pretty common to most recipes. Some leave out the sugar and marjoram and/or add mustard seeds. So long as there’s garlic, salt & pepper, it’ll make a good sausage…
The lean pork is coarse-ground (12mm plate used):
On the ‘fatty’ pork & fat, I used a finer plate (4.5mm):
To this, I added the ingredients and about 1 cup of ice water. I mixed the dry ingredients into the water first to help improve distribution:
After a very thorough mixing (resulting in a sticky paste), I stuffed the meat mixture into 32-34mm pork casings. These will reside in the fridge until I’m finished with the OTHER sausage so I can smoke them together.
Now, the Krakowska…
So now that the pork loin cubes have been curing for a few days, I’m ready to start the process. First the ingredients: very similar list to a garlic bologna, with the addition of marjoram…
First grind: Some lean beef (3mm plate)
Next up: grinding fatty pork…
I mixed these two meats together after the initial grind, and then fed it through twice more using the fine plate. The result is a very silky-smooth, uniform paste that mimics the emulsifying effect of using a processor:
To this smooth paste, I added the ‘curing’ cubes…
…and the spices.
A thorough mixing creates a desirable sticky meat mass…
Next up:
Stuffing the casings & into the smoker.
More to come…
Kevin
