Kielbasa Cook temp, and sausage bloom questions.

[redwood carlos]

Hey guys, I made up a batch of Shannon127's kielbasa and when I was cooking it in the water bath I got the IT up to 170. 

How does this higher temp affect the outcome of the sausage?

Also how long and at what temps should I allow the sausage to bloom?

(And since I was not having any luck searching) What is the reasoning for the bloom time?

Thanks,

Carlos

 

[dward51]

Blooming is just a fancy way to say cooling them at room temperature. 

Generally after a hot water bath, you will "shower" or dip them with cold water to bring the temp down to around 110* or less.  The reason for this is to prevent shrinkage. Then hang them to "bloom" at room temperature for about 3 hours. Sausage will darken back up during the blooming process. My school of thought is to then hold them in the fridge at least overnight or a little longer as everything seems to taste better the next day!  Actually I'm sure there is some technical reason for the flavors tending to meld with time.

PS - you only want to do this with meat that has cure in it.  Un-cured meat will be outside the danger temperature zone for too long.  If you are making sausages without cure, then it's a "fresh" sausage and should be refrigerated until cooking and then served immediately.   The reason I add this is I have seen recipes for Kielbasa that do and do not have cure.

I see Shannon127's recipe does use cure#1 so you are fine.