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disco

Epic Pitmaster
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Oct 31, 2012
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Canadian Rockies
I had neighbours who made Kielbasa. It is a Polish sausage. I have always loved it and have tried to make it several times to improve the final product to what I wanted.

In doing my research, a lot of modern recipes call for additives to improve texture. However, I wanted a more traditional sausage and asked for family recipes from people I knew. Wow! Some people are really fantatical about their Kielbasa.

I have incorporated many of the ideas I got into my efforts and I thank them all!

My Kielbasa is made out of pork. I would normally use pork shoulder which has a perfect fat/lean blend for the sausage. However, for this attempt, pork loin was on sale and I had some save pork fat so I used pork loin with 10% added fat. This gives a good result but the product was a little paler than pork shoulder.

An important thing to know about making any sausage is to keep the meat cold at all times. Make sure you have taken the meat right out of the refrigerator and to put it back in the refrigerator if you are not doing something with it. If you don’t, the texture of your sausage will be pure.

I started by cubing my pork to one inch cubes except for 10% of the weight I cubed to 1/4 inch cubes. Weigh the meat and set the 1/4 inch cubes aside.

I ground the one inch cubes through the medium plate of my grinder.

I put the meat in the fridge for 1/2 hour to chill.

Kielbasa 01.jpg


While the meat is chilling, for each kilogram of meat used, mix the following into a slurry:

  • 80 ml ice water
  • 25 ml skim milk powder
  • 10 ml kosher salt
  • 10 ml garlic powder
  • 5 ml coarse ground pepper
  • 4 ml marjoram
  • 2 ml sugar
  • 2.5 grams (2 ml) Prague powder #1
If you are metrically challenged, make the slurry out of the following per pound of meat:

  • 3 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 tablespoon skim milk powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/5 teaspoon Prague powder #1
Spread the ground pork on a tray and poke holes in it with your fingers. Pour the slurry over the pork.

Kielbasa 02.jpg


Mix the pork with the slurry by folding half the meat toward you and pressing flat. Rotate the tree one quarter turn and fold half it toward you and pressing flat. Continue folding and pressing for 3 minutes. Put the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Put the mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed for three to four minutes until the mixture is almost pasty. Add the reserved 1/4 inch cubes and mix.

Put in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour to chill.

Kielbasa 03.jpg


I put the mixture in my sausage stuffer and put 8 feet of 35 mm (1 1/2 inch) (collagen casings on the horn and stuffed the casings.

I squeezed a flat spot every foot on the casings and cut at the flat spot. I put the pork in the fridge for 2 hours to chill.

Kielbasa 04.jpg


My smoker’s lowest temperature is 165 F (74 C). So, I cold smoked the Kielbasa for 4 hours in my barbecue grill using my A-Maze-N tube smoker. I filled it with pellets and lit it. It smoldered for 4 hours in my unlit grill with the sausage in it. I put the sausage in the fridge overnight to chill.

Kielbasa 05.jpg


The next day I put it in the oven at 140 F (60 C) for one hour, 150 F (60 C), and then I put it in my smoker at 165 F (74 C) for one hour, and increased the temperature to 170 F (77 C) and smoked for 1 hour. I increased the temperature to 180 F (82 C) and smoked until the temperature was 155 F (68 C).

Kielbasa 06.jpg


I plunged the Kielbasa into ice water for 10 minutes to stop the cooking and left it on the counter for a couple of hours. Refrigerate and freeze any that won’t be eaten in the next week.

Kielbasa 07.jpg


Kielbasa 09.jpg




The Verdict

This is very reminiscent of what I ate from our friends. It has a nice bight, a ham taste and wonderful garlic notes. I have arrived at my Kielbasa recipe!

Disco
 
D, Good looking Kielbasa, it looks spot on. Thanks for the recipe,I will hopefully remember to use it on my next batch! like
 
Phenomenal, great post disco! Also thanks so much for the recipe!

Thanks, Justin! It is a pretty basic old style recipe.

looks tasty disco, thanks for converting the metrics, I'm still a bit of a caveman!!

Thanks, Jim! You need to live in Canada for awhile. We are all over the map with measures.
 
Very nice. I follow a similar recipe. Piping into 76mm (3") fibrous casings and smoking, makes a great Cold cut sliced thin...JJ
 
Very nice. I follow a similar recipe. Piping into 76mm (3") fibrous casings and smoking, makes a great Cold cut sliced thin...JJ
Thanks, JJ! I have done it in fibrous casings too but was going for traditional this time!
 
Looks awesome Disco. I love kielbasa. Never would have thought of the 1/4 cubes not ground. Is that a texture thing?
 
Hmmm ... My wife’s family from Poland + killer/homemade Kielbasa recipe = justification for new toys!
Thanks!
 
Looks Great from the Den, Disco!!
I'm proud of you----You blew right by me on the Things you've been mastering!!
Like.

Bear
 
disco, your kielbasa looks just great! The pick of sliced sausage is a money shot! Looks very juicy. I love kielbasa and make it time to time. LIKE!

Thanks for the kind words and the like!

Looks awesome Disco. I love kielbasa. Never would have thought of the 1/4 cubes not ground. Is that a texture thing?

Thanks so much. Yes the 1/4 inch cubes are a texture/appearance thing. You get a nice little hammy piece when you bite and a touch of texture to the colours.

Hmmm ... My wife’s family from Poland + killer/homemade Kielbasa recipe = justification for new toys!
Thanks!

When I asked for old recipes, I was shocked at how many different varieties there were. They all looked great! Polish food rocks!
 
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Looks fantastic Disco!
I always like to keep at least a few links of kielbasa in the freezer, cause it goes with so many dishes.
Al
 
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