Kulen - Serbian / Slovenian style

[butcherfamily]

I did a search and came up with nothing on the forum, so I figured I would post a question and see if there is anyone on the forum who has any experience with making it.

A friend of mine is Serbian and he had been telling me how much he enjoys kulen, and even being from an old world sausage making family, I had never heard of it.  So, we are making it today.

I'm using this recipe but not fermenting it (this time).  Instead of 2 tbsp of each of the paprikas, I'm doing 2 of the smoked and 4 of the half sharp (hot).

So, has anyone ever made Kulen?

Here's what it looked like after stuffing in hog middles.  Its in the smoker now.  I also stuffed some in 30 mm casing just to test it.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Kulen.pdf

kulen.jpg

• butcherfamily
• Feb 4, 2013

 

[butcherfamily]

3 hours into smoking.  Definitely one of the oddest looking sausages I have ever stuffed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulen

2013-02-04 15.11.33.jpg

• butcherfamily
• Feb 4, 2013

 

[smokingcrocop]

Did you have any luck? How did it turn out? I'm Croatian and make almost everything from there. It must be done with a cold smoke and takes about a year

 

[butcherfamily]

Did you have any luck? How did it turn out? I'm Croatian and make almost everything from there. It must be done with a cold smoke and takes about a year

On the first round, the flavors were there, but not really Kulen.  That is what my friend said.  So I did a little more research and my friend went to Serbia in the mean time and spoke to a friend of his who makes it.  As you said, it is normal to smoke it for months.  They let it dry in the smokehouse every day. Smoke a day, let dry over night. This goes on for weeks and months.

So having that info, I tried again.  I did the same thing for 4 days, smoked and cooled, smoked and cooled.  It turned out pretty good and my friend was happy at the result.  It will never be the same due to how long they do it (just like you said) and the difference in the climate.

Thanks for asking.

 

[smokingcrocop]

Very cool. Will you share your recipe?

 

[butcherfamily]

I would be more than happy to, but I am not able to find it at the moment. It was in February of 2014 that we made it last.  My friend had all the ingredients listed in Serbian and I am not sure if I have a copy.  I will look and if I don't have it, I will contact him.

We ended up making 25 pounds. Here is the outcome:

kulen.jpg

• butcherfamily
• Mar 23, 2015

 

[smokingcrocop]

Looks really nice. I speak read and write serbian so that's not a prob for me. Thanks

 

[bkleinsmid]

Is it the Len Poli recipe you listed at the begining of your thread?

Brad

 

[butcherfamily]

 
Is it the Len Poli recipe you listed at the begining of your thread?

Brad

No, it is not.

I will definitely work on getting it this week.

 

[smokingcrocop]

Thanks