Krakowska Sausage (Kielbasa Krakowska) has been always one of the top sellers in Poland. It is made in other European countries under names such as: Crakovska Sausage, Krakovska Sausage and so on. One of the top 5 Polish sausages, it derives its name from the old previous Polish capital city of Krakow (Crakow), one of the oldest cities in Poland and in Europe. In 1348 Polish King Kazimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) received permission from the Pope for establishing a university in Poland. That was the second oldest university in Central Europe - the first one was established in 1348 in Prague. The University has become known world wide as the Jagellonian University and continues today, as well eas ever. So is Krakowska Sausage.
If you follow the recipe you will see that the sliced sausage has visible chunks of meat in it. There is another popular Polish sausage called Ham Sausage (Kielbasa Szynkowa) which is very similar and it also incorporates solid chunks of meat (ham) inside. Solid chunks of meat retain natural meat juices and flavor better than ground meat. The story goes that Queen Victoria of England had her own very strict rules about making her sausages: 1.The meat had to be chopped, not ground to prevent natural juices from leaking out. 2. The casings had to be filled by hand, the mixture pressed down through a funnel with the thumbs
Krakowska Sausage recipe:
Meat (5 kg total, 11 lb):
A. 2.25 kg (4.95 lb) lean pork such as pork butt (no fat) or lean ham
B. 1.75 kg (3.85 lb) lower class pork, regular butt (30% fat)
C. 0.50 kg (1.10 lb) lower class pork from picnic or leg, may contain sinews and connective tissue
D. 0.50 kg (1.10 lb) beef
Salt – USA
Salt-90 g plus 12 g (2 teaspoons) of Cure #1(it contains 93.75% salt and 6.25% of sodium nitrite). This will give you 2% salt in your sausage and the nitrite content will be 150 ppm (parts per million) which is below the american maximum allowed amount of 156 ppm.
Salt - Europe
If you live in Europe use 100 g of Peklosol (it contains 99.40% salt plus 0.6% of sodium nitrite) and will give you also 2% salt in your sausage but your nitrite content will be 120 ppm which is below European maximum allowed amount of 150 ppm.
Pepper – 6.0 g (3 teaspoons). White pepper is often used as it does not show on slices.
Garlic – 2.5 g (1 clove). Up to 15 g (5 cloves) of garlic may be added if desired.
Corriander – 1.0 g (1 teaspoon)
Some may wonder that so little spices were used. Well, if you use good meats like the ones that go into this sausage and no chemicals you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t need much spices otherwise you will distort the natural flavor of meat and Krakowska Sausage.
Instructions:
1. Meat is cured. This imparts a characteristic color and flavor to the meat. It also eliminates possibility of food poisoning (botulism) when smoking. This is especially important when smoking at low temperatures and this sausage was originally smoked with cold smoke and not cooked.
Cut meat into 5 cm (2â€) pieces, add salt, sugar and Cure #1 (or Peklosol) and mix well together. Place in a suitable container, cover with a cloth to allow breathing and leave in a refrigerator for 48-72 hours.
2. Grind pork (regular butt, see point B) through 20 mm (3/4â€) plate. Donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t grind lean pork, leave as 2†cubes (previously cut for curing). Grind pork (see C) and beef through 2 mm (1/8â€) plate and then emulsify in a food processor adding 40-50% ice or cold water (in relation to the sausage mass). If no food processor available, grind 2 or 3 times through a 2 mm (1/8â€) plate. Add remaining ingredients when emulsifying.
3. Mix everything together until mixture becomes gluey (sticky).
4. Stuff firmly into 75 mm synthetic fibrous casings and form 35 – 40 cm (14-16â€) links (It is a large sausage). Tie the ends with butcherâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s twine and make a hanging loop on one end.
5. Hang it for 60 min at room temperature. You may place it into preheated to 54º C (130º F) smoker for 30 min without applying smoke yet.
6. Smoke it with hot smoke (about 60º C, 140º F) for about 110 – 130 min.
7. Poach sausages in water at 72º-75º C (161º-167º F) for about 55-75 min until the internal meat temperature becomes 68º – 70º C (154º – 158º F).
8. Shower with cold water for about 5 min then lower sausage temperature to below 12º C (53º F).
9. Store it in a refrigerator where it will keep very well.
Recipe courtesy
www.wedlinydomowe.com