-
Kielbasa
Total Project Time: 2 days
Kiełbasa is a Polish term that just means "sausage", and in Poland there are a number of different styles of Kielbasa. In English, however, Kielbasa refers to a particular style of Polish sausage.
The recipe we're featuring here is for Kiełbasa Wiejska - a garlic- and marjoram-laden pork and beef sausage. It is a sausage that is typically made in rural Poland, and is tied together at the ends using butcher twine to form a U-shape before smoking.
Oh, and one more fact - it's fucking delicious.1. Intro
2. Procure Equipment
3. Buy Ingredients
4. Prepare the Casing
5. Dice and Grind
6. Mix the Spices
7. Spice up the Meat
8. Taste Test
9. Stuff the Casing
10. Develople the Pellicle
11. Smoke the Kielbasa
12. Destination: Belly
-
2. Procure Equipment
Before Event
The day or multiple days before the event, procure the following equipment:
• Chef's Knife
• Cutting board
• Meat Grinder
• Sausage Stuffer
• Food Processor
• Food preparation gloves
• Butcher twine
• Smoker
• Mesquite Wood Chips
• Meat Thermometer
• Paper towels
• Butcher Paper or sealable plastic freezer bags
• Sharpie -
3. Buy Ingredients
Before Event
The day before the event, procure the following ingredients:
• 6 lbs. pork shoulder
• 2 lbs. pork back fat or pork belly
• 2 lbs. chuck roast or stew beef
• 1 head garlic
• 2 tsp. Instacure No. 1 curing salt
• 3 tbsp. Kosher Salt
• 2 tbsp. ground dry mustard
• 2 tbsp. dried marjoram
• 2 tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tbsp. Dextrose
• 1 ½ cups water
• 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 20 ft. Hog Casing or 15 ft. Beef Round Casing -
4. Prepare the Casing
Day 1
At least 30 minutes before stuffing the sausage, prepare the casing:
Add 4 cups cold water and 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar to a bowl.
Place the 20 ft. of Hog Casing or 15 ft. of Beef Round Casing in the water / vinegar mixture and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before using the casing. -
5. Dice and Grind
Day 1
Place 3 large mixing bowls and the Meat Grinder attachment in the freezer, in order to make sure the equipment is cold so the grinding will go quickly.
Place 1 ½ cups of water in a liquid measuring dish; place in the freezer to chill it before use.
Prepare the Meat Grinder for use.
Mince 1 head of garlic.
Dice the the chuck roast, and the remaining half of the pork shoulder into ½ inch pieces; place in the first chilled bowl. Mix half of the chopped garlic in with this meat. Grind through the Meat Grinder using the fine die into a chilled mixing bowl.
Dice the pork fat back or pork belly, and half of the pork shoulder into ½ inch pieces; place into third chilled bowl. Mix half of the chopped garlic in with this meat. Grind through the Meat Grinder using the coarse die into a chilled mixing bowl. -
6. Mix the Spices
Day 1
Measure out and mix together the following ingredients:
• 2 tsp. Instacure No. 1 curing salt
• 3 tbsp. Kosher Salt
• 2 tbsp. ground dry mustard
• 2 tbsp. dried marjoram
• 2 tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tbsp. Dextrose
Pour the spices into the 1 ½ cups ice water and stir for 30 seconds until the salts and sugar have dissolved. -
7. Spice up the Meat
Day 1
Pour the water-spice mixture over the ground meat. Using either a wooden paddle or hands covered with food preparation gloves, mix the spices into the meats.
Reserve a patty-size portion of meat for the Taste Test in the next step. Place the remaining meat in the freezer until stuffing the meat into casing. -
8. Taste Test
Day 1
Form the small amount of meat that was set aside previously into a patty, and saute. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed.
-
9. Stuff the Casing
Day 1
Prepare the Sausage Stuffer.
Press the meat through the stuffer until the ground meat just barely pokes through the end of the spout.
Push the open end of the Hog Casing or Beef Round Casing over the end of the stuffer, and continue to push the casing onto the stuffer until you reach the end of the casing. Tie a knot at the end of the casing.
Stuff the sausage into the casing until it reaches around 18 inches in length. Once you reach this length, halt the stuffing process, pull the casing away from the stuffer about 1 inch, and cut the casing to separate this sausage link. Tie the loose end of casing and push the remaining casing back over the stuffer.
For the individual sausage links, tie a knot in the open end of the casing of each link. Tie butcher twine around the knots at each end of the sausage link, leaving roughly 4 inches of twine between the ends of the Kielbasas. -
10. Develople the Pellicle
Day 1
Now we're going to ensure the sausage links develop a pellicle, which will allow the casing to properly capture the smoke. You'll find the exterior of the sausages will turn to a deeper color and will harden slightly.
Place the Kielbasa links on cooling racks atop a cookie sheet (to catch any drippings). Place in the refrigerator overnight. -
11. Smoke the Kielbasa
Day 2
Once the pellicle has formed, the Kielbasas are ready to be smoked.
Heat your Smoker to a temperature of 180F. Add mesquite Wood Chips and smoke until they reach an internal temperature of 150F. This will take roughly 1 hour, depending on your Smoker.
When finished, remove and place in an ice bath. -
12. Destination: Belly
Day 2
After they've cooled from the ice bath, pat the Kielbasas dry with paper towels. Wrap either in Butcher Paper or in plastic sealable freezer bags. Label each package Kielbasa: made May 22, 2013.
Refrigerate the Kielbasas for 24 hours before serving, in order to let the flavors meld. The Kielbasas will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer.
You can eat the Kielbasas cold, but they are best served heated, either grilled or baked, with sides of mustard and sauerkraut.
