Homemade Sausage Making

I`m making two different Polish sausages- one is a basic `kielbasa` I`ve made many times before with slight variations. The second is a new one for me. Many of you are familiar with it (and some have made it). It`s called, "Kiełbasa Krakowska Wędzona"(Smoked Krakow Sausage), a larger diameter meat sausage that is traditionally served sliced, cold-cut style. My wife`s Polish relatives (from near Krakow) rave on about this product, so I`m up for trying it. An aunt gave me a list of the ingredients and methods. I`m using the US cure#1 (not the Polish Peklosól .6%), but other than that, I`ve tried to using the same ingredients. They (the Polish in-laws, that is) say the pork is `better` tasting in Poland (less water, more fat), so I`ll do my best using quality US pork...

Three Days Ahead....

I need a little over 6 pounds of very lean pork for this 11-pound recipe, which will be cut into .75" (19mm) cubes.
I have 10 pounds of a nice pork loin.

Cut into cubes and measured out...


To these cubes, I`m adding a portion of the cure, kosher salt and sugar.


Well-mixed and ready to `cure` in the fridge for several days...


On to the Kielbasa
I`m sticking with a pretty basic kielbasa recipe- this one I got from here:
http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-re ... hot-smoked

...with the ingredients pretty common to most recipes. Some leave out the sugar and marjoram and/or add mustard seeds. So long as there`s garlic, salt & pepper, it`ll make a good sausage...


The lean pork is coarse-ground (12mm plate used):


On the `fatty` pork & fat, I used a finer plate (4.5mm):


To this, I added the ingredients and about 1 cup of ice water. I mixed the dry ingredients into the water first to help improve distribution:


After a very thorough mixing (resulting in a sticky paste), I stuffed the meat mixture into 32-34mm pork casings. These will reside in the fridge until I`m finished with the OTHER sausage so I can smoke them together.


Now, the Krakowska...

So now that the pork loin cubes have been curing for a few days, I`m ready to start the process. First the ingredients: very similar list to a garlic bologna, with the addition of marjoram...


First grind: Some lean beef (3mm plate)


Next up: grinding fatty pork...


I mixed these two meats together after the initial grind, and then fed it through twice more using the fine plate. The result is a very silky-smooth, uniform paste that mimics the emulsifying effect of using a processor:


To this smooth paste, I added the `curing` cubes...


...and the spices.


A thorough mixing creates a desirable sticky meat mass...


Onward to stuffing & smoking:

Nice Sunday morning outside so I set up my Kirby cannon and loaded it up with 11 pounds of the Krakowska meat mixture:


To accommodate the large chunks of meat in the mixture, I used the largest stuffing tube I have- the 41mm howitzer.


Ten minutes later, I had 2-1/2 chubs, 3" in diameter, the biggies about 14" in length. I used hog rings to seal the chubs.


INTO the SMOKER:

Hung the 2.5 chubs and the kielbasa in the smoker. I used a couple of bacon hangers to help distribute the load and minimize touching of the links.
They seem to work pretty well. Using a pellet blend in the a-maze-n smoker. Applied smoke after the chubs & links dried first (low heat for about an hour).
Just started the smoke:


I anticipate this will be a 6-8 hour (possibly longer) smoke.

In the Smoker:

After nearly 9 hours in the smoker. Beginning temp of 135°F & slowly ramped it up to 170° over the course of the day/evening.
Here's a peek about 5 hours in...


A temp check indicated after nearly 9 hours the IT was about 135° on the kielbasa, 124° on the krakowska. Rather than wait until 3:00am for them to finish, I pulled the kielbasa first & plunged them into a poaching bath (165°) and less than 20 minutes later, 154° IT was reached.

Kielbasa blooming post-bath...


The Krakowska took a wee-bit longer. I could only fit one of the big chubs into the tub at a time. These took about 30-35 minutes to hit the desired internal temp.
All 3 blooming. They picked up nice color during the long smoke...


All went into the fridge overnight to firm up.

NEXT DAY: Sample time!

The Kielbasa- I was very pleased with this batch. It's only 5 pounds (about a dozen big links), so they'll go quickly around here.
Moist, juicy with good smokey, garlicky taste. Maybe a bit more garlic could've been added, but overall, a nicely-balanced Polish dog...


The Krakowska - Here's the one I was anxious to try. I thinly sliced the smaller chub to reveal this...


I was pleased to see a nice even texture with very few pockets of air. The solid chunks of loin are apparent. It slices beautifully. Not bad for the only non-Polish person in my household!
I may need to break out the slicer when attacking the larger chubs.


Taste? I'd call this an 'Upper Class" cold-cut. It has that spicy, meaty taste of a real good bologna, but with an herbal note. Subtle, not overpowering.
Sort of a cross between canadian bacon and garlic bologna. Very tasty! Fries up great, too-although my Polish relatives would shudder at the concept of frying the stuff.
I'll slice & pack this chub up for sandwiches, snacks, etc.

Kevin

That is first class work by any standard.

I'll say it is! That is certainly first class work. Kevin, could we get you to make a statement or two about the importance of keeping the temperature down during the various stages of production. Your comments? Thanks pal.

Because this particular post contains such clearly-outlined and valuable learning tools as well as "phantasic" photo works, I`m leaving it in the "Sausages" forum instead of moving it to the photo gallery. Kevin stated above that the recipe is that of our very own Stanley Marianski. For our members` clarification and convenience, I`m posting Stan`s recipe here:

1000 g (2.20 lb.)pork
18 g. (3 tspn.) salt
2.5 g. (1/2 tspn.) Cure #1
2.5 g. (1/2 tspn.) sugar
2.0 g. (1 tspn.) pepper
1.0 g. (2/3 tspn.) marjoram
3.5 g. (1 clove) garlic
100 ml. (3/8 cup) cold water

Instructions:
Grind the lean meat with a 3/8" grinder plate and the fat meat through 3/16" plate. Mix everything together adding cold water. Stuff mixture into 32 - 36 mm hog casings and form links 12 - 13" 30 - 35 cm. Hang on smoke sticks for 1-2 hours at room temperature OR place sausages in a preheated smoker at 130° F (54° C) with draft dampers fully open.When casings are fully dry apply heavy smoke and keep draft dampers 1/4 open. Smoke for 60-90 minutes. Keep on increasing the smoking temperature until you reach 160 - 170° F (71-76° C) range. Sausage is done when the internal temperature reaches 154° F (68° C). Remove from smoker and shower with water or immerse sausages in water. Store in refrigerator.

NorCalPastorKevin, you`ve outdone yourself on this one. Again, thanks for your clearly defined educational instructions. Our members will be making this sausage until it is coming out of their ears!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Wow, wow, wow!

Several things to say about this, and all positive!

First off, your presentation of the prep is great! Your pics of the cubed meat show that it's truly COLD! Your pictures are outstanding!

Finally, your finished product makes me want to lick my monitor!

Charlie

His soft frozen meat cuts perfectly. I like to freeze the fresh boned meat, then put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning it is just right to cut.

Excellent post! Krakowska has been on my list of sausages to make for a while. Great pictures too man!

Kevin, is pork loin what they told you to use? Not lean hind quarter (ham)?

Chuckwagon wrote:I'll say! That is certainly first class work. Kevin, could we get you to make a statement or two about the importance of keeping the temperature down during the various stages of production. Your comments? Thanks pal.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Thanks, CW.

When I make sausages, there's two things I'm pretty adamant about:cleanliness & temp-control. I won't go into the whole John Wesley, "Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness..." aspect of keeping a clean, hygienic prep station & equipment, but with regard to temps, I try to do the following:

Keep all meats WELL-CHILLED; often near the frozen point for clean, efficient (no smearing) grinding. This includes before AND after the grind. All meats go into the fridge whenever they're not in use.
Chilling the grinder & stuffer: I place the stuffer (the little grizzly) and the 'business end' of the grinder in the fridge 30 minutes prior to the use. I NEVER put them in the freezer. Extreme cold does harm to certain metals and I certainly don`t want flakes of chipped metal getting into the meat.
The whole point of these efforts is to minimize the exposure to harmful bacteria. Over 40°F bacteria starts to grow rapidly. So for the health and well-being of my family and those who eat the products I make, these steps are essential.

Kevin

atcNick wrote:Kevin, is pork loin what they told you to use? Not lean hind quarter (ham)?

Nick, all I was told was to use lean, fresh pork for that part of the recipe. I'm sure a lean ham would do just fine. These loins were on sale for a great price.

Kevin

Kevin, as always, a fine fine job with excellent results. I really admire your meticulous approach to each and every undertaking. But I hope you don't mind if I make a couple of of observations about the Krakowska. If you had posted your recipe on the Polish site of WD, you would be questioned whether the sausage can in fact be called Krakowska. The latter is usually made from lean fresh ham and some lean front shoulder cuts. If you would be making it based on the classification of the meat used, some loin meat would probably be acceptable. But if a sausage is made entirely from loins, it's called loin sausage (Kiełbasa polędwicowa). Polish sausages differ from each other in very minimal ways but bear different names. Two sausages might contain the same spices and meat but be ground differently will have different names. Two other sausages will differ only slightly in the proportions of the different classes of meat, but will be recognized as being different.

There are a number of Krakowska variations out there. Most of the versions ask for 90% lean meat and only 10% of the finely ground or emulsified pork (of beef). There are also some semi-dry Krakowska recipes that ask for a small amount of cubed fat as well.

And frying an elegant sausage like that? In medieval Kraków they would put you in the middle of the town square and douse you with cold water all day!

redzed wrote:Kevin, as always, a fine fine job with excellent results. I really admire your meticulous approach to each and every undertaking. But I hope you don't mind if I make a couple of of observations about the Krakowska. If you had posted your recipe on the Polish site of WD, you would be questioned whether the sausage can in fact be called Krakowska. The latter is usually made from lean fresh ham and some lean front shoulder cuts. If you would be making it based on the classification of the meat used, some loin meat would probably be acceptable. But if a sausage is made entirely from loins, it's called loin sausage (Kiełbasa polędwicowa). Polish sausages differ from each other in very minimal ways but bear different names. Two sausages might contain the same spices and meat but be ground differently will have different names. Two other sausages will differ only slightly in the proportions of the different classes of meat, but will be recognized as being different.

That's insightful information regarding this sausage, Red. I do appraciate it. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage as I based this version off an old recipe that had fairly broad definitions (i.e. 'lean pork' with no reference to anatomical source).

redzed wrote:There are a number of Krakowska variations out there. Most of the versions ask for 90% lean meat and only 10% of the finely ground or emulsified pork (of beef). There are also some semi-dry Krakowska recipes that ask for a small amount of cubed fat as well.

This version was 55% lean loin, 35% fatty pork shoulder, 10% lean beef.

redzed wrote:And frying an elegant sausage like that? In medieval Kraków they would put you in the middle of the town square and douse you with cold water all day!

Guess I better enjoy it as is, with no further cooking required!

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
The pork does not taste better but different in Europe, last time I was there I noticed the difference too.
It all comes down to what ever they feed them. The roast pork I ate came from a farm shop with free ranging pigs. No comparison in taste with the "HIGH YIELD, QUICK KILL, MORE DOLLARS" set-ups.
In Europe all the high turn-over piggeries use the same feed as in the USA and Australia due to world price indicators.
Slob feeding is forbidden now but from experience, pigs thrive on a diet of reject fresh cooked vegetables, fruit, acorns, grass etc etc but it's open to abuse again.
Regards,
Jan.

There is fine traditional recipe for Krakowska on this site. Probably the best way to describe this sausage in English is a type of "Polish ham sausage". When I get some time, I will translate a couple more Krakowska recipes from the Polish WD site.

Wow, what a tutorial!!!!!!! I am flabbergasted. Thank you for all that information!!!!!!!!
Jan.

Well, I got all the chubs sliced on my little waring model. Next will be to sort this load into handy vac-seal packets for 'distribution.' Not all is to be vac-sealed. Some will go into the fridge in a ziploc for immediate use. I'm going to give some to co-workers, neighbors & any wayward vegan who crosses my path.

Kevin