Krautwurst & Kielbasa: Many pix

[Kevin A]

I thought I'd try something different. I made a 2-gallon batch of homemade sauerkraut about a month ago and 30 days later, it's ready to eat. Good stuff! It goes great with all kinds of sausage. But I wanted to make sausage with it...


I came across this recipe for 'Krautwurst' on Len Poli's site and thought it sounded quite good.

So here goes...
To about 4 pounds of ground pork, I add these ingredients:


I had ten pounds of pork shoulder, so I ground up the whole thing. Medium blade...


To the 4-pounds of pork, I ground in the frozen bacon (sorry...blurry action shot)...


Next comes the sauerkraut...


To this, I added all the spices—all were finely-ground except for the caraway & mustard seeds. This all got nicely mixed and I then put it in the fridge until I was ready to stuff. No Cure as these are 'fresh' sausages; i.e. no smoke.

With the other six pounds of ground pork, I made a traditional Polish kielbasa using plenty of garlic, salt, pepper, marjoram and Cure#1.
Using 38-40mm natural casings, I made two long ropes that barely fit my smoker & poacher. These are headed from my smoker...


I used my little 5-pound grizzly stuffer for all; Not as fast as the Kirby, but it still does the job nicely.
The krautwurst all stuffed into 5-7" links...


These will go on a rack and rest overnight...


Take a peek at the kielbasa. After about 2 hours in, its getting some good color. using oak pellets on this smoke...


After two more hours, it was time to pull the kielbasa and plunge them into the poacher...


At 165° it shouldn't take long for the kielbasa to hit the 152° mark. They started the bath with an IT of 135°


20 minutes later, I pulled the kielbasa & plunged them into an ice bath. Bloom time now...


We decided to go ahead & have the krautwurst for dinner tonight. Sauteed gently in olive oil in butter...


Put together a nice cheesy potato casserole to accompany the wurst...


First impressions of the krautwurst: a very juicy, flavorful sausage! Caraway a dominant flavor, but onion and garlic are there too! The kraut adds a nice, unexpected crunch. Nice texture, too. My wife says its 'like eating a reuben sandwich without the rye bread." Swiss cheese would go good with it. If you enjoy sauerkraut and want to try something out of the ordinary, you should try these! Dark beer with it a real plus!

Kevin

[3rensho]

Great project.  Haven't tried Krautwurst yet.  Good idea.  A dunkel Hefeweizen would go well with that money shot.

[Sam3]

I learn so much from Kevin that it allows me to jump into making new goodies without fear.
Great job Kevin!

[mikecorn.1]

That looks great.


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[muebe]

A Reuben sausage.... Very cool!

Looks great Kevin and your post covers everything to where even I could make them ;)

[Smoker John]

That looks really good

[Kevin A]

I finally got around to trying the kielbasa.
Had it sliced, fried up & served with some cooked apples, hot German-style potato salad & some sauerkraut.  :)

Kielbasa turned out nice, juicy & garlicky, and the oak adds a 'mellower' smokey taste.
You know you have enough garlic in the kielbasa when you can smell it even before you open the fridge door.
Boys & wife said it tasted great, so that's half the battle won right there....

Kevin

[SouthernSmoked]

WOW!!

You done it again....Great job Kevin!!

[SiFumar]

It all looks amazing!  Did I happen to miss the cheesy potato casserole recipe? :)

[pensrock]

both sausages look great.  :)

[Kevin A]

It all looks amazing!  Did I happen to miss the cheesy potato casserole recipe? :)

Simple...
EasyCheesy casserole: 3-4 peeled & thinly (1/8") sliced russets, toss in bowl with plenty of kosher salt, black pepper & onion powder; Thinly slice & chop medium onion, lightly brown 2 slices of cubed bacon, fry onion in fat until barely translucent. Toss bacon & onion with potatoes. Layer a microwave-proof 9x9 dish bottom with potato slice mixture. Microwave on high for 4-6 minutes. While potatoes are in microwave, beat together 6-8 eggs with 2 TBL half&half, 2 chopped green scallions, 1/2 cup shredded cheese & a dash or two of tabasco. Take potatoes for microwave, pour egg mixture over the top. Add a dash of salt & pepper to eggs and pile on more cheese if desired. Bake in 350° oven for about 30 minutes. Top should be turning golden brown & puffy. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Add a dash of Sriracha sauce if desired. Done in less than an hour.  ;)

Kevin

[ACW3]

I make kielbasa from time to time.  That Krautwurst looks killer.  That just got added to my to-do list.  I had some commercially made brats with kraut in them that were pretty good.  They came from Amish country, so they are not the typical "commercial" brats.  One of my Wisconsin neighbors told me he used to get the kraut brats back home all the time, and really loved them.  I know I have at least one outlet for mine when I make them.  Thanks for posting.

Art

[slowpoke]

Really GOOD lookin.I'm dreuling here.