Kielbasa...

[Mr Walleye]

I just finished a 60 lb batch of Kielbasa in my home built unit with a Bradley smoke generator. I had lots of room and feel confident I can do a batch as large as 100 lbs. The recipe is more or less from Rytek Kutas's book "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" with a couple of tweaks. I mix it in 20 lb amounts simply because it's easier to mix that way.

10 lbs pork
10 lbs beef

4 cups water
10 Tb salt
2 Tb sugar
4 tsp cure #1
2 Tb coarse black pepper (heaping)
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp marjoram (heaping)
4 tsp cayenne
3 cups wheat crumb

Stuffed in hog casings and into the fridge over night. In the morning into the smoker at 130 degrees for 1 hour, then turned up to 170 degrees and applied 3 hours of hickory. Once the IT hit 135 degrees I put a hot plate in the smoker wit a 3 qt pot of water on it to produce steam. This worked fairly well. It shortened my overall time by about 1.5 to 2 hours. I want to experiment with this a little more. The sausage turned out fantastic. Here's a few pictures...


Click to enlarge










Mike

[Gizmo]

Hey Mike,
It just so happens that I have some new open storage space here and would be happy to temporarily store that fine looking Kielbasa. 
After I finish eating it, I'll let you know how it all tasted.   ;D  8)

I'll start the saurkraut.  ;)

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Mike;

The Kielbasa looks fantastic. How in the world did you cool the sausage after taking them out of the smoker?

[pensrock]

Looks great Mike.  :)

Whats the wheat crumb for?
I use the same recipe but do not remember that ingredient. (I know you added the cayenne also).

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Mike;

The Kielbasa looks fantastic. How in the world did you cool the sausage after taking them out of the smoker?

Habs

I have a full size laundry tub and a set of cabinets (kinda like a kitchen) in a finished storage room in the basement. It works well for this. The links are about 22 to 24 inches long.

The other option I thought of was to through them in a snow bank. We've had about 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow and -30 temps... wouldn't take long.  :D

The steam part was interesting and the IT of the sausage definitely comes up quicker. I still want to play with it a bit to get it as efficient as possible.

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

Looks great Mike.  :)

Whats the wheat crumb for?
I use the same recipe but do not remember that ingredient. (I know you added the cayenne also).

Hi Pens

It is a great recipe with the added cayenne isn't it!  ;) Makes for tasty snacks!

The Wheat Crumb is a binder that I get here at a local sausage supply store. I used to use powdered milk but this works just as well for a binder and is much more cost effective. I'm not sure if Wheat Crumb is more of a local product here in Southern Saskatchewan or not. Southern Saskatchewan is a major wheat producer so that may have a bearing on it.

Mike

[Smoking Duck]

Wow, Mike!  That kielbasa looks awesome.  You know, you oughta think about moving out here. There is a huge Polish contingent close to South Bend (about 15 minutes to my west).  You could make a killing here selling that kielbasa.  On the plus side, we get some cold weather here but nothing quite like you get.  Wouldn't it be nice to actually feel your fingers and toes during a winter  ;D

[pensrock]

The Wheat Crumb is a binder that I get here at a local sausage supply store. I used to use powdered milk but this works just as well for a binder and is much more cost effective.

OK, I did not notice that you excluded the powdered milk. That makes perfect sense.

[Habanero Smoker]

.....The other option I thought of was to through them in a snow bank. We've had about 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow and -30 temps... wouldn't take long.  :D

That would work, just watch out for the yellow snow. :)

[Smoking Duck]

.....The other option I thought of was to through them in a snow bank. We've had about 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow and -30 temps... wouldn't take long.  :D

That would work, just watch out for the yellow snow. :)

;D ;D ;D  Hee Hee

[Piker]

the last batch I did just layed them in the snow on my deck,they cooled off real quick [I left the thermometer in] and in 25 mins. they were resting in the fridge. Weather was 25 below celsius. worked great.

[Up In Smoke]

man that looks great!!!
i am a ways from doing sausage, but i have ordered the sausage making/stuffing dvd from the sausage maker.
i don't have anybody near to instruct so i will dive in and learn....
unless mike wants to hold a class, i could fly out learn a little then i would be better off,
and don't worry work does not bother me at all.......i can sit and watch if for hours :D :D ;D

[Mr Walleye]

Smokinrookie

That's the only way! Just dive right in!  ;)

Seriously, if you do some reading both here and online you won't have any problems. Rytek Kutas's book "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" really is a must. Not only does it have a lot of great recipes in it, it also goes into great detail on all aspects of making sausage. Definitely a good investment.

Mike

[Up In Smoke]

thanks mike,
i did invest in the book, but i thought that it wouldn't hurt for a chance to get my eyes on the process.
that is why i ordered the video.....certainly can't hurt.

                                                                jerry

[Mr Walleye]

You're right Jerry. Certainly if you have never watched sausage being made it  won't hurt for sure. Keep us posted how your making out with it.

Mike