sausage

I've used a natural hog casing. Try this website, several hundred recipes: http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm If you like garlic, try making the fresh garlic sausage. YUM!

Also check the sausage section, just a little further down the page.

let us know how it turns out- with pics. A good polska kielbasa is on my list to try.
I foound this recipe at .lets-make-sausage.com/polish-kielbasa.html. I copied it because it's the first recipe I want to try for kielbasa- my Polish friends tell me this is authentic.

Polish Sausage Recipe

5 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon fine ground black pepper
1 tablespoon pickling salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground celery seed
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 level teaspoon Prague Powder #1 or Instacure #1
1 cup ice water

Trim the pork, cut it into 1 inch cubes, and grind it through the medium plate of your meat grinder.

Combine the spices and cure in a container and mix with the 1 cup of ice water.

Pour the spice and water combination into the ground pork and mix thoroughly for at least 2 minutes. Use your hands for mixing to assure even distribution.

Once the sausage is fully mixed, stuff it into casings and hang it to dry before taking it to the smoker.

http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/polish-kielbasa.html

Good luck on your sausage.

no type of binder ? Isn't that sort of required?

as I said- I found the recipe- I haven't tried it yet. Never made sausage before so I'm certainly no expert.

No you don't need a binder for sausage if you are using natural casings. The fat in the mix is the binder. Most of what people refer to as binders are used commercially to reduce shrinkage and increase yeald. Most use soy concentrate, but a good substitute is 1/2 - 3/4 cup of non fat dry milk. Not only does this reduce shrinkage, but it absorbs grease that would normally be lost during cooking, and can make the sausage a little more moist.
Check out recipes at www.sausagemaker.com. Rytek Kutas literally wrote the book on making sausage.

Seems there isn't too much variance in ingredients. How much garlic maybe or marjorum (in Buffalo they refer to kielbasa with a heathly amount of marjorum as Polish 'holiday' sausage, sold mostly around Easter). It also looks like most Polish Kielbasa doesn't use paprika but Hungarian does? I'm not sure if that's a correct generalization but from looking at recipes the Polish variety rarely uses paprika and has a bit more marjorum? I think I have enough info to get started,next weekend we experiment ! thanks for the help.

btw found an interesting link .. some strange stuff
http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-recipes/all

starting my first batch of Kielbasa, have it stuffed in 35-38mm casing and hanging to dry. Went to Smoker to set it up and realized that the minumum temperature is 140 (cs-025). Recipes say to start at 100, then 130 and increment slowly upward ...I guess I'm going to have to start at 140. Is it ok to put into cold oven or should I preheat?

Dba,

I would start with a cold smoker. One way to keep your cookshack electric "cooler" to cold smoke if you don't have a cold smoke plate is to use a tray of ice. Completely cover a shelf with foil an put it in the lowest slot and put a tray of ice on top. Then smoke your sausage in the highest area of the smoker.

what I ended up doing is cracked the door a little and turned the heater on/off to maintain a first temp of 100f (2 hours to dry) and then 130 (for 1 hour). Now I'm on to 140f. nEXT TIME I'll do like you suggest. I really wish the CS-025 could control temps down to 100f ... BIG recommendation for any CS people monitoring this forum

you can simply hang the sausage inside in a cool place for several hours to dry it, instead of using the smoker.

I dont think drying it in a cs works anway, since you can not regulate the airflow in this smoker.

If you look at a dedicated sausage smoker the top and bottom vents are much larger and adjustable.

Now if cookshack would put those on their smoker, I would buy another electric in a hearbeat.

quote:

Originally posted by dba1954:
Not sure if this is the place to post ... I want to make Keilbasa or italian sausage. Discovered the wife's kitchenaid has a meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment (never used). Does anyone have any recipes and know what type of casing to use?

"I have been using the kitchen aid (coarse plate) and collengen casings with very good results. Since I've been diagnosed with congestive heart failure I have developed the following salt free venison breakfast sausage. It patties and stuffs well. Must be frozen for long term storage,

1.5 LB GROUND VENISON
1 LB GROUND PORK
1/4 LB PORK FAT
1 TBSP ONION POWDER
1.5 TBSP GARLIC POWDER
1 TBSP DRIED SAGE
1 TBSP RED PEPPER FLAKES
1 TSP GINGER
1 TSP THYME
2 TBSP DRIED PARSLEY
2 TBSP DRIED BASIL

I have also made an Italian salt free taste alike which I use on salt free pizza flats."