Smoking kielbasy

So, Mister Ed, you're talking about a sausage? How do you make it?


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Ed good to hear from you. Don't get many questions about this, so it's a great topic to explore.

What you need to try is "Cold Smoking" I believe. The difference is that you need to smoke with little to know heat.

There are a lot of cold smoking threads around here. Do a short search on "cold smoking" and you'll get some.

When I get a chance, I'll find a few or maybe someone who's done it will help you with the exact method.

Which CS? The smokette?

Smokin'

Hi Ed,

Here's what I do.. After stuffing I poach the sausages in simmering (Not boiling) water until the internal temperature hits about 160 or a little more. This should take about 1/2 hour, depending on how cold the meat mix was to start.
Then let them dry and smoke them until you get the amount of smoke/color your like.
If you have a vacuum sealer such as the Tilia FoodSaver, you can cool the sausages off in your fridge then vacuum seal and freeze. These will stay fresh tasting for at least a year.

My 2

Joe

Hey i2 and Smokin,

Yes, kielbasy is a Polish sausage. If you're really interested i2, I'll post the recipe and procedure I used to get the tasty results. For a comprehensive treatise, pick up "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by R. Kutas. By the way, real kielbasy is nothing like the "Polish Sausage" you sometimes see in supermarkets. That stuff is just another sausage whereas kielbasy has a very disatinctive flavor.

Smokin, I've read all the threads on cold smoking but most of them deal with fish. I'm ready to try it but don't know how long I should smoke the kielbasy for and what the temperature limits are. Some sources say not to exceed 90F and others say to use 125F. Some of the sources say it should be smoked three hours a day over a period of a week or two. I remember my mother making kielbasy on the farm when I was a kid and I'm sure she didn't do that. Unfortunately, I can no longer ask her what she did do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Joe,

What I've been doing is after stuffing, let the sausage dry and then smoke in the CS until they reach an internal temp of 152F. Thay taste great this way but come out fully cooked so must be refrigerated and/or frozen.

Smokin, I forgot to say what kind of CS I have.

I've been using the Smokette but it's really too short to hang a full size kielbasa in. I've ordered a mod 50 and it's supposed to ship Oct 24.

Sounds great Ed,

I couldn't tell if you wanted the Cold Smoke or the Warm Smoke.

Listen to Joe, he's in here many times talking about Sausages and he knows what's going on.

I'll see what we can find to help.

Smokin'

Ed,

Maybe I misunderstood your question?
Are you looking to make a dry shelf-stable product like a "Slim Jim".?

Joe

Joe,

I'm not looking for dry. It's my unterstanding that a sausage has better keeping qualities if it's well smoked and NOT cooked. When you walk into a Polish butcher shop, the kielbasy is always hanging on the wall unrefridgerated. I know it won't keep forever that way but it does seem to last at least a couple of days. The reason I'm looking for this is because I'd like to send some to my daughters in Phoenix AZ without worrying about it staying cold.

P.S. When I make it, I add some Insta-Cure #1.

Ed,

Yep... Smoke is a preservative, as well as salt, cooked meat and nitrates used in curing.
Shipping a refrigerated smoked, cooked, cured sausage a few days should be OK. Depending on the condition of the meat to start with.
Bacteria needs a few things to grow well.. Air, moisture, a protein source, the right ph and the right temperature (40F to 140 F)
When bad bacteria grows too fast we tend to say. "Must be something I ate." or I have a touch of the flu." or the infamous "24 hour bug.".

With todays meat supply being what it is.. why take a chance?
Scroll down this site to the meat recalls to see what I mean. http://www.safetyalerts.com/rcls/category/food.htm

My 2

Joe

Smoking will extend the life of sausage but it is the combination of drying and smoking that really gives the sausage the preservation qualities that you are looking for. The sausages you see hanging in the butcher shop are different versions of kilbasi

ed in astin

might that be shoepecks(sp)