Polska Kielbasa Recipe

This is about as authentic a polska kielbasa recipe as I have been able to find. That said, it's hard to define what an "authentic" sausage making recipe is.

I got this one from some friends of Polish ancestry whose family has been making it the same way for over 75 years. In my mind, that qualifies.

This is a typical cured and smoked kielbasa. My friend's family used to smoke their sausage with dried corn cobs. I think it's a little better when I use a mild fruitwood (like apple) instead.

Recipe

3 lbs boned pork butt, 80% lean

2 lbs trimmed beef chuck

8 cloves crushed fresh garlic (substitute granulated garlic at 1 teaspoon per clove).

2 tablespoons Kosher salt

1 tablespoon fine ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried marjoram

1 level teaspoon Prague Powder #1 or Instacure #1

1 cup ice water

Trim the pork and beef, cut it into 1 inch cubes, and grind it through the medium plate of your meat grinder.
Combine the spices and cure in a small container and mix with the 1 cup of ice water.
Pour the spice, cure, and water combination into the ground meat 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 immediately into large sized (35-38mm) natural hog casing.
Prepare the sausage for the smoker and then smoke until you have the desired depth of color and temperature.

You can stuff this recipe into 38mm collagen casing, but be sure that it is the extra strong kind that is specifically made for hanging in the smoker.

For full instructions on smoking sausage Click Here

Once it is removed from the smoker and cooled, you can package the sausage for storage in the fridge (2-3 days) or the freezer.

Remember again that the flavor of the garlic declines the longer the sausage is frozen.