How to Make Smoked Kielbasa
Recipes that call for sausage or meat often require the use of smoked kielbasa. Consider making smoked kielbasa at home in order to keep salt and fat levels under check.
Prep time: 20 min
Refrigeration time: 24 hours
Smoke time: 120 min
Total time: 1 day 140 min
Yield: 12 servings
Utensils: Meat grinder, Smoker, Meat thermometer, Natural medium hog casings, Refrigerator
Ingredients:
Lean pork butt or shoulder: 3 lbs
Lean beef chuck: 2 lb
Ice water: 1/2 cup
Dry milk: 1/4 cup
Cure mix: 3 tsp
White pepper: 2 tsp
Ground marjoram: 2 tsp
Sugar: 1 tbsp
Ground nutmeg: 1/2 tsp
Minced garlic: 3 cloves
Paprika: 2 tbsp
Instructions
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1
Rinse and leave the casing soaked in water overnight. You can either warm the water in which you soak the casings and then allow it to cool gradually in a cooler, or you can use cold water and place the casings in a refrigerator.
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2
Use a meat grinder fitted with 1/4-inch plate (coarse disk) in order to grind the pork. For grinding the beef, attach a fine plate to the meat grinder.
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3
Add all other ingredients to pork and beef in a large mixing bowl. You either mix the contents of the bowl by hand, or you can grind the ingredients one more time.
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4
Stuff casings that you prepared in the first step with filling you just prepared. Be sure to properly tie off each casing.
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5
Pinch a sausage casing about 8 inches from either of the two ends in order to squeeze out filling and then twist the casing in a clockwise direction. Do the same to another sausage but turn the second sausage in a counter clockwise direction.
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6
Continue in this manner until the end of the tube is reached.
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7
Allow at least 24 hours for the sausages to cure by placing in a refrigerator.
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8
Preheat a smoker or a smokehouse at 90 to 100 degrees F. Transfer sausages from the refrigerator the preheated smoker or smokehouse. Give the sausages about 2 hours of smoke time. Be sure to gradually increase temperature in smoker or smokehouse from the aforesaid starting level to about 170 degrees F.
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9
Allow time for the internal temperature of the kielbasa sausages to reach optimum level of 150 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to keep a check on the temperature readings.
