Easter Kielbasa 2008


 
J

Jim Babek

TVWBB Pro
A few years ago the wife and I made a few rings of kielbasa for easter. Since the kids came along I let it go by the wayside. About a week ago I got it into my head that I wanted to make it an easter tradition to make kielbasa with the kids so I took a half day and headed to the slaughter house.

I picked up 20 lbs of bone in butt for $1.19 per lb (I guess it pays to talk to the butcher about smoking) and headed home. Trimmed up 10 lbs of the butts and added the ingredients per Kutas' book. The only variation was that I used Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt instead of regular salt and the frying pan test says its a winner. The DC salt gives way less salt than regular table salt.

Anyways, I put it on the smoker with the 36 clay saucer in the water pan and a hot plate with chips under it. The smoker is now at 134 and the meat is at 120. Its about two and a half hours into it and its as well as can be expected.

Now that the clay is heated up it seems as though the smoker is climbing steadly and I will reach temp sometime in the wee hours. I put some ice water in a cooler and bathe the rings and fridge after that.

Some notes are that I have forgotten what a pain it is to cold smoke kielbasa in the WSM. Not that the temps are bad but its just not enough room to have the sausage hand properly. I rigged a twine through a copper pipe and have it clamped to the handle via a coat hanger...I know really classy. The rings are big so some are resting on the grates. Im sure the eaters wont mind.

I will post more pics of the finished product. Oh yeah sorry for the long post...the Jameson must be kicking in. Its gonna be a long day at work tomorrow.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562826076KVlizZ?vhost=good-times
 
Jim, That looks awsome, cute kids lending a helping hand to Dad.
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Can't wait to see the finished pics. Was this the fresh Kielbasa recipe (page 174 in my old book) then you just smoked it?
 
Jim, I have to second Bryan's comments. Great pics!!! How long did it take to grind the pork butt up? Is that a stainless grinder or cast iron? What was the size of your face plate on the grinder?
 
I used the recipe for smoked polish sausage on page 218. One note I will make for next time is not to add in all the fat off the butt. The recipe says to trim all fat and then grind with the small plate and add into the ground meat. This makes it way too greasy. Next time I will trim the visible fat and discard.

The grinder is one I got from Cabelas. Its a coated cast iron. It came with two faceplates but I dont remember the sizes. It works well and wasnt expensive at all. It took about 20 minutes to grind the 10lbs of meat and fat.

Here are a few pics of the finished product. I passed out around two and when I woke up at six the fire had gone out (I ended up pulling the hotplate and putting charcoal in to get the temps to where they needed to be). A bit too much smoke but it mellows as they are simmered.

By the way...as I was monkeying around with this yesterday I didnt hear the UPS guy knock on the door. Guess what he was trying to deliver. The Guru. Now that would have been helpful last night.
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Anyways.

http://community.webshots.com/album/562828188LZhbKk?vhost=community
 
Thanks for the reply. We've been playing around with making italian sausage for pizza.I've got a supermarket that will grind all your pork for about a buck or two. I still like the convenience of doing it at home though
 
Looks great Jim! Reminds me of when I was a kid spending a few weeks in the summers at my Grandparents (Frackville, PA). That was a long time ago. Lithuanian on that side. She often made up Kielbasa (and lots of other good stuff). I'm going to have to get her recipe and give it a try.

Nice pics of the kids helping! One thing you mention about hanging in the WSM - I think the WSM Stacker from ProQ will help lots with that. I know I'm looking forward to the stacker for vertically hanging whole fish while cold smoking. Nice hanger idea.
 
I like the idea of grinding the meats at home because you have ultimate control over the ingredients. However, it turns into one big slimy mess. One thing to remember is to keep the meat really cold, like your hands turning blue cold.

The hanger could have been better. I couldnt remember how I hung the sausage last time and finally remembered using a copper pipe. Now I remember that I used wire and not string to hang it. The wire gave the hanger more stability where as the string caused the pipe to slide and was making me nuts. The stacker would be perfect for sausage making. But I dont think I could justify getting one for the little bit of sausage I make.
 
Jim,
Great looking sausage. It looks like you used the grinder to stuff also, correct? How did that work out? I've been thinking about making some sausage and just don't want to spend the bucks on a dedicated grinder and separate stuffer (yet
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) . I checked Cabelas and they have some good deals like the one you use.
 
Jim, Bravo, Looks awsome.
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That reipe is on page 207 of my book. Did you use soy protein concentrate of the non-fat dry milk? and in my book it says just 2 cloves of garlic? that seems low for Kielbasa.
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Bill Hays has a new book and I often ask him waht his has in it verses mine. They are quite different sometimes. Maybe it's time I spring for a newer version. Thanks
 
The grinder used as a stuffer works perfectly and although a seperate stuffer would probably be easier this definately gets the job done well.

Bryan, I added 4 smaller cloves and a half teaspoon of the minced jarred stuff.
 
Kielbasa looks good.

Nothing like starting family traditions that the kids will have fond memories of as they grow older. Doesn't get any better than that!

Kudo's to you, Jim.
 
Hey Jim, I was browsing (read lurking
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) through you photos and came across this one:
WSM pic.
I was wondering if you could explain the grate on top of the coal and wood. I'm fairly new to my WSM but I thought the grate when under the charcoal...
 
LOL...I didnt notice that when I posted it. It definatley could be misleading. While I was getting everything set up I just put it there to keep it out of the water and keep the dirt off the deck. It definately didnt stay there during the cook.
 
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