Though I grew up in Mystic, Connecticut, my ancestry DNA reveals I am 97% Eastern European. That makes sense: My family hailed from Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland, which happens to be the home of Polish kielbasa!
For me, preparing kielbasa has always been a family affair, and the holidays are a great time to start new traditions where the whole gang can participate. It is a fun, two-day process and certainly worth the effort.
As described here you grind and season the meat and let it rest overnight, and soak the sausage casings in pineapple juice overnight, too. The next day we hand-crank the meats, stuff the casings, then let them dry a little before smoking.
Beyond the traditional kielbasa preparation there are plenty of preparation and serving options. If you don’t have a way to grind the beef and pork you can purchase it already ground (coarse ground if possible). No smoker? You can use a BBQ grill as a smoker with a smoker box or use something similar like a Traeger smoker. And if you do not have a smoker, you can make meatballs, sausage patties or pan fry the tasty kielbasa mix to use with marinara sauce or mac and cheese, just to name a couple of options. Comfort food!
This recipe is for fresh or uncured kielbasa without Cure #1, the sodium nitrite preservative. Since you are preparing fresh, keep an eye on time and temperature. I prepare it in no more than 4 hours total at room temperature, including smoking.
Smoked Gouda Cheese Kielbasa
Ingredients
• 4 pounds pork butt/shoulder (boneless)
• 1 pound beef chuck
• 1 ½ ounces garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon marjoram (dry)
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 1 ½ tablespoon black pepper (fresh ground is best)
• 1 ½ tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ pound smoked Gouda cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered milk
• 4 ounces hog casings, 32-35mm
• 4-6 ounces pineapple juice (optional)
• 2-3 Onions (optional)
Supplies
• Grinder
• Sausage stuffer tubes (available online and at Walmart, Cabela’s and others)
• Wood chips/pellets/wood (cherry preferred) enough for two hours of smoking (how much will depend on your smoker/method)
• Two 1-gallon Ziploc bags
Preparation: Day 1
1) Mise en place (get everything in place before you start).
2) Leave a bit of fat on the pork and beef for moistness and flavor. If it is super fatty you can trim a little fat off.
3) Cut the meat into strips that will fit into your grinder and then put them back in the refrigerator to keep cold, or freezer, to get it cold but not frozen.
4) Mix all the dry spices together in a large bowl.
5) Peel the garlic and place the peeled cloves in the grinder as you grind the meats. Hand-chop it if you are not using a grinder.
6) Get your grinder set up. I use a ¼ inch grinding plate and have a bowl large enough to hold the ground beef, pork and spices.
7) Cut the smoked Gouda cheese into ¼ to 3/8-inch cubes.
8) Have the 1-gallon Ziploc bags handy to place the ground meat mixed in. I like Ziploc bags because you can press them flat; they will cool quickly and evenly in the fridge. When it comes time to stuff the casings the next day you only need to pull out a little at a time.
Mixing and Grinding
1) Dredge a few pieces of the pork and beef at a time with the dry spices as you run them, along with the garlic cloves, through the grinder (gradually adding the cloves so they last the entire grinding process). For the dry spices I use about ½ of it dredged on the beef and pork during grinding; sprinkle the other half occasionally on the finished ground meat mix as you go.
2) Add the cubed cheese to the finished ground mix a little at a time during the entire grinding. I like to see the big chunks of cheese in the kielbasa!
3) Once all the meat is ground with seasoning, garlic and cheese, mix well by hand — about 2-3 minutes. If you haven’t used a grinder add the chopped garlic now.
4) Place the finished meat mix into two Ziploc bags — about two and a half pounds each. Press the mixture flat, zip and place in the fridge overnight. Don’t place them on top of each other, they will cool better if they are separated.
Casings
I use natural hog casings, size 32-25 mm. Take out about 4 ounces of casings and rinse them a few times in warm water. Let them soak in warm water for about 30 minutes. (The remainder can be frozen in their own salt until you need them in the future). Rinse them off again and run cool water through each one. Place them in a container with pineapple juice and place them in the refrigerator overnight.
Preparation: Day 2
If you are smoking the kielbasa, get your smoker ready: wood chips, pellets or wood.
Stuffing
1) Get your sausage stuffer ready. Place a small sheet pan under the grinder/stuffing tube to minimize clean-up; allow space (a sheet pan) to place the finished kielbasa you make. Have a knife handy to cut the casings as you go.
2) Place a casing onto your stuffing tube, do not tie it off yet.
3) Add the kielbasa mix to the stuffer and start cranking to push the kielbasa to the end of the tube and remove excess air.
4) Once you see the stuffing at the end of the tube, pull off some of the casing and tie a knot about 2 ½ inches from the end, then snug the knot up against the filling.
5) Start to stuff the casing. This may take a little practice, but it is worth it. You want to stuff them tight but not so tight that they break. If it breaks you might be able to make a small kielbasa or you may have to start over.
6) Once the casing is stuffed to desired size pull out about 2 ½ inches of casing cut it off and tie a knot up against the edge of the kielbasa. Use the extra casings on the ends to tie it into a loop.
7) Set it aside and finish making the rest of your links.
Smoking
1) I hang the finished links in the smoker for about 30 minutes to dry off a little. During the smoking process I place cut-up onions on the fire/smoker every now and then. This adds a reddish color to the sausage links.
2) Prepare the fire, and/or smoker; smoke for two hours.
3) If you lay them on a grill avoid overlapping them or letting them touch. Any part that is touching/covered won’t get the full smoke flavor.
4) I use indirect heat and cold smoke; I try to maintain the smoke house temperature under 120F.
5) After two hours I place the links I’m not going to eat right away in the refrigerator to chill quickly.
6) To cook, bring water to a boil and simmer for about thirteen minutes or until they reach a temperature of 165F. Let the cooked links rest for a few minutes before serving. They are great on their own or accompanied with your choice of mustard or favorite sauce, along with sauerkraut.
7) When freezing, immediately place the chilled links in vacuum sealed or Ziploc bags and freeze. Once thawed, use them within 5 days.
8) If you are making meatballs or sausage patties, shape them as you please and freeze them using a vacuum seal or Ziploc bags. If you are freezing the finished meat mix “as is” I suggest placing it in the bags and pressing them flat to about ¾ inch or so before freezing. It makes thawing and portioning easier.
Mustard
Here is a great mustard recipe I make to take your “kielbasa experience” to the next level. For the sauerkraut and kimchi, I use “live” ones, not cooked. Costco and better grocers usually have them in stock.
Ingredients
• 1 cup sauerkraut, lightly packed
• ¼ cup kimchi, lightly packed
• ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ¾ ounce Fresh garlic
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon Black pepper, ¼ teaspoon
Preparation
1) When measuring the sauerkraut and kimchi avoid getting too much liquid in the measuring cup. If you do, you can pour it out of the measuring cup but don’t squeeze it out.
2) Put it all in a blender, magic bullet or food processor and blend until smooth.
Enjoy!
With a 40-year culinary journey that has included positions in Connecticut, Alaska and Kobe, Japan, John Jadamec joined the team at Tulalip Resort Casino 16 years ago. He is currently a Signature Dining Chef at the popular Journeys East, an immersive showcase of meticulously prepared dishes from Japan, Thailand, China, Korea and Vietnam.
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