Recipe: Homemade Kielbasa

Fresh Kielbasa
Eastern European Style
Makes 5 pounds

1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon MSG (optional)
4 pounds pork butt, cut into large pieces
1 pound beef chuck, cut into large pieces
1 1/4 pounds fresh pork fatback, cut into large pieces
1/2 cup cold water
Sausage Casings, about 14 feet, 1" in diameter

Mix all the spices in a small jar. Shake well to mix them.

Grind the meats and fatback coarsley in a meat grinder. Place in a bowl. Add seasonings and mix thoroughly through the meat. Mix in the cold water, which makes the meat easier to stuff. Stuff the mixture into the casings.

Smoked Kielbasa
American Style
Makes 5 pounds

4 pounds pork butt, coarsely ground
1 pound beef chuck, coarsely ground
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
3/4 tablespoons curing salt (made by Morton's)
1/2 cup cold water

Make like Eastern Kielbasa but then tie sausages into rings and smoke.SMOKER BOX:

Find a large sturdy cardboard box. Place the box outside!! Make sure you place box on something that is fireproof and that there is nothing overhead but sky. Cut 1/2" wooden dowels 2 inches wider than the width of the box. In the upper part of the box make holes for the dowels to poke through. The amount of dowels you will need will depend on how much sausage you are making. They have to be hung without touching each other. Place a small hot plate, one that has a fully variable temperature control on it, in the center of the box. Run the electric cord out through a very small hole in the lower part of the box. Now place a metal pie tin on the hot plate and fill it with hickory or alder sawdust. Hang the sausages on the dowels. Turn the burner on to medium and close the box. The sawdust will start smoking. Smoke the sausages for 2 hours, adding more sawdust as needed, ie, when the smoke stops it is time to add more sawdust.

Refrigerate or freeze kielbasa. Make sure you watch the smoker at all times. Make sure the hot plate is no where near any of the walls of the box.

Pam