How to make Polish Kielbasa

This recipe was written down by my grandpa on paper from 1966, over 50 years ago and we had it framed a couple of years back. A couple of cool things to point out. This is for 100 lbs of pork, today we are only doing 25 lbs. So imagine this much kielbasa times 4. Also, the recipe is we use today is exactly the same except for marjoram. The reason why? Well back around WW2 times, there was a shortage on marjoram so it was not included and got left out over the years, but my dad has since added it back in. There are three main processes we have to do for kielbasa:

  1. Mixing the spices and meat

  2. Stuffing the sausage into casing

  3. Smoking the sausage

Ingredients:

  • 70% Lean / 30 % Fat Pork Meat (or beef, venison, etc.)

  • 1.75% Salt

  • 1.75% Brown Sugar

  • 0.5% Black Pepper

  • 0.25% Cure #1

  • 0.187% Garlic Powder

  • 0.125% Whole Mustard Seed

  • 0.0625% Pickling Spice

  • 0.0313% Marjoram

  • Water

  • Sausage Casings

Method:

  1. Multiply the meat by the percentages of spices. For example, 454 grams of pork X 0.0175 (1.75%) gives you around 8 grams of salt.

  2. Mix the measured spices into cold meat chunks (or ground meat if using). Note: the meat grinds better if very cold, almost frozen.

  3. Add the meat to the grinder and push it through. Once the meat is ground, pour water over it and start mixing it by hand. There aren't specific measurements for the amount of water this is more of a by feel thing to see how much you want to add. Mix by hand, add water and adjust as needed.. At the end of the process, the meat should clump together and even sticks to your hand without falling. Note: At this point, you have loose kielbasa that can be fried up as a burger for a delicious lunch.

  4. Fill the sausage stuffing container with the kielbasa. Place the casing over the tube and slowly extrude the sausage into the casing.

  5. Once the sausage is stuffed, twist into links by pinching together and twisting the casing.

  6. Hang the sausages to dry for a few hours until the outside casing is no longer wet.

  7. Meanwhile set up the smoker (weber grill, smokehouse, electric smoker, etc).

  8. Smoke the kielbasa until the internal temperature reaches 150 F (65 C).

  9. Enjoy the kielbasa with sauerkraut, on sandwiches, etc.

Ethan Chlebowski