When was the last time you had smoked Polish kielbasa? Growing up in a Mexican/Cajun household this wasn’t a sausage that we ate much of. It wasn’t till college when I had the opportunity to have dinner with a Polish mate of mine and his family. They served a dish called Kapusniak.
Kapusniak is a Polish Cabbage soup that utilizes smoked kielbasa. One bite and I immediately fell in love with this sausage. The soup itself was delicious but the smoked kielbasa in this soup was incredible. Seasoned very simply with a smoky juicy bite and an incredible texture. It was delectable.
I love making this sausage at home. It’s a family favorite and it’s a great sausage for all occasions. I hope you get a chance to enjoy this classic Polish sausage.
Follow basic smoked sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F)
- Any liquid that is added to the mince needs to be ice cold
- Mix your very chilled meat and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky
- Stuff the mince into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
- Refrigerate your sausage overnight to allow the cure to work
- The next day follow this smoking schedule (Optional)
-Start at 110F – 120 for 1.5 hours, with your baffles opened (this dries the sausage)
-Increase the temp to 125F for 1 hour and begin to add your favorite smoke
-Increase to 135F for 1 hour
-Increase to 155F for 1.5 hours
-Increase to 175F till the internal temp reaches 145F
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Chef Knife – KOTAI
- Boning Knife
- Sausage Pricker
- Iwatani Professional Chef Torch
- Insta Cure #1
- Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
- Meat Grinders
- Meat Mixers
- Sausage Stuffers
- Smokers
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. If you make this at home I’d love to hear about how it came out!!
If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.
2 Guys & A Cooler Amazon Storefront
What is your meat cut for lean meat and also what does the powdered milk do in recipes
I like to use the ham but if you have fatty pork shoulder that works as well. It’s actually cheaper for me to get ham than it is for me to get shoulder so I use ham with added backfat in a lot of my recipes. But any 70/30 ratio lean to fat works for this recipe. Milk powder acts as a binder in fresh/smoked sausages. It improves the texture and has really good water holding capacities so it makes the sausage juicer..
Eric, morning… I’ve stopped using powdered additives and now use STPP.. No off taste.. Nor does it add ingredients that can affect flavors of your quality meats….
https://butcherspantry.com/product/sodium-tripolyphosphate/
this recipe has 5.25 grams more cure, in ten pounds of minced then two other popular chefs call for. why? why not use fresh garlic?
For a juicier kielbasa, try using the USDA pasteurization tables to smoke to a lower temperature and still be safe for consumption…
I prefer ~136F for a 1-1.5 hour hold time just to be on the safe side…
The pasteurization times for beef, lamb and pork are listed in Table C.1.
Temperature… ……. Time…. ……. Temperature… …….. Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)
130 (54.4)……….. 112 min
131 (55.0) ……… 89 min………..
132 (55.6)………. 71 min…………
133 (56.1)……………… 56 min…………
134 (56.7)……………… 45 min………..
135 (57.2)……………… 36 min…………
136 (57.8)……………… 28 min………..
137 (58.4)…………….. 23 min…………
138 (58.9)……………… 18 min………..
139 (59.5)……………… 15 min ………..
140 (60.0)……………….. 12 min…………
141 (60.6)……………… 9 min…………..
142 (61.1)……………… 8 min………….
143 (61.7)……………… 6 min
144 (62.2)……………… 5 min
145 (62.8)……………… 4 min
Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).
Excellent tip..
I use the standard Official Polish Government recipe for Kielbasa (and everyone that tries it tells me don’t change anything because they know I like to tinker). You’re recipe is close with almost everything, but you are somewhat low on the salt (not too bad of a thing for health reasons), but you’re almost triple on the sugar content. I’m sure it’s good, but probably too sweet for me. Powder-milk? It’s not necessary, just use more ice-water (about a cup per 10#) and you won’t have any binding issues. Keep up the great work, it’s a good channel that I enjoy.
Having difficulty finding Pork Back Fat to buy
Cant I use Pork Belly instead?
sure. Just make sure your overall ratio is 70/30. Pork belly is generally 50/50
LOL. The recipe is from a Polish butcher…
Interesting comment especially considering the only difference between this recipe and the great sausage maker Rytek Kutas’s polish recipe is this one has white pepper instead of black pepper.
Yeah. Not sure what type of Polish sausage he is used to.. Rytek’s recipe is great. This recipe is very similar with what seems to be slight modifications. As I look at both recipes sided by side Rytek’s recipe calls for more salt, less sugar, no cure, no powder milk, less marjoram, coarse black pepper (not fine white pepper), and he calls for fresh garlic rather than garlic powder. His is great too😁
What wood did you smoke with?
Oak wood, but hickory is good as well
Why 145 internal temp? All other sites say 152 to 165. Thanks
When you cook a sausage low and slow like we do here you can technically finish it at a much lower temp, which produces a better sausage. It’s all about pasteurization. When you hit 145f let it hang there for 30 minutes before you remove them from the smoker. It’s amazing..
So i should let it hang for 30 minutes with the smoker off when i hit the 145? Thank you.
The idea is to keep th einternal temp at 145 for at least 30 minutes to pasteurize the sausage. However you can do that is fine.
Do you use a water pan when smoking your kielbasa? I was thinking this might get me past the dreaded stall when smoking. Thank you.
I don’t use a water pan.
You have been very helpful. Thank you.
I am looking to make this, but want to add a spicy kick. Was thinking of adding cayenne pepper powder. I don’t want to change the taste too much, just add a kick. Any thoughts on making it spicy?
Cayenne or red pepper flakes would do the trick. Perhaps nothing more that .2%-.3% to get started and see how you like
If the sausage has cure, what is the reason for pasteurizing and hitting the 145F temp?
Could one alternatively cold smoke the kielbasa below 90F to add smoke flavor then throw it on a pit or in a pan when ready to eat?
Love your channel and thanks for the content!
Yes. You could cold smoke this and then freeze it if oyu want. Then cook when you are ready..
Thank you for this recipe. I subbed evaporated milk for the milk powder/water hoping the heat treated milk proteins would hold the moisture. Cold smoked 5 hours with a pellet smoker and then 275 in a home oven until 145 ( I don’t have a dedicated smoker, yet). The results were very, very good. Better than anything I have purchased in the store. I’m learning so much from what you have posted on this site and making it work with the equipment I have. Thank you.
That is great to hear!!
Hi,
Do you apply smoke the entire time after the inital drying?
yes
i ask because i am getting a bad smoke flavor every time. i use the bella cold smoker and a smokin it 3D. Any tips would be great appreciated. i am using cherry chips and pellets mixed. mostly pellets.
thanks in advance and for you channel!
Lots to consider when using a cold smoke generator. The Bella’s Generator can put off A LOT of smoke. What level is your air pump on while you are smoking and for how long are you running the cold smoker. Im assuming you are using it on cooked sausages, is that right?
essentially i am following your video, with your cook times. i start the smoke than lower the pump to have. same cook schedule. i am using cherry wood. the sausage is raw and cured until i start drying and smoking. it is cooked after the process in the video.
yes. It’s 100% cooked.