Author Topic: The Kielbasa Experiment  (Read 3230 times)

username

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The Kielbasa Experiment
« on: October 17, 2020, 08:23:28 PM »
I thought I would share my first Kielbasa experiment and results with the group:

I mixed up everything the night before and let cure in the fridge overnight.

Bright and early the next day I started stuffing. The butcher assured me that the casing I bought would stuff 15 lbs so I knew I was good for the 10 lb batch I was making. That was my first mistake, I actually only had enough to stuff about 8 lbs of it. I relented and put the rest in a plastic wrapped bread pan for later.

I read any kielbasa posts I could find on the forum as well as other sites to try and come up with a plan for drying/smoking/finishing the sausage. I read various things about drying the casings before smoking, in the fridge, out in the air, I decided the best option was to use the smoker. I ended up hanging all the sausage in the smoker, without any wood, turned the dryer fan on, set the smoker temp to 130 degrees, and set the internal thermometer for 80 degrees.

That worked perfect! When the alarm went off, 50 minutes later, the casings were dry and a little tacky. I then turned of the dryer fan, added 4oz of hickory, turned up the smoker to 160-165, and set the internal temp for 140. After about 2 hours the sausages were hitting the 140 mark and I turned the fan back on as I read there was a problem with the sausages steaming, and set the internal thermometer to 152.

Things did not go as planned. The blue tooth thermometer does not reach where I needed to work on the computer and when I checked it 30 mins later the internal temp had dropped to 117! Most likely, this is because the fan I built my be a little over powered for the smoker. I turned the fan off, cranked the temp up to 225 and waited quite some time to return to 140. This time, I used a piece of wood to damper the fan output by about 75%, turned the smoker temp up to 250, and let it finish up the sausage.

About an hour or so later the sausages reached 152 and I proceeded to drop them in a water bath and cooled to 110 degrees, followed by a 3 hour bloom on the counter.

Overall, I think the results are decent. The color looks reasonably well and the taste is great. I think the casing has a great amount of snap but the wife thinks it's a little tough.

Next time I will definitely buy more casings, and pay closer attention to the internal temps when starting the second fan run. I also noticed that the a couple of the sausages had slight discoloration which may have been where they were touching each other or touching the dowels. The casing may not have dried all the way before starting the smoke.

Here's some pictures of the experiment. I'm pretty new at this and would be gracious to here from some sausage pros!
« Last Edit: October 17, 2020, 08:34:56 PM by username »
Bill from WNY
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barelfly

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Re: The Kielbasa Experiment
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2020, 10:17:57 PM »
Looks like some great kielbasa!

I love these smokers for smoking sausage. I’ve made a brisket and jalapeño sausage a few times. Similar to what you did for a few steps, but I let the sausage dry in the fridge over night, then let them sit out on the counter for a bit before I put them in the smoker.

But it looks like you stuffed them well and have some good consistent sausage!
Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

username

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Re: The Kielbasa Experiment
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2020, 08:16:41 AM »
Hey Jeremy, thanks for the response. They definitely taste good! Did you find any discoloration of the casings when you made your brisket jalapeño?
Bill from WNY
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barelfly

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Re: The Kielbasa Experiment
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2020, 09:59:20 AM »
Like you mentioned, there were a few spots that didn’t get the color and I believe it was because the casings were touching, so no smoke/air movement on that part. The second round of sausage I paid attention to that a bit more and seemed to give consistent color on the casing.

Did you use milk powder in your mix?
Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

username

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Re: The Kielbasa Experiment
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2020, 02:49:16 PM »
Yup, used the milk powder. The recipe I was following suggested soy protein concentrate or milk powder and the powder was easier to get locally.
Bill from WNY
Smokin-It Model #2