Bradley Smoked Kielbasa Sausage

This is a detailed recipe for how to create and smoke Kielbasa.  This recipe was smoked in a Bradley Digital Smoker

Kielbasa is traditional Ukrainian smoked sausage

INGREDIENTS

  • 2kg pork shoulder or fresh ham (you can also use pork mince)
  • 2 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup skim milk powder
  • 1 tsp Bradley Sugar Cure
  • sausage casings
  • Bradley Wood Bisquettes

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the pork meat and pork fat into 1-2 inch (2.5-5cm) cubes. Pass them through a meat grinder. Consider reserving about 1/3 of the pork meat and dice into small chunks so that there are chunks of ham in the sausage. While you can purchase and use ground pork, I prefer to grind my own. That way I can ensure the freshness of the meat and the ratio of fat. I try to aim for a meat to fat ratio of 70:30.
  2. In a large bowl, stir the meat with the remaining ingredients (spices, cure, water, milk powder). Knead it together well so that everything is combined thoroughly. Place in the fridge and let marinate for 3 hours or so.
  3. Take the meat mixture out of the fridge and stuff the sausage casings according to the instructions of your sausage stuffer.
  4. Preheat the Bradley smoker for 130F (54.4C) with your choice of wood bisquettes loaded. Place the Kielbasa in the smoker by either laying them on the racks or hanging them on hooks, ensuring they don’t touch each other. Insert a digital thermometer probe into the top of one Kielbasa and slide the probe into its centre.  

 

  1. The Kielbasa needs to smoke in the smoker for four hours. Each hour increase the temperature by 20F (approx. 10C). So hour one is 130F (54.5C), hour 2 is 150F (65.5C), hour 3 is 170F (76.6C) and hour 4 is 190F (87.7C).
  2. After they have been in the smoker for 4 hours take them out and put them in a hot water bath that has the water preheated at 165F (73.8C) just under boiling point. Keep them in the hot water bath for 45 minutes – don’t boil, just a gentle simmer until they get to an internal temperature of 165F (73.8C).
  3. Remove the Kielbasa from the hot water bath and dump them into an ice water bath to quickly cool them down. Hang them for 1-2 hours at room temperature so that they can bloom. (this enhances their flavour)

The best way to store the Kielbasa is to vacuum seal them in bags, and freeze them. They are good stored this way for months!

Recipe by Steve Cylka

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