Smoked Polish Sausage (Kielbasa)

Preparation

1. Prepare casings by rinsing, then soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
2. Grind beef and pork together once through a 3/8” plate.
3. Re-grind once through a 3/16” plate.
4. Add seasoning to meat and mix for 2 minutes until fully incorporated.
5. Mix cure with water, then add to meat block.
6. Continue mixing for an additional 5-7 minutes until meat block becomes very tacky.
7. Load meat block into stuffer and stuff into casings
8. Link sausages into 7” sections.
9. Rest sausage in the fridge overnight to allow flavor and cure development.
10. Line smoker drip tray with new aluminum foil

Smoking Procedure

1. Preheat smoker to 110F on Smoke mode with dampers wide open.
2. Hang sausages on smoke sticks (avoid overcrowding for optimal airflow).
3. Insert meat probe into one sausage to monitor temperature.
4. Dry sausage at 110F for 2 hours.
5. Increase temperature to 120F, run 1 hour.
6. Fill pan ¾ full with sawdust and dampen thoroughly with water.  Form mixture into a funnel shape and place on the heating element.
7. Increase temperature to 130F. Set dampers to 2/3 closed. Run 1 hour.
8. Increase temperature to 140F, run 1 hour.
9. Carefully remove sawdust pan and increase temperature to 150F, run 1 hour.
10. Increase temperature to 160F, run 1 hour.
11. Increase temperature to 180F and run until the internal temperature of sausage reaches 155F. (2-4hrs)
12. Remove sausage from smoker and place in an ice bath until internal temperature drops to 100F.
13. Hang sausage at room temperature for 2 hours to bloom.
14. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks or freezer up to 6 months.