How to Make Homemade Polish Kielbasa
Polish kielbasa is versatile. It is used for any meal of the day. People cook kielbasa with scrambled eggs for breakfast, grilled kielbasa with sautéed onions as a sandwich for lunch and fried kielbasa with sauerkraut for supper. Some serve kielbasa as hors d'oeuvres for parties or family events. Those who make homemade Polish kielbasa can control the amount of fat added to the sausage and make healthier versions than those purchased at the store. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 14 feet hog/sausage casings
- 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, largely ground.
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- Meat grinder with large grinding blades
- Large bowl
- Small bowl with a lid
- Funnel
- Plastic wrap
Instructions
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1
Rinse the hog or sausage casing several times and place it in a small bowl with a lid. Refrigerate the casings until you finish the making the sausage.
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2
Cut up the pork shoulder into small pieces that will work with your meat grinder. Grind the meat while it is still cold and place in a large bowl.
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3
Add water, peeled and pressed garlic, salt, pepper and marjoram. Using you hands, knead the meat and spices until completely incorporated.
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4
Tie a knot in one end of the hog/sausage casing by wrapping the end of the casing around your finger and tucking the end through the loop. Pull the loop tight to form the knot. Feed the open end of the hog/sausage casing onto the funnel's small open end.
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5
Spoon a couple of spoonfuls of meat into the funnel. Press the meat into the casing. Squeeze the meat down until it gets to the knotted end of the casing. Repeat until you have used all of the meat. If you prefer kielbasa links, twist the casing at six-inch intervals to form links as you fill the casing.
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6
Slide the casing off of the funnel and tie a knot in the end. Roll the kielbasa in a circular spiral.
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7
Wrap the kielbasa in plastic or place in a gallon size plastic bag. Refrigerate for up to two days before using or freeze for several months.
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8
Cook the sausage until the center temperature is at least 165 degrees F.
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Tips & Warnings
When buying your pork shoulder, ask the butcher not to trim away the fat when grinding the pork. You need some fat in the sausage for flavor, and the fat helps hold the kielbasa together. If you want the sausage to be healthier, remove part of the fat when grinding the pork shoulder.
Patty out the Polish kielbasa like hamburger and store it in zip lock bags in the freezer if you don't have any casings. Cook it just like a hamburger or crumble the meat and cook it like ground beef.
When filling the casing, make the kielbasa big and plump, but not big enough that it busts the casing.
Do not let the meat sit out for a long period of time during preparation, or it may spoil.
References
- Photo Credit shish kebab image by Sergii Shalimov from Fotolia.com
