Freezer Fail Kielbasa.....

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chef willie

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Dec 31, 2010
3,201
376
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Yep, freezer went belly up so have been cranking out some snack sticks and sausages to save the pork cushion I had stashed for future use. I ran 5 pounds of cushion through the coarse plate, added my Cure and spices for the overnight rest and stuffed into 28/32 MM hog casings. One hour at 150, no smoke, to help dry the casings. Bumped temp to 180 and added a nice load of apple sawdust mixed with some shredded apple wood. The bag claims they are apple 'chips' but they appear more shredded to me than 'chipped'. Regardless, they take off nicely in the Smokin' It #3 at lower temps. Gave them 5 hours of smoke and they became quite firm to the touch. Pulled them at 140 IT and allowed to bloom about 6 hours before putting them in the fridge. After taking the cut 'money shot' I had to sample some as the smell was fantastic and the color beckoned. Very tasty stuff and I'd imagine another day or two of bloom will just enhance the flavor and texture. Definitely a make again version.....Willie

5 pounds of pork, coarsely ground here but do whatever suits you

1 tablespoon of salt. I used less than normal as I'm supposed to be watching that & used pickling salt with no additives

1 teaspoon of Cure #1

1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon of sugar

10 fat cloves of garlic ground through the coarse plate with the pork. I thought 2 per pound was about right, might add more next time just because

1 tablespoon of ground marjoram

2 tablespoons of Hungarian paprika

1 well rounded teaspoon of coriander

1 cup of NFDM, my usual for binding and juice retention

1 cup of Merlot to add all dry seasonings to, making a nice slurry

Mixed all well and allowed to rest overnight in the fridge and then proceeded with stuffing and smoking.





 
Nice looking kielbasa Willie. I've been out of kielbasa for a while. looks like your giving me the itch again.........

Joe

Points!
 
Looks great Willie!  I just made a bunch of sausage with some cushion I had in the freezer too!  Sorry about your freezer but at least youre not letting anything go to waste!!
 
Willie hope you were able to save as much as possible Kielbasa looks good

Richie
 
tasty looking stuff Willie.. but I do have a question... you stated you pulled them at 140` IT ... isn't that a little low for finished product ??
 
Those look awesome. Love good Kielbasa.
icon14.gif
 
tasty looking stuff Willie.. but I do have a question... you stated you pulled them at 140` IT ... isn't that a little low for finished product ??
well, yes...however they were in for so many hours they get pasteurized if held at a certain temp for a certain period of time. Also, these will be fired off on the grill or poached again before consumption. Dave Omark and some others have changed up the routine some with longgggg smokes. My beef or pork sticks get smoked overnight at 150, actually about 18 hours, and never hit the 155'ish recommended temp. Here's the chart...

PASTEURIZATION TIMES FOR LOWER TEMP SMOKING

The table below shows that if pork is held at 137 for 23 minutes, the pathogens have been killed.... The meat may not be cooked to your liking, but it is safe to eat....
Of course that depends if your thermometer is calibrated correctly and ALL the meat reached 137 degrees internal temp, including the bone etc...


Temperature Time Temperature Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)

130 (54.4) 112 min... 146 (63.3) 169 sec
131 (55.0) 89 min.... 147 (63.9) 134 sec
132 (55.6) 71 min.... 148 (64.4) 107 sec
133 (56.1) 56 min.... 149 (65.0) 85 sec
134 (56.7) 45 min.... 150 (65.6) 67 sec
135 (57.2) 36 min.... 151 (66.1) 54 sec
136 (57.8) 28 min.... 152 (66.7) 43 sec
137 (58.4) 23 min.... 153 (67.2) 34 sec
138 (58.9) 18 min.... 154 (67.8) 27 sec
139 (59.5) 15 min.... 155 (68.3) 22 sec
140 (60.0) 12 min.... 156 (68.9) 17 sec
141 (60.6) 9 min...... 157 (69.4) 14 sec
142 (61.1) 8 min...... 158 (70.0) 0 sec
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).
 
Nice k'basa, Chef. Love the Garlic! I'm going to have to try this cushion everyone is talking about.
Done at 140?
Dan
yep...done enuf for the moment.....they will be grilled off or poached off to re-heat also. I'm doing much longer smokes at lower temps for some things now...especially snack sticks and some sausages

Check some of Dave Omarks  posts on this subject also....

PASTEURIZATION TIMES FOR LOWER TEMP SMOKING

The table below shows that if pork is held at 137 for 23 minutes, the pathogens have been killed.... The meat may not be cooked to your liking, but it is safe to eat....
Of course that depends if your thermometer is calibrated correctly and ALL the meat reached 137 degrees internal temp, including the bone etc...

Temperature Time Temperature Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)

130 (54.4) 112 min... 146 (63.3) 169 sec
131 (55.0) 89 min.... 147 (63.9) 134 sec
132 (55.6) 71 min.... 148 (64.4) 107 sec
133 (56.1) 56 min.... 149 (65.0) 85 sec
134 (56.7) 45 min.... 150 (65.6) 67 sec
135 (57.2) 36 min.... 151 (66.1) 54 sec
136 (57.8) 28 min.... 152 (66.7) 43 sec
137 (58.4) 23 min.... 153 (67.2) 34 sec
138 (58.9) 18 min.... 154 (67.8) 27 sec
139 (59.5) 15 min.... 155 (68.3) 22 sec
140 (60.0) 12 min.... 156 (68.9) 17 sec
141 (60.6) 9 min...... 157 (69.4) 14 sec
142 (61.1) 8 min...... 158 (70.0) 0 sec
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).
 
 
Nice looking kielbasa Willie. I've been out of kielbasa for a while. looks like your giving me the itch again.........

Joe

Points!
Thanks Joe.....I'm loaded to the gills now with goodies to munch on
 
That's some good looking sausage Willie!

I sent a point your way!

Al
Thanks Al....always a pleasure to hear from you...hope all is well
 
Looks great Willie!  I just made a bunch of sausage with some cushion I had in the freezer too!  Sorry about your freezer but at least youre not letting anything go to waste!!
Lost very little comparatively...some processed dinners from Costco defrosted pretty quickly so I dumped them
 
Willie hope you were able to save as much as possible Kielbasa looks good

Richie
Yep....did pretty well all in all....got plenty to beer up with now
 
CW, nice batch sir , well done !
thanks you....love sausage & so glad I started making them
 
Those look awesome. Love good Kielbasa.
icon14.gif
hard to beat a good 'basa...and SOOOOO many versions can be made
 
Nice smoke Chef! Sorry about the freezer, if mine goes out I'd have to make a ton of sausage!
Yeah, thanks Case...shit happens.....made me scramble, that's for sure...LOL
 
Sorry to hear bout your freezer Chef, but glad ya caught it in time to save the meat ! That kielbasa looks awesome, nice job ! Thumbs Up
 
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