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Polska kielbasa is one of the baseline sausages that everyone learns when you are developing your skills as a sausage maker. It’s is such an icon, done in so many ways, that I am sure someone somewhere will criticize my recipe.
Let them. I like my kielbasa recipe, and it is reasonably close to the Official Recipe. You heard right: There is actually an “official,” Polska kielbasa recipe endorsed by the Polish government. Kinda hilarious, if you think about it. Not sure that’s an area where the government needs to get itself involved, but that’s just me.
You should know that “kielbasa” simply means “sausage” in Polish. So if you were to find yourself in a real-deal Polish butcher shop and ask for some kielbasa, they’ll ask what kind.
What we generally call kielbasa here in the United States is Polska kielbasa wedzona in Poland. Incidentally, I am prone to pronouncing it “keel-BAH-see” because I am from New Jersey — you’ll hear this pronunciation all over the Mid-Atlantic region.
Everyone has his or her own kielbasa recipe. Let me restate that one more time. But there are a few things that distinguish real(ish) Polska kielbasa from the overly weird variants. I owe much of this information to the Marianski brothers, whose book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages is indispensable for any serious home sausage maker.
- First, kielbasa in America is almost always smoked, unless you are in a real-deal Polish deli, in which case there are all sorts of variants on the smoked kind. Fresh, unsmoked kielbasa is usually only found in a Polish meat market.
- Second, it is normally pork-based, often with a little beef tossed in. (My versions often use wild boar or black bear.)
- For the typical American version, it always includes Cure No. 1 (sodium nitrite), which gives it the pretty pink color — any “uncured” kielbasa you see that’s pink is a lie: They are using celery juice, which has as much sodium nitrite as the powder.
- Garlic is the main player. Marjoram is often there, but not always.
- No paprika! Adding paprika to a kielbasa turns it into a Hungarian sausage, which is awesome, but not kielbasa. You get the red color from the nitrite and the slow smoke.
If this seems overly controlling, it’s only meant to get you in the right ballpark. Similarly, a sweet Italian sausage would be weird without fennel seeds — or with chile flakes — and a bratwurst just wouldn’t be right without the nutmeg.
Making this sausage isn’t difficult if you have made smoked sausages before. If you haven’t, I highly recommend you review my tutorial on basic sausage-making.
There is one wrinkle to my version of kielbasa, though. I sorta-kinda age it by letting the smoked links hang in my curing chamber (55°F at 70 percent humidity) for 2 to 4 days before I eat them. This dries them out just a little, and I think it improves the flavor a lot.
How to eat Polska kielbasa? Well, in any old way. On a hot dog bun, braised with sauerkraut and onions, put in stews, or the way I prefer, as a breakfast sausage. It was my late stepfather, Frank Kilpatrick, who turned me on to this. Frank loved to eat “keel-BAH-si” and always had it in the house.
We would eat it instead of bacon with eggs and toast in the morning; hell, Frank would often just lop off a couple inches right from the fridge and eat it as a snack — it is fully cooked, after all.
Frank is long gone. He died in 2001. But every time I eat a link of kielbasa for breakfast, I think of him.
Polska Kielbasa
Ingredients
- 4 pounds pork, wild pig, bear, venison, etc
- 1 pound pork fat (fatback or shoulder fat)
- 36 grams kosher salt, about 2 tablespoons
- 5 grams Instacure No. 1, about 1 teaspoon
- 5 grams ground black pepper, about 2 teaspoons
- 1 gram dried marjoram, about 2 teaspoons
- 10 grams sugar, about 2 teaspoons
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup ice water
- Hog casings
Instructions
- Chill the meat and fat until they is almost frozen by putting it in the freezer for an hour or so. Take out some hog casings — you’ll need about 3 to 4 standard lengths, about 10 feet — and set in a bowl of very warm water to rehydrate.
- Chop meat and fat into 1-inch pieces. Combine the salt, instacure, sugar, garlic, marjoram and pepper and mix it into the meat and fat with your hands. Let this rest in the fridge for about an hour.
- Grind through your meat grinder (you can use a food processor in a pinch, but you will not get a fine texture) using the fine die. If your room is warmer than 65°F, set the bowl for the ground meat into another bowl of ice to keep it cold. Put the meat mixture back in the freezer while you clean up.
- Add the ice water to the meat mix, then mix thoroughly either using a Kitchenaid on low for 90 seconds or with your (very clean) hands. This is important to get the sausage to bind properly. Once it is mixed well, put it back in the fridge while you clean up again.
- Stuff the sausage into the casings. Kielbasa is normally made into long links tied at both ends to form a loop. Stuff about 2 feet of sausage, then pinch off the trailing end and pull off at least 6 inches of casing from the stuffing tube. Cut the casing with a knife and immediately pull out another 6 inches or so of casing to form the loose end for the next long loop of sausage. This ensures that you will have enough casing to tie off the links. Leave the links untied for now.
- Check each long link of kielbasa for air pockets. You will probably have some. Use a sterilized needle (get the point glowing in the stove burner for a second or so to do this) and pierce the casing all around any air pockets. Gently compress the meat in the link from either end. Don't force it or the casing will burst. When you see no more air pockets, tie off the casings at either end.
- Hang the sausages in a cool place. If it is warm out, hang for one hour. If you have a place where the temperature will not go higher than 38°F, you can hang them as long as overnight.
- Get your smoker going. Smoke the links for at least 4 hours, and as many as 8. I prefer a lighter smoke, so you can still taste the meat and spices. You are looking to get the internal temperature of the links to 155°F. When the kielbasa is smoked, shock the links in ice water to cool quickly.
- Hang them to dry for at least 1 hour before eating, and if you have a cool place (55°F or cooler) you can hang for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello-
I’m pretty new to home sausage making, but this sounds amazing… Can I use Mortons Tenderquick instead of Instacure #1? If so, would it be a 1:1 replacement? I typically use about 1/2 Tbsp per pound of meat (venison w/ beef fat), per recommendation. Can I get the right taste for Kielbasa using MTQ?
Alan: Yes, but not in a 1:1 ratio. I never use MTQ, as I hate the stuff. My only advice is to use less than 1/2 tsp. per pound.
Followed your directions to the letter last spring for a venison-based kielbasa, and loved the results! I was wondering, though– I have a couple of big-ass beef hearts in the freezer which my family will not touch at any price, so since it’s so lean could I use it in place of venison for kielbasa (or maybe kosher hotdogs)? It cooks up pretty dry; maybe it would need more pork fat? Thanks!
Sarah: Yep. Cut it with 25% (by weight) of pork fat.
Forgot to add: I forgot to add the ice water in the mix. It was good after taking out of the smoker/cooled off but it was a bit crumbly (because of no water–some recipes use white wine. Next time).
I read that the flavour AND texture improves after freezing.
I took a piece out of the freezer the next day and it was even better than day 1.
The meat was not crumbly now and if possible, the flavour was even better (more mellow as the spices had a chance to blend with the meat).
Just made this recipe. Hung it in my WSM and smoked for an hour at 170o (I wanted 160 but just couldn’t get it low enough) then gradually increased to 180 then 190 till internal sausage temp hit 165. I three chunks of apple wood. Took about 3 1/2 to 4 hr.
I regularly bought the more expensive Sikorski kielbasa but this recipe—WOW! My wife said it was the BEST she’s ever had. Me too 🙂
Thanks for this one.
On a side note, I’ve frozen it in 6″ lengths for easier access. Make sure you double bag it in the freezer. I did and I still get a strong garlic/smoke aroma every time I open the freezer door. I love it but I’m a bit concerned it’ll permeate other frozen food items.
Guess I’ll just have to eat it faster 😉
I repeat the last question… “What temperature do you smoke at?”…..I have tried smoking my kielbasa using hickory….I found that smoking for more than an hour really is overpowering the flavor of the sausage….Maybe I am smoking at too high a temperature…
Bob: Whatever temp you want. Heat has no effect on smokiness. Time does. I prefer to smoke around 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
What temperature do you smoke the sausage at?
I made a batch using this recipe yesterday using my heritage pork. I have to say how refreshing it is to have recipes that are precise, tested, and most importantly that work. Thank you for proving that not all food blogs are wastes of electrons.
Looks like a great recipe that I will definitely try. Stupid question though… When uou mix with the kitchenaid, do you use the dough hook, the paddle or does it matter?
I use the paddle attachment.
What cut of pork do you use for your keilbasa?
I use wild boar. Mostly shoulder meat and belly.
You guys should try Polish ?ur (often called ?urek) – delicious sour rye soup, which main ingredients (except ryemeal sour – zakwas in Polish) are fresh (not smoked) Kielbasa, hard-cooked eggs and potatoes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_rye_soup
I will not hotlink to competition, so find a recipe by yourself. The main ingredient is ryemeal sour (Zakwas) – you can do it at home or buy in every good Polish store!
I have made homemade Kielbasa for years with simply ground beef and pork from the grocery store, without the nitrate or smoking, and have wrapped and frozen the links with good success. My spice mix is about the same. Another variation, I am sure, but my Polish-heritage wife approves….
I like the idea of mixing in the very cold water and keeping the meat cold as you work with it, as it can get quite greasy-feeling. Hand mixing it all together (with very clean hands) works well, and the kids love helping at that point!
What wood would you recommend smoking the Kielbasa with ?
Cherry, oak or another fruit wood would be my top choices.
This comment is for Mr. Shaw. The next time I make K I am going to use your recipe. It is very close to mine. As you mentioned it should be allowed to hang about an hour to bloom and surface dry. Blooming just means color. The cure will keep it from spoiling if placed in a cooler environment after an hour.
For people new at this please heed Hanks advice about food safety. I would visit the web site he referenced or other authorative sources. My two cents John
My father Hank and my mother would make sausage around the holidays, both Polish and Italian. He would keep some Polish to make fresh in water and some he would hang on wax paper that he would put over the hot water heat pipes in the basement and let cure. I didn’t pay attention to how long he would let it hang, but it was long enough to dry it out and look much the way yours does with the fried eggs, which was the way we would eat it for breakfast. Of course I could kick my dumb ass for not paying closer attention to this along with the making of the sausage. I know he didn’t use the Instacure or cloves. The Italian and Polish were similar and I know he added Marjoram to the Polish and fennel to the Italian. How would this cure and not spoil while hanging?
Just to clarify, polska kielbasa is an american term for smoked sausage. Kielbasa is Polish for sausage, of which, there are dozens. And kielbasa is not necessarily smoked. Some of the most delicious and subtle are fresh (A typical polish table with all the trimmings offer both). if you’ve never had it, find a Polish deli and try theirs.
Renee: At the risk of getting into an argument, the “official” definition of Polska Kielbasa is indeed a smoked sausage. And as you know, “kielbasa” only means “sausage” in Polish, so it can really be anything you want. There are hundreds of family recipes flying around. My advice: Make this sausage but don’t smoke it. It may just be close to what you are looking for.
Hello Mr.Hank Shaw I have really enjoyed your website and recipes can’t wait to try many of them! I’m going to attempt the sausage making today! Looking over your recipe for “Polish sausage” that you call “Kielbasa” (usually kielbasa is a fresh unsmoked sausage), kind of similar to a Italian sausage without the fennel. That’s what we call Kielbasa!! & The smoked version that you have the recipe for (that looks delish!) we refer to as just Polish Sausage! My Grandmother worked for Frank Jaworski’s Sausage Co for 20 years in Detroit & I’m Polish!! LOL Our family was raised on there products (meats & sausage) now we live in Arizona and NO ONE out here knows how to make good sausage of any kind!! I can’t wait to try your recipes but I can’t wait to try yours but I can’t find one for fresh kielbasa! If you have one can you post it please I would love to try yours!! Thank you Renee!!!
Perfect timing Hank. I have spent the last 2 days making 5 somked/cured sausages and 3 fresh for a total of 70 pounds. I made your andouille and your kabanosy. I made kielbasa, but from another source. I’ll try yours next time. The other 2 were great!
Sounds like another item for the To Do list. We love to eat them, why not learn to make our own. Thanks, Hank.
It has never occurred to me that you could make kielbasa homemade. We travel all the way from St. Louis to Chicago to get the good stuff. Can’t wait to give this a try.