I’ve been making some different fresh sausages, but now I’m dying to try my hand at kielbasa. I’d like to make some fresh & smoked, but I only have a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. I’m concerned about the cook schedules and how low & consistant I can keep the temp. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks

I’ve been making it about 15yrs now. I use an antique hand crank shredder, passed down from my Uncle to me & my Grandfather to him. I make 1 or 2 6gal crocks worth, which take about 40lbs of shredded cabbage to fill & let it go 9-10 weeks before I package and freeze it. I’m told you lose the prebiotic value, but mine always got too mushy when I canned it.

If saltiness is an issue, you should look at the Equilibrium method, then you shouldn’t have to worry about rinsing.

calldoctoday yes it stays crunchy. I used something similar to that vacseal hack if you caught that on one of these threass the other day, but I raised my sealer since I didn’t have a drawer deep enough. I’m going to try keeping some in the frig next year, if it lasts 6mo.

processhead I don’t have any issues while cooking my dry cure bacon in the oven, but definitely have to watch when I cook the Apple or Honey/Sriracha, with all the extra sugars.

The maple chipotle sounds great. I did a honey sriracha last time, but needs more Sriracha next time. I picked up a Berkel slicer at an auction and makes things so much easier than the toy I was using.

GWG8541 It used to get passed around to different family members to use & somewhere along the line the front housing was broken, but my one uncle was a machinist & used most of the original parts to rebuild it. No one asks for it anymore so it’s a little safer these days.

So again as I mentioned I’m a newbie to the site, what’s the difference between team blue & team orange?
Thanks

At Lancaster PA Costco, they were $3.89 on Thursday

GWG8541 I really don’t remember, that was back when I was just getting into it & still learning. Maybe next season I’ll give it a shot again & reach out to all these VERY helpful people on this site for some guidance.

Just made a batch of black & bleu sausage last weekend using hi-temp bleu cheese and it stayed intact.

Ten plus years ago the Lion fish were already in NC. I used to scuba dive the ship wreck there, and we would see more each time we would visit. I doubt they will get much further north, the Labrador current hopefully will keep them south.

I paid $300 at an auction for my Berkel, very good shape except for the sharpener. Looks like they never used it to sharpen or true the blade & it was corroded & the spring is missing. I haven’t gotten around to looking for someone to fix it. The blade is plenty sharp & for what I’ll use it for, I won’t need to sharpen it for a long time.

This sounds like a possible good work around for me only having a WSM smoker and living in PA cold outside temps aren’t an issue in the winter months.

The last time I did it, I pulled it at 165° & then left it rest. It was still very moist.

Looks like a good days work! I’m still struggling with making links. I’ve been using my grinder with a foot switch to stuff & Ithink I’m just filling them too full. I’m getting a stuffer for my b-day so hopefully that’ll help.

I let my pickled red beet eggs sit a full 30 days before I’ll touch them, takes a lot of will power, but worth it in the end.

Jonathon You couldn’t have said that any better!

I have a pork belly just off a 14 day cure heading for the smoker tomorrow morning & my new sous vide kit arrives today so I’m sure I have a couple rib eyes in it tomorrow for a test run.

Dave in AZ I definitely notice you don’t get as much splatter when pan frying the home cure compared to store bought. I can’t remember if it was a YouTube video or I read it, but they chalked it up to the injecting of the cure/flavoring.