# Kielbasa



## Nick Prochilo (Nov 5, 2006)

Okay, here is my first ever attempt at making sausage. Dave has been guiding me through the process. I did get way nervous this morning when I read that stuffing with a grinder was caca. But by that time I had no choice but to finish up. I had already cut, ground and mixed the meat, all that was left was stuffing. I ended up making 10 lbs. of fresh kielbasa.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nprochilo ... r=/31e9re2

I had no trouble using the grinder to stuff, but it was only 10 lbs. I'm sure if it was a larger batch, a sausage stuffer would have been the way to go. I did also stuff alone but again with a small batch it wasn't a problem. I did have the casings tear twice, but I just twisted it off at that point and made another link. I did need one large lonk for my mom, she swears it taste better like that. I made most grilling size, which is how I like them. All in all it was a fun morning doing it and next up is gonna be Italian sausage. Dave, thanks for all of your help!


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## Kloset BBQR (Nov 5, 2006)

Looks great Nick.  When are you going to smoke 'em?

Good job.  Never would have known it was your first time.


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## wittdog (Nov 5, 2006)

Nice job Nick..glad I was able to helpout...Did you learn anything your first go around?


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## Captain Morgan (Nov 5, 2006)

when you cooking the first ones?  Maybe tonight? (with pics?)


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 5, 2006)

wittdog said:
			
		

> Nice job Nick..glad I was able to helpout...Did you learn anything your first go around?


Yeah, listen to Dave, he da man! Your advise on soaking the casings for a few days really helped. Keep your meat as cold as possible. Don't rush, take your time!



			
				Captain Morgan said:
			
		

> when you cooking the first ones?  Maybe tonight? (with pics?)



Tomorrow I'm having these for dinner. Tonight is bc chicken & chuckies!


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## wittdog (Nov 5, 2006)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> wittdog said:
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Tomorrow I'm having these for dinner. Tonight is bc chicken & chuckies![/quote:dvrqodev]
I'm glad you learned from my mistakes....  
Sausage and Eggs for breakfast...


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## bigwheel (Nov 5, 2006)

Well that does look like a good operation. Congrats. Now I only got a coupla questions.  Why dont a person mix the seasoning afore grind number 1...(looks like it would disperse it mo betta dont it?) And whut size plate did you grind it with on round one..and whut did you use in place of the plate or maybe a mo bigga plate on the stuffing cycle?  I am trying to figger out how to grind and stuff on one fell swoop but my auger do not seem to want to forcefully ecject small stuff enough to make it stuff.  Do you see whut I mean here?

bigwheel


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 5, 2006)

bigwheel said:
			
		

> Well that does look like a good operation. Congrats. Now I only got a coupla questions.  Why dont a person mix the seasoning afore grind number 1...(looks like it would disperse it mo betta dont it?) And whut size plate did you grind it with on round one..and whut did you use in place of the plate or maybe a mo bigga plate on the stuffing cycle?  I am trying to figger out how to grind and stuff on one fell swoop but my auger do not seem to want to forcefully ecject small stuff enough to make it stuff.  Do you see whut I mean here?
> 
> bigwheel



Big W.
I only ground it once, and I used a 1/4" plate. I thought about mixing the seasoning before hand and have read many recipes that call for that but I didn't do it like that. On the stuffing cycle, the grinder I used has a spacer that goes inplace of the plate to take up the slack, then the stuffing tube over that. My grinder wasn't pushing the meat through hard on the stuffing cycle, it came through at an even pace so it was easily stuffed by one person.


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## bigwheel (Nov 5, 2006)

Ok think I gotcha here. I gonna need a spacer plate. Thanks.

bighwheel


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## Cliff H. (Nov 6, 2006)

Dang,

Now I got to get a bunch of sausage stuffing equipment.  My wife is gonna love me now.


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## wittdog (Nov 6, 2006)

bigwheel said:
			
		

> Ok think I gotcha here. I gonna need a spacer plate. Thanks.
> 
> bighwheel


I don't know if they sell a spacer small enough for the Kitchen Aid Attachement.....the kichen Aid size is smaller than the dedicated grinders...


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## john pen (Nov 6, 2006)

I stuff with my grinder with no problems..COLD MEAT is the key !!


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## DATsBBQ (Nov 6, 2006)

I stuff with the grinder. Course plate during the intial grind and again the stuffing cycle. The small plate just gets clogged almost immediately. Guess I should buy a medium plate, but that fance $90 electric grinder is on my xmas list.... .


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## john pen (Nov 6, 2006)

I have a plate specificly for stuffing...its almost more or less a spacer..


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

Captain Morgan said:
			
		

> when you cooking the first ones?  Maybe tonight? (with pics?)



Cappy, here you go, cooked pics. 
Cooked!




Plated




Tasted great, just like the ones my mom gets! They were real juicy also!


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## Finney (Nov 6, 2006)

Did you chew some up and spit it back on the plate?  LOL
What is that between the sausage and veggie medly?


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

Fresh horseradish, you dimwit!


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## Finney (Nov 6, 2006)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> Fresh horseradish, you dimwit!


Looks like you spit sausage on the plate.  LOL


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

Finney said:
			
		

> Nick Prochilo said:
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Of all the folks I know, your the last one I would have thought of who wouldn't know what that was!


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## Puff1 (Nov 6, 2006)

Looks great Nick!
Were those the casings I sent you?


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## SteerCrazy (Nov 6, 2006)

Alright, I don't want to sound like Finney but the Kielbasa I get at the store is reddish brown color and your kielbasa had no color. I am guessing they pump colorings in the store bought stuff???


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

Puff said:
			
		

> Looks great Nick!
> Were those the casings I sent you?


Yeah Puff, I only used about 1/2 of them, maybe a little less. I have the rest packed for the next venture, Italian sausage.



			
				Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
			
		

> Alright, I don't want to sound like Finney but the Kielbasa I get at the store is reddish brown color and your kielbasa had no color. I am guessing they pump colorings in the store bought stuff???



MBF, What you see in the store are smoked, these are fresh, much different taste.


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## SteerCrazy (Nov 6, 2006)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> Puff said:
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*MBF, What you see in the store are smoked, these are fresh, much different taste.*[/quote:3la1t4o5]

Got it...I'm guessin you boiled em??


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## Puff1 (Nov 6, 2006)

Glad they worked for you  
Looked awesome!


What about the hat?


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
			
		

> [quote="Nick Prochilo":jof4g5hp]
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*MBF, What you see in the store are smoked, these are fresh, much different taste.*[/quote:jof4g5hp]

Got it...I'm guessin you boiled em??[/quote:jof4g5hp]
Yuppers, sure did! That's the way my mom makes them all the time. I've got a couple ready (Foodsaved) that are perfect size for the grill!



			
				Puff said:
			
		

> Glad they worked for you
> Looked awesome!
> 
> 
> What about the hat?



I wore it making the sausage. It worked great, perfect size. How did you know?


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## Puff1 (Nov 6, 2006)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> [quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":1nnilph0][quote="Nick Prochilo":1nnilph0]
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*MBF, What you see in the store are smoked, these are fresh, much different taste.*[/quote:1nnilph0]

Got it...I'm guessin you boiled em??[/quote:1nnilph0]
Yuppers, sure did! That's the way my mom makes them all the time. I've got a couple ready (Foodsaved) that are perfect size for the grill!



			
				Puff said:
			
		

> Glad they worked for you
> Looked awesome!
> 
> 
> What about the hat?



I wore it making the sausage. It worked great, perfect size. How did you know?[/quote:1nnilph0]
The casings or the hat??


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 6, 2006)

The hat! Casings were perfect also!


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## Puff1 (Nov 6, 2006)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> The hat! Casings were perfect also!


Glad they worked out !
A pic of you in the hat would add a nice touch  8)


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## wittdog (Nov 7, 2006)

Nick the sausage looks great…nice and moist…great job….are you going to do more than 10lbs next time?

MBF this is what homemade smoked sausage looks like


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## Captain Morgan (Nov 7, 2006)

Nick, I ask again...was it worth the time and effort?  I'm interested in the idea of custom flavoring my sausages, cause I have fairly bizarre tastes,
but it seems like a lot of work.


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## wittdog (Nov 7, 2006)

Cappy you can always cheat by having the store grind the meat for you...that will decrease the amount of work.....its almost more work cleaning up then actually stuffing...thats why I tend to make bigger batches and then vac pac it....


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## Nick Prochilo (Nov 7, 2006)

wittdog said:
			
		

> Nick the sausage looks great…nice and moist…great job….are you going to do more than 10lbs next time?


I'm gonna stick with 10 lb batches for now. I'm going to experiment with different flavors and different styles so no sense screwing up a big batch.



			
				Captain Morgan said:
			
		

> Nick, I ask again...was it worth the time and effort?  I'm interested in the idea of custom flavoring my sausages, cause I have fairly bizarre tastes,
> but it seems like a lot of work.



I enjoyed every minute of it. I spent all day cooking Sunday, did the sausage, couple of bc chicks, a couple of chuckies. I was all cleaned up with everything, all cooking and all by 3:00 PM. I started around 9:00 AM. Grinding the sausage meat (10 lbs.) took all of 10 or 15 minutes. Stuffing took about 1 hour. I definitly think it was worth the time and effort. I'm already planning new tastes in my head!


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## Forkin Pork (Feb 6, 2007)

*Nice*

I'm a kielbasi maker Nick, and I must say, you did a fine job!
I'm also a restaurant chef, so presentation on the plate is the half, All and all the judges say ... 9.8     9.8    9.4    9.7   9.8   
Northsmoke Connecticut


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## Puff1 (Feb 6, 2007)

*Re: Nice*



			
				Northsmoke said:
			
		

> I'm a kielbasi maker Nick, and I must say, you did a fine job!
> I'm also a restaurant chef, so presentation on the plate is the half, All and all the judges say ... 9.8     9.8    9.4    9.7   9.8
> Northsmoke Connecticut


What restaurant do you serve your "chefly" goodies at?


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