I had the problem of rubbery sausage once and it was because of the pork I used. I bought some Hormel brand boneless pork butt at Walmart. I noticed on the package that it contained a proprietary brine solution. This brine solution in the meat distorted the taste of the seasonings I added and the te...

The brine I use is about 34 degrees according to my calculations. 3/4 cup of Morton Kosher Salt = 186 Grams which is 0.41 pounds per 8 cups or 0.82 pounds per gallon. This calculation does not include the salt that is in the soy sauce. A 30 degree brine according to this web site is suitable for fis...

I live close to Lake Michigan`s Grand Traverse Bay. The other night, my son came home with four nice looking lake trout that he and a buddy caught trolling on the bay. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w411/mrugbym/image-5.jpg It was kind of late so I just filleted the fish and put them in the fri...

Bubba, i hope you enjoy going there as much as I do. Most of their sausages hang behind the deli counter at room temperature, so you know they take to extra steps to produce them as they did in Poland before refrigeration was wide spread. There is also a good Polish restaurant on the same side of th...

I was looking at the website justsmokedsalmon.com. There are dozens of brine recipes on this site and not one of them contain cure #1. By looking at this site it appears to me that most people who smoke fish do not use nitrates/nitrites. One recipe calls for smoking at 120F for 9-11 hours. The fish ...

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w411/mrugbym/photo1.jpg I just made some Mysliwska. I used the recipe from Stan`s book on Polish Sausages. This sausage is quite lean but still very tasty. The recipe calls for 2kg class one pork, 2.5kg class two pork and 0.5kg class one or two beef. I cut down t...

I am a little confused on why it is not necessary to add cure #1 to fish when smoking. Is soaking in a brine enough to make ithe fish safe from botulism? I also see brines for smoking chicken with no cure #1, is this safe?

For a weight in my crock I use strips of oak cross crossed. I set a stone I found on a Lake Superior beach on top of the oak strips to weigh it down. No need to buy the stone weight when the beach is full of them.

I too use 2% salt. I usually make sauerkraut in the fall when the fall/winter cabbage is in season. I set the furnace thermostat for the house at 65 degrees. After four or five weeks when most of the fermentation has taken place, I move the crock into the garage. My garage is insulated so it stays c...

If you are ever in Chicago, stop in Kurowski's Sausage Shop. This Polish market has an enormous selection of homemade sausages, ham, bacons, head cheese and luncheon meats. Hanging behind the delicatessen counter are several varieties of kielbasa. Kielbasa Zywiecka, Bigosowa, Rzeszowska, Mysliwska, ...

My crock is the one from Poland too. You can hear the cabbage ferment as the CO2 bubbles through the water seal. I learned to make sauerkraut from a couple who were born and raised in Poland. They would put a layer of cabbage in the crock followed by a handful of salt, then another layer of cabbage ...

I have some very good homemade kraut sitting in a crock waiting for some good kielbasa to come along. We should get together!
After using the binders, would you ever go back to making kielbasa without them?

Hi Duck, Thanks for posting. I have been looking for a good Chorizo recipe for a little while. The Latino market in my area makes fairly good Chorizo, but it is not consistantly good. Sometimes they go too heavy on the salt. I made your recipe this weekend and I am eating a piece as I type this. It ...

Hi NorCal Kid I made some Mortadella. I used your recipe as a guide and changed a few things. I don't like using garlic powder, so I replaced it with fresh garlic. I added some anise and caraway and increased the black pepper. I cut down on the coriander as I saw other recipes used much less. I adde...

I am confused on how much water to add when making Mortadella. I looked at the recipe for Polish Mortadella in the book, Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes and Instructions. It calls for 30-40% water. I take this to mean 300-400ml of water per 1000g of meat. The recipe for Polish Mortadella on this ...