Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 02:37
Hi Folks,
I`d like to share one of my favorite recipes with you. So far in "Project B" you have learned how to make fresh sausage, cured and prep-cooked sausage, and semi-dry cured sausage. This original recipe for Krainerwurst required some research a few years back and it is for "cured-smoked-cooked" style sausage. You may prefer to make "fresh" sausage by omitting the Cure #1. Perhaps you`d like to try a "semi-dry cured" version of the Krainerwurst. If so, just add the Cure #1, a tablespoon of sugar, and a single gram of LHP culture.
Krainerwurst (Slovenian Sausage)
(Cured, Smoked, Cooked)
Genuine Slovenian Krainerwurst has pretty specific traditional instructions. It must contain a minimum of 68% pork, 12% beef, and 20% fresh pork belly (bacon) with a little added water and only salt, garlic, and black pepper added for seasoning. The meat must be cut into 10 to 13 mm. pieces, and the bacon into 8 to 10 mm. pieces. Only 32-36 mm. hog casings are used, and links are formed in pairs of 12 to 16 cm lengths having the weight of 180 to 220 grams. Wooden skewers are used to hold the pairs together. The sausages are cured and then hot-smoked at relatively low temperatures. It`s interesting to note that the recipe has been widely misrepresented over time, especially in America where various spices and cheeses have been added. Here is the basic recipe:
7 lbs. pork butt with fat
1-1/2 lbs. lean beef chuck
1-1/2 lbs. fresh pork bacon
2 level tspns. Cure #1 (if making "cured-cooked-smoked" sausage or "semi-dry cured" sausage).
1 gram Bactoferm™ LHP culture (if making "semi-dry cured sausage).
4 tblspns. salt
3 garlic cloves (crushed and minced)
1 tblspn. granulated garlic
2 tblspns. coarse black pepper (freshly ground)
32-36 mm. hog casings
To make "fresh" sausage:
Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1-1/2 " cubes to keep sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Mix the Cure #1 with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat into a sticky meat paste by adding the remaining ingredients and kneading the mixture to develop the primary bind. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour. "Fresh" sausage must be refrigerated and consumed within three days, or frozen for future use.
To make "cured-cooked-smoked" sausage:
Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Remember to add Cure #1. For ten pounds of meat, use 2 level teaspoons of cure mixed with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Mix the cure and ingredients thoroughly throughout the primary bind. Work with small batches, kneading the meat into a sticky meat paste, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour. Place the sausages into a preheated 130°F. (54°C.) smokehouse for an hour (with the damper open) before introducing hickory smoke and adjusting the damper to only 1/4 open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees every twenty minutes, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 150°F. This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated until it is grilled on a smoky BBQ grill.
To make "semi-dry cured" sausage:
Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Remember to add Cure #1, a tablespoon of sugar, and one gram of LHP culture to the recipe. For ten pounds of meat, use 2 level teaspoons of cure mixed with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Next, prepare the culture by following the mixing directions on the packet. Use non-chlorinated water and mix the cure and ingredients thoroughly throughout the primary bind. Work with small batches, kneading the meat into a sticky meat paste, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings.
If you have a "curing chamber", place the sausages in it and ferment at 100°F for 24 hours in 90% humidity. If a drier sausage is desired, ferment it for 48 hours.
If you do not have a "curing chamber", place one pound of regular table salt onto a cookie sheet with a lip around it. Spread the salt out evenly and add just enough water to barely cover the salt. Place the cookie sheet and salt in the bottom of an old fridge (unplugged) or your home kitchen oven. Keep the oven warm by using the pilot light in a gas model, or a hundred-watt light bulb covered with a large coffee can with several holes drilled in it. This will produce a warm area for a 2-day fermentation period at about 70% humidity.
When the fermentation has finished, place the links into your pre-heated 120°F smoker and introduce warm smoke. Use a hygrometer and try to maintain a 70% humidity during the process. Gradually, raise the temperature of the smokehouse by merely 2 degrees every 20 minutes. Do NOT attempt to boost the heat to shorten the duration. This procedure may take several hours. Monitor the IMT (internal meat temperature) and when it reaches 140°F, discontinue the cooking-smoking.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
I`d like to share one of my favorite recipes with you. So far in "Project B" you have learned how to make fresh sausage, cured and prep-cooked sausage, and semi-dry cured sausage. This original recipe for Krainerwurst required some research a few years back and it is for "cured-smoked-cooked" style sausage. You may prefer to make "fresh" sausage by omitting the Cure #1. Perhaps you`d like to try a "semi-dry cured" version of the Krainerwurst. If so, just add the Cure #1, a tablespoon of sugar, and a single gram of LHP culture.
Krainerwurst (Slovenian Sausage)
(Cured, Smoked, Cooked)
Genuine Slovenian Krainerwurst has pretty specific traditional instructions. It must contain a minimum of 68% pork, 12% beef, and 20% fresh pork belly (bacon) with a little added water and only salt, garlic, and black pepper added for seasoning. The meat must be cut into 10 to 13 mm. pieces, and the bacon into 8 to 10 mm. pieces. Only 32-36 mm. hog casings are used, and links are formed in pairs of 12 to 16 cm lengths having the weight of 180 to 220 grams. Wooden skewers are used to hold the pairs together. The sausages are cured and then hot-smoked at relatively low temperatures. It`s interesting to note that the recipe has been widely misrepresented over time, especially in America where various spices and cheeses have been added. Here is the basic recipe:
7 lbs. pork butt with fat
1-1/2 lbs. lean beef chuck
1-1/2 lbs. fresh pork bacon
2 level tspns. Cure #1 (if making "cured-cooked-smoked" sausage or "semi-dry cured" sausage).
1 gram Bactoferm™ LHP culture (if making "semi-dry cured sausage).
4 tblspns. salt
3 garlic cloves (crushed and minced)
1 tblspn. granulated garlic
2 tblspns. coarse black pepper (freshly ground)
32-36 mm. hog casings
To make "fresh" sausage:
Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1-1/2 " cubes to keep sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Mix the Cure #1 with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat into a sticky meat paste by adding the remaining ingredients and kneading the mixture to develop the primary bind. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour. "Fresh" sausage must be refrigerated and consumed within three days, or frozen for future use.
To make "cured-cooked-smoked" sausage:
Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Remember to add Cure #1. For ten pounds of meat, use 2 level teaspoons of cure mixed with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Mix the cure and ingredients thoroughly throughout the primary bind. Work with small batches, kneading the meat into a sticky meat paste, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour. Place the sausages into a preheated 130°F. (54°C.) smokehouse for an hour (with the damper open) before introducing hickory smoke and adjusting the damper to only 1/4 open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees every twenty minutes, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 150°F. This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated until it is grilled on a smoky BBQ grill.
To make "semi-dry cured" sausage:
Grind the meat using the 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Remember to add Cure #1, a tablespoon of sugar, and one gram of LHP culture to the recipe. For ten pounds of meat, use 2 level teaspoons of cure mixed with a little water for uniform distribution and add it to the meat. Next, prepare the culture by following the mixing directions on the packet. Use non-chlorinated water and mix the cure and ingredients thoroughly throughout the primary bind. Work with small batches, kneading the meat into a sticky meat paste, refrigerating the meat and fat at every opportunity. Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. hog casings.
If you have a "curing chamber", place the sausages in it and ferment at 100°F for 24 hours in 90% humidity. If a drier sausage is desired, ferment it for 48 hours.
If you do not have a "curing chamber", place one pound of regular table salt onto a cookie sheet with a lip around it. Spread the salt out evenly and add just enough water to barely cover the salt. Place the cookie sheet and salt in the bottom of an old fridge (unplugged) or your home kitchen oven. Keep the oven warm by using the pilot light in a gas model, or a hundred-watt light bulb covered with a large coffee can with several holes drilled in it. This will produce a warm area for a 2-day fermentation period at about 70% humidity.
When the fermentation has finished, place the links into your pre-heated 120°F smoker and introduce warm smoke. Use a hygrometer and try to maintain a 70% humidity during the process. Gradually, raise the temperature of the smokehouse by merely 2 degrees every 20 minutes. Do NOT attempt to boost the heat to shorten the duration. This procedure may take several hours. Monitor the IMT (internal meat temperature) and when it reaches 140°F, discontinue the cooking-smoking.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon