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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 18:25
by atcNick
Chuckwagon wrote:Now those are some nice pics - especially the last one where Charcuterier Sui Generis Extraordinaire Nick is holding the goods with a smile on his face. That means it's all worth the effort eh?
Hey Nick, please tell us that you are using UNtreated wood dowels for your sticks. Your stuffing looks great - much easier with two people... takes the hard work out of it. Trying to juggle the volume going into the casing and cranking with one hand can be a little frustrating eh?
I don't have all the answers, but I've found that tough casings can be the result of too high a temperature for too short a period of time. Also, if they are not flushed then soaked in fresh water for quite a while before stuffing, they can be a little tough too. Then sometimes it is just the nature of the particular casing you are using. The texture may improve as they dry out a bit. I'm betting in about a week, you're going to be pretty satisfied with the stuff.
The mixture looks quite smooth for kabanosy, but the fat content looks about right. What plate size did you use? Did you fold in the spices rather than really beating up the primary bind? Quit worrying - another five days and you'll have some great sausages on your hands. Nice going Nick. Its beautiful stuff!
Best wishes, Chuckwagon
Ahh...that was a fake smile. Took longer than expected to grind and stuff, didnt get to bed til after midnight and had to get up at 430am for work. And for some reason my back was killing me, same thing happened last time I made sausage, maybe I need to do it in the kitchen rather than the dining room table.

Im pretty sure the dowel rods are untreated. They werent specifically labeled "untreated". I bought them at Home Depot, they're labeled "hardwood". Guys on another forum Im on seem to think its untreated.

I had my wife helping me crank the stuffer, but she either goes too fast or too slow. She was too busy gossiping on the phone while cranking too which made following instructions a little more difficult. (hope she doesnt find this post). I think I need one of those foot pedals and a motorized stuffer were I can do it all myself.

About the tough casings: I did have a few bad temp spikes. The winds were blowing 20+ yesterday. Also I think the center of the smoker is about 40-50 degrees hotter than the outter edges. I think I have an idea for a fix for that. I did soak the casings for about 30 minutes and then flushed out the insides. I ran out of flushed casings so I had to quickly soak and flush a few more since it was getting late, so those I had ready in less than 10 minutes.

About the texture: I thought the same thing. I dont know what Im doing wrong. After I took the cured chunks of meat out of the fridge I layed them out in a single layer on a couple cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer for about half an hour to firm them up nicely. I added the spices to about a 3/4 cup of cold water and poured it over and mixed up the spices and two piles of ground meat together. I just used my hands to mix, not really sure how else to do it. I guess I folded. I only did this for a couple minutes.

I think next time I will make about a 2 lb batch until I have this sausage making figured out. So far my success rate is pretty poor..lol.

Thanks for all the comments Chuck. ;)

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 18:27
by atcNick
BonAir wrote:atcNick - great job!
dzienkuje bardzo!!


Thanks Dave!!

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 04:34
by atcNick
Here are the Kabanosy one day after smoking. The first two pictures are of the ones drying at room temp. I believe the humidity is around 40-50%. The last picture is in the mini fridge at 50*F and 80% humidity. Looks like the room temp ones will be ready tomorrow morning. Since the thickness was so uneven some of the thicker parts are still too "rubbery". I tried a piece of the room temp Kabanosy and the skin doesnt seem as tough today. And the texture in the middle is getting to what it should be. Im not as dissapointed today as I was yesterday. :)

Im letting the ones in the fridge air out a couple times a day by leaving the fridge door open a few minutes at a time.

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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 04:45
by atcNick
Siara, how long do you dry your kabanosy at room temperature? I dont think it will take more than a day and a half for me.

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 15:38
by atcNick
Ok. I think the ones drying at room temperature are done. That's 1.5 days of drying. The flavor is awesome. The casings are still a little tougher than Im use to on Kabanosy but not as bad as when they first came out of the smoker. One thing I noticed, and you can see in the pictures, is that the drying was a little uneven due to the low humidity in the house. It looks like the outside dried faster than the inside. Overall Im satisified with the results. I will have to work on making a more uniformly sized sausage next time Im stuffing. The ones in the fridge are still drying, coming along nicely. I will continue to post pictures.

Here are the pictures of the ones that just finished drying:

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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 19:44
by BonAir
atcNick, how do you perceive..ehm.. "consistency" of your fabulous kabanosy?
Do they behave like a rubber or rather like a dry branch when you try to break them?
The famous polish kabanosy sholud behave exactly like a dry branch, sounding like a "knack" during breaking.
the drying was a little uneven due to the low humidity in the house
Yes, it is. But in my opinion, uneven drying is much more problematic during production of large diameter sausages like salami, chorizo, skilandis (PL: kindziuk), krakowska sucha, etc., where outer, dry surface does not allow for the evaporation of water from inside the sausage.

Once again - great job!
And please send me some to taste ;)

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 23:10
by atcNick
BonAir wrote:atcNick, how do you perceive..ehm.. "consistency" of your fabulous kabanosy?
Do they behave like a rubber or rather like a dry branch when you try to break them?
The famous polish kabanosy sholud behave exactly like a dry branch, sounding like a "knack" during breaking.
the drying was a little uneven due to the low humidity in the house
Yes, it is. But in my opinion, uneven drying is much more problematic during production of large diameter sausages like salami, chorizo, skilandis (PL: kindziuk), krakowska sucha, etc., where outer, dry surface does not allow for the evaporation of water from inside the sausage.

Once again - great job!
And please send me some to taste ;)
I am still a novice at stuffing casings so the sausage came out at different thickness. The skinny pieces were over dried, there was a "knack" and it would break in half. The thicker pieces are still a little rubbery and wont break. I will have to work on my stuffing skill next time. Maybe make sure I have my wife's full attention when she is cranking the stuffer..haha. Im hoping the ones in the fridge dry nicely in the next few days.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 06:39
by Chuckwagon
They look amazing Nick! Very nice indeed. Isn't it surprising how much volume they lose at the moisture leaves the meat? I'm stuck on the flavor of those things. Kabanosy is the ideal snack stick eh? What's next on your agenda?
I'm doing Las Vegas style ribs for a big family party. We're trying to line up my neice with my next door neighbor's son. I should know better than to play cupid but these "kids" are almost 30 years old. Both are gorgeous and smart. I figure I can "cast a magic" spell on them with my Las Vegas Ribs (Rytek Kutas' recipe). They are brined for two days while the meat actually turns into ham. Then they are heavily smoked in hickory before they are finally cooked in a low temp barbecue oven for a few hours. The meat is unbelievable and we "bake" em' just until a person with good dentures has to slightly "chew" them from the bone. They are not so overdone as to "fall off" the bone. If anyone is interested, I'll sure post the recipe.
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 02:49
by atcNick
Yea it is!! One thing I have noticed, even after they have finished drying (the room temp ones) is that the flavor still gets better ever day. I think Im going to make some polska wedzona hot smoked before Christmas for the family. My mom is bringing ruskie pierogi i bigos. And after the 1st of the year Im going to make another batch of kabanosy to give to my brother in law in Utah. My wife's coworker keeps telling her he's going to give her some venison so I will probably turn that into some kind of sausage if I ever get it.

Las Vegas ribs, never heard of that before. Sounds great. Bacon on a stick!! People down in Texas love "fall off the bone" ribs. I personally dont like it that done. I like a little give to it, but not so much that you cant get all the meat off the bone. Post some pictures of that if you get a chance.

Chuckwagon wrote:They look amazing Nick! Very nice indeed. Isn't it surprising how much volume they lose at the moisture leaves the meat? I'm stuck on the flavor of those things. Kabanosy is the ideal snack stick eh? What's next on your agenda?
I'm doing Las Vegas style ribs for a big family party. We're trying to line up my neice with my next door neighbor's son. I should know better than to play cupid but these "kids" are almost 30 years old. Both are gorgeous and smart. I figure I can "cast a magic" spell on them with my Las Vegas Ribs (Rytek Kutas' recipe). They are brined for two days while the meat actually turns into ham. Then they are heavily smoked in hickory before they are finally cooked in a low temp barbecue oven for a few hours. The meat is unbelievable and we "bake" em' just until a person with good dentures has to slightly "chew" them from the bone. They are not so overdone as to "fall off" the bone. If anyone is interested, I'll sure post the recipe.
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 15:02
by Siara
atcNick, sorry for not replying, but I see you are good now.
Excellent work atcNick, brawo.

Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 06:58
by atcNick
Well I pulled the rest of the Kabanosy out of the drying fridge after 4 days. I had them hanging out of the fridge the last night for about 8 hours, I was afraid the humidity in the fridge was getting too high, 83%+.

They turned out great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not have done it without y'all's help.

Here's a few more pictures


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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:43
by Chuckwagon
Nice going Nick! Glad it turned out well. I think you were nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs waiting to see how it turned out. Stan's recipe is amazing isn't it? I'm about addicted to the stuff.
I'm turning a few baby back ribs into ham tonight. Smoking them man~ana then bbqing them for a weekend get together. Got 10 lbs. of salami ready to come out of 3 months hibernation too. Just in time for the holidays.
If anyone would like to try some salami made with Bactoferm for Christmas, it isn't too late if you use a 2-day culture (LHP) or a 4-day culture (F-RM-52). I use an SPX culture (30 days) for milder, not so tangy, flavor.
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 06:57
by steelchef
Thank you Nick, for taking the time to share your adventure. You have done what Chuckwagon could not convince me to do; venture into the realm of fermented sausage.
I resisted, mainly because starters and other supplies are hard to find in Canada. However, Christmas came early for this old man. I stumbled on a website in southern BC that can supply everything I need, so come spring I'll be sharing photos of my kabanosy and salami.
Good Job! :grin:

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 23:36
by atcNick
Thanks steelchef,

But these were not fermented, just cured and smoked like regular sausage and then dried in a seperate fridge at about 50F and 80% humidity for 4-5 days.

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 00:08
by steelchef
Well Nick, now you and the rest of the world are aware of all that I know about the subject. I assumed! :shock:

It still look delicious and I'll definitely be making a batch ASAP.