Halusia's Kabanosy
Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 21:57
Halusia's Kabanosy
There is a long and continuing thread on the Polish WD forum on the subject of Halusia's Kabanosy. Countless forum members have tested her recipe with satisfaction and compliments. I finally got around to giving them a try as well. It's a very basic recipe, but with a couple of subtle differences. Kabanosy are made differently than other sausages when it comes to mixing the ground meat and spices. Most sausage recipes will tell you to mix until the mass is sticky and gluey, making it possible for a ball of meat to stick to your palm without falling off. Not so with Kabanosy, you do not mix to that consistency, but rather fold the meat just so the spices are distributed. Otherwise the finished sausage sticks will be rubbery like licorice twists. What you want to achieve is a crumbly or brittle texture so that the kabanos snaps easily in two. Original Kabanosy are made with sheep casings and now I know why. The casing is thin, sticks very well to the sausage, gives off a nice snap when you bite into it, and experts claim that it imparts a special flavour.
I followed Halusia's recipe quite closely with a couple of minor deviations. I added sugar to the cure as in the traditional recipe, which is supposed to assist in the activity of lactic acid that help in making the meat less sticky. (that is not my theory, so don't ask me to explain). For the meat I used pork loin, picnic trimmings and threw in a bit of back fat since jowl is impossible to source here. Kabanosy are supposed to be a bit on the fatty side. Note that in the recipe the spices are mixed into the cubed meat after curing and before grinding. That step reduces the amount of mixing before stuffing. I should also add that Kabanosy are never poached or cooled with water.
Halusia's Kabanosy Recipe
Pork , class I - 30% hind leg (fresh ham)
Pork, class II - 30% ham and/or picnic trimmings, 40% pork jowl
Curing ingredients - salt 16g/kg, Cure#1 2g/kg (I also added sugar, 2g/kg)
Added before grinding:
Fresh ground pepper - 1.8g/kg
Nutmeg - 0.5g/kg
Caraway - 0.7g/kg (I toasted and ground mine)
Garlic - 2.0g/kg
Cubed meat cured for 48 hours
Class I meat ground with 10mm plate
Class II meat ground with 6mm plate
Sheep casings are stuffed firmly
Setting (drying) approximately 12hours at 2-8 C (35-45 F) (Mine set at room temp. for approximately 90 minutes)
Drying (in smoker) up to 60 C (140 F)
Smoking at 45-70 C (115-155 F) until achieving the right colour, around 60 to 90 minutes (mine took a little over 2 hours)
Finish (bake) at 85-90 C (185-195 F) around 20-30 minutes (I did mine for an hour at 170-175 F)
Cooling by air.
The recipe does not go into drying the sausages. Traditional recipes call for drying at a temp of 12-15 C and humidity of around 75%, until reaching losing 40-45% of raw weight. I dried mine for 24hrs at 18°, then 2 days in my curing chamber at 12°. They are ready to eat, so who cares about the weight loss percentage!
There is a long and continuing thread on the Polish WD forum on the subject of Halusia's Kabanosy. Countless forum members have tested her recipe with satisfaction and compliments. I finally got around to giving them a try as well. It's a very basic recipe, but with a couple of subtle differences. Kabanosy are made differently than other sausages when it comes to mixing the ground meat and spices. Most sausage recipes will tell you to mix until the mass is sticky and gluey, making it possible for a ball of meat to stick to your palm without falling off. Not so with Kabanosy, you do not mix to that consistency, but rather fold the meat just so the spices are distributed. Otherwise the finished sausage sticks will be rubbery like licorice twists. What you want to achieve is a crumbly or brittle texture so that the kabanos snaps easily in two. Original Kabanosy are made with sheep casings and now I know why. The casing is thin, sticks very well to the sausage, gives off a nice snap when you bite into it, and experts claim that it imparts a special flavour.
I followed Halusia's recipe quite closely with a couple of minor deviations. I added sugar to the cure as in the traditional recipe, which is supposed to assist in the activity of lactic acid that help in making the meat less sticky. (that is not my theory, so don't ask me to explain). For the meat I used pork loin, picnic trimmings and threw in a bit of back fat since jowl is impossible to source here. Kabanosy are supposed to be a bit on the fatty side. Note that in the recipe the spices are mixed into the cubed meat after curing and before grinding. That step reduces the amount of mixing before stuffing. I should also add that Kabanosy are never poached or cooled with water.
Halusia's Kabanosy Recipe
Pork , class I - 30% hind leg (fresh ham)
Pork, class II - 30% ham and/or picnic trimmings, 40% pork jowl
Curing ingredients - salt 16g/kg, Cure#1 2g/kg (I also added sugar, 2g/kg)
Added before grinding:
Fresh ground pepper - 1.8g/kg
Nutmeg - 0.5g/kg
Caraway - 0.7g/kg (I toasted and ground mine)
Garlic - 2.0g/kg
Cubed meat cured for 48 hours
Class I meat ground with 10mm plate
Class II meat ground with 6mm plate
Sheep casings are stuffed firmly
Setting (drying) approximately 12hours at 2-8 C (35-45 F) (Mine set at room temp. for approximately 90 minutes)
Drying (in smoker) up to 60 C (140 F)
Smoking at 45-70 C (115-155 F) until achieving the right colour, around 60 to 90 minutes (mine took a little over 2 hours)
Finish (bake) at 85-90 C (185-195 F) around 20-30 minutes (I did mine for an hour at 170-175 F)
Cooling by air.
The recipe does not go into drying the sausages. Traditional recipes call for drying at a temp of 12-15 C and humidity of around 75%, until reaching losing 40-45% of raw weight. I dried mine for 24hrs at 18°, then 2 days in my curing chamber at 12°. They are ready to eat, so who cares about the weight loss percentage!