[CAN] Cactus Gap Kielbasa

[Big Guy]

grinding up some pork



mixing



stuffing



into the smoker



all done smoking



cooling down



packaging up



on the plate



the recipe

"Cactus Gap Kielbasa"


12 lbs. pork butt
1 tsp. liquid smoke in 1 pint of water
2 tsp cure #1
5 garlic cloves (crushed)
5 Tbs. kosher salt
2 Tbs. Corn syrup solids
1-1/2 Tbs. freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 tsp. marjoram
2 tsp. dried-rubbed summer savory
2 Tbs. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp special meat binder
1/2 cup milk powder

Grind the pork using a 3/16" plate, . Mix all the ingredients well into the sausage until a meat paste is formed. Stuff the sausage into 52 mm soaked fiberous casings smoke with maple wood start at 130 F for 2hrs then raise the smoker to 170 and smoke to an internal of 152 F


enjoy

[Siara]

Big Guy, thanks for sharing this recipe with us. This looks great. I do have a question. In your recipe I see:

1 tsp special meat binder

What did you use?

[Big Guy]

I used a product called "special meat binder" avalible from Butcher Packer in Detroit. Its a poly-phosphate based binder it makes for a plump and juicy product.

[Maz]

Well done Big Guy, I see you have not lost your touch.

[Siara]

Big Guy, thanks for info. Let me share with you my humble opinion. With good quality of meat, correct process and excellent equipment which you already have, you can get the same but much healthier result. In case of this recipe, powdered milk does the job of emulsifier, but can as well be skipped. You see Big Guy, Me and my friends from wedlinydomowe.pl, always recommend not to use any unnecessary chemicals. Polyphosphates are used in meat industry to make so cold "highly efficient sausages". They can produce 2kg of ham or other products using just 1kg of meat. This will not be neutral for your health. I'm not sure if you were already trying, but when making next batch, try to make part of your batch without meat binder and powdered milk for comparison.

[Big Guy]

Siara I have tried this recipe sans milk powder and special meat binder and much prefer it with those additions. Being a chemist by trade I have no irrational fear of chemicals. You make sausage your way and I'll make it my way.

[Siara]

I have no irrational fear of chemicals.

Your choice Big Guy.
I'm just not sure if this is irrational fear from my side.

Abstract
The review analyzes the results of recent studies on the biochemistry of high-molecular inorganic poly-phosphates (PolyPs). The data obtained lead to the following main conclusions. PolyPs are polyfunctional compounds. The main role of PolyPs is their participation in the regulation of metabolism both at the genetic and metabolic levels. Among the functions of PolyPs known at present, the most important are the following: phosphate and energy storage; regulation of the levels of ATP and other nucleotide and nucleoside-containing coenzymes; participation in the regulation of homeostasis and storage of inorganic cations and other positively charged solutes in an osmotically inert form; participation in membrane transport processes mediated by poly-β-Ca2+-hydroxybutyrate complexes; participation in the formation and functions of cell surface structures; control of gene activity; and regulation of activities of the enzymes and enzyme assemblies involved in the metabolism of nucleic acids and other acid biopolymers. However, the functions of PolyPs vary among organisms of different evolutionary levels. The metabolism and functions of PolyPs in each cellular compartment of procaryotes (cell wall, plasma membrane, cytosol) and eucaryotes (nuclei, vacuoles, mitochondria, plasma membrane, cell wall, mitochondria, cytosol) are unique. The synthesis and degradation of PolyPs in the organelles of eucaryotic cells are possibly mediated by different sets of enzymes. This is consistent with of the endosymbiotic hypothesis of eucaryotic cell origin. Some aspects of the biochemistry of high-molecular PolyPs are considered to be of great significance to the approach to biotechnological, ecological and medical problems.

Source:

Code: Select all

New aspects of inorganic polyphosphate metabolism and function

Igor Kulaev, Vladimir Vagabov and Tatiana Kulakovskaya
G.K. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, 142292, Russia
Received 16 April 1999;  accepted 22 May 1999. ; Available online 10 November 1999. 

Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... archtype=a

You make sausage your way and I'll make it my way.

That is why I have explained how will I do. It will be difficult to compare without it, isn't it? Anyway, this was just friendly advise no more, the rest is your call.

[Darthfrog]

smoke with maple wood start at 130 F for 2hrs then raise the smoker to 170 and smoke to an internal of 152 F

Hey Big Guy, the sausage looks great. I'm hoping to produce kielbasa that looks that good.

I have a question about your smoking methods. I think I have the same smoker as you, a propane water smoker. I got mine from Costco a few years back, under the "Great Smokey Mountain" brand and have seen similar at WalMart and at the Sausage Maker web site. I've only ever been able to do hot smoking with my smoker, finding it difficult to keep the cabinet temperature *down* to 200F (93C) and still have it generate smoke. And it takes an hour before it starts to smoke at that temp;. This afternoon, I turned it on to a minimum flame and the cabinet temperature rose to 150F (65.5C) without any smoke. Thus I figured I need an external smoke generator to be able to do cold smoking with my smoker.

Then I read your post about Cactus Gap kielbasa and it sounds like you're doing cold smoking with a propane water smoker fairly similar to mine. So I'm wondering how you're doing it? How are you keeping the cabinet temp down and still managing to generate smoke? Are you using an external smoke generator?

--
Cheers,
Rob

[Chuckwagon]

Hi Darthfrog,
How about trying this: Click on the following link (it`s from the homepage of this site in the smokehouse plans niche. http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/smokehouse ... at-smokers
There`s lots of info on this page, but also notice in the upper right-hand corner the words "smokehouse plans" appear in red. Place your cursor over the topic and you`ll see a drop-down index with all kinds of info about smokers. You might also consider purchasing Stan and Adam Marianski`s book, "Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design". (see: www.bookmagic.com). Or you can just enter the sausage making contest for February and win a book. Heck, I`ll bet "Seminole" will even autograph it for you. For contest details, click on the following link: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

I`m not really familiar with your propane-water smoker but I do know that ol` Rytk Kutas would always turn the heat on high enough initially to start the dampened sawdust burning. When a smudge was created, the temperature under the stainless steel dish was dropped to a point where it would just barely continue to burn.

I posted the original Cactus Gap Kielbasa recipe a couple of years ago on the English Sausage making site. It is actually a recipe of Rytek Kutas` from more years back than I care to remember. Big Guy picked up on it and changed it a bit to suit his own tastes. He has included Hungarian paprika and summer savory as well as substituting corn syrup solids for the original sugar. His addition of "special meat binder" is certainly not mine, nor is the addition of milk powder. Rytek didn`t use milk powder. He always said that powdered milk used in making sausage should be "dairyfine" (the consistency of cornstarch) from a dairy. He preferred binding with soy protein concentrate.

Cactus Gap Kielbasa (my original from Rytek) was also designed for ten pounds of pork butt rather than twelve. Big Guy even added more pepper. But shucks, I shouldn`t squawk... I still recognize the same amount of salt in the recipe! Heck, maybe I`ll change the name to "Cactus Gap Reconstituted, Recalibrated, & Converted Kielbasa".

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

[Big Guy]

smoke with maple wood start at 130 F for 2hrs then raise the smoker to 170 and smoke to an internal of 152 F

Hey Big Guy, the sausage looks great. I'm hoping to produce kielbasa that looks that good.

I have a question about your smoking methods. I think I have the same smoker as you, a propane water smoker. I got mine from Costco a few years back, under the "Great Smokey Mountain" brand and have seen similar at WalMart and at the Sausage Maker web site. I've only ever been able to do hot smoking with my smoker, finding it difficult to keep the cabinet temperature *down* to 200F (93C) and still have it generate smoke. And it takes an hour before it starts to smoke at that temp;. This afternoon, I turned it on to a minimum flame and the cabinet temperature rose to 150F (65.5C) without any smoke. Thus I figured I need an external smoke generator to be able to do cold smoking with my smoker.

Then I read your post about Cactus Gap kielbasa and it sounds like you're doing cold smoking with a propane water smoker fairly similar to mine. So I'm wondering how you're doing it? How are you keeping the cabinet temp down and still managing to generate smoke? Are you using an external smoke generator?



Cheers,
Rob

They make several sizes of that smoker , mine is 24" wide and 16" deep. It will run @ 120F on the low setting in cool weather . If its 80 F outside its more like 150 f. I got one for my son and its about 2/3 the size of mine and he couldn't get it below 175. We added a needle valve between the burner and the regulator and he can now smoke at 130.
I cheat a little as its hard to generate smoke at those low temps, so I start my chips with a propane torch when I want smoke. Once started they keep going. i hope this helps.--

[Salmonclubber]

Great looking stuff Big Guy I have to agree with you on the binder and powdered milk I use them in some of my sausages and they make a huge difference this looks like a great Recipe will have to give it a try soon

[ssorllih]

Would you get the same result using fresh milk in place of the water and leaving out the milk powder?

[Chuckwagon]

Nope, sorry Ross. The milk powder that people use in sausages should be "dairy fine" meaning the texture is comparable to that of cornstarch. It can only be found at... you guessed it... dairies.
The reason people use it is to "bind" proteins in meat. Soy protein concentrate is ideal for this purpose and recommended by doctors. Frugal sausage makers for quite some time, have substituted milk powder which also binds meat for sausage. As with any ingredient, there are limits to observe. More than 3% will definitely begin to affect the texture and flavor of sausage.
Whole milk has been used in a few sausage recipes for some special effects, but the volume is not significant. Certain bratwursts and German sausages contain varying amounts of whole milk.
Shucks pard, I'm allergic to milk - so I squeeze in a "glug" or two of good Burgundy into my sausages. The flavor is exquisite if one does not get carried away.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

[Big Guy]

to make fine milk powder just take store bought milk powder and buzz it up in a blender to a fine consistancy, works for me.

[Chuckwagon]

That's a "fine" idea!