Kielabasa Diary

[Fat Guy]

I have been in possession of some of Klink's kielbasa for a few days, but only today did I get around to cooking any. I made home fries, kielbasa, and fried eggs (fried in the rendered kilebasa fat).

There are two primary species of home-crafted foods, such as home-brewed beer and home-baked bread. Species Number One is awful. It makes you think nobody should ever try to make the product in question at home, ever. You choke it down and try to think if any single attribute to sort-of praise ("It has a chocolaty flavor."). Species Number Two is the eye-opener, where you finally learn what something is supposed to taste like in its artisanal, hand-crafted, archetypal form -- what it was like in the good old days before ConAgra and its ilk dumbed down and homogenized so many food products.

Klink's kielbasa is Species Number Two. I won't go on to rave and rave. Suffice it to say it is remarkable stuff. Now I will offer my constructive criticism: more moisture; less pepper. Thank you.

[Jason Perlow]

I definitely like the current batch (and Fink and co. definitely agree, as they tasted some today) but I feel it is best used in breakfasty dishes, since it is more crumbly and more spicy. Used as such it is definitely a superior specimen.

My favorite to date was Klink's first attempt, which was so smoky it had to be soaked in water. SMOKE IS GOOD!

[Fat Guy]

What did you think of the pepper level, Jason?

[Dave the Cook]

I am remiss in posting, as we had Klink's sausage late last week.

First, I agree with Fat Guy that this is an exemplary product. I have never had sausage like this. And I mean that in the nest possible way.

I agree with Jason that it is crumbly, and now I wish that I had saved some for a breakfast. However, what we had disappeared at dinner, with just a little left over for lunch the next day. (Raves over the aroma were heard from the next cubicle.)

Actually, I think the pepper level was fine. If anything, I would say just a little less garlic. But I also find that pepper and garlic are difficult to segregate in a finished dish -- I think there is a complex interaction between the two. Fat Guy may be right. So I vote for further experimentation.

[Fat Guy]

I have now combined the aforementioned home fries with chopped leftover kielbasa and created quite an amazing sausage hash.

[Dave the Cook]

J'accuse, M. Klink.

I am convinced that you guys got more than I did, and I am officially insinuating that Klink is sucking up.

[Jason Perlow]

What did you think of the pepper level, Jason?

Perfect. He shouldn't mess with it.

[Fat Guy]

What did you think of the pepper level, Jason?

Perfect. He shouldn't mess with it.

Translation: too much pepper. (Jason is a pepper freak.)

[Jason Perlow]

Are you on crack? There is no such thing as too much pepper in sausage.

[Fat Guy]

I rest my case.

[jhlurie]

Are you on crack? There is no such thing as too much pepper in sausage.

I'm with Jason on this. Then again I didn't have any of the last Klink batch.

Klink, are there any ideas to make an intentional attempt at a breakfast sausage? Sweeter, I'd think, maybe with a some less traditional spices in it. Thinner links too, right?

[Blue Heron]

klink ... I loved the kielbasa.

I agree with Jason. I liked the pepper level. However hubby thought it was spicy (but he always likes his food bland), so he would probably side with Steven.

The first evening I cooked some packaged Swiss knofpli (like spatzle) in bouillon and added the kielbasa to the pot to heat it up. Served with some sauerkraut & salad. It was perfect.

The second night, I heated up the kielbasa in the pouch it came in, as klink had recommended.

One thing I noticed is that the first night, when I cut the sausage up, I ate the casing as it was edible. However, the second night, the casing was tough, so I removed the sausage out of the casing to eat it.

Is one supposed to eat the casing or not? And did the different methods of cooking affect how tender the casing would be? I thought it seemed to.

[Varmint]

Seeing 3 out of my 4 children devoured the sausage (those being the 4, 7 and 8 year olds), I'd have to say the pepper level was appropriate. These are children who generally shy away from "spicy" foods, except for the 7 year old girl who wants pepper on anything. She actually asked if she could put pepper on the kielbasa!

[Rachel Perlow]

I like black pepper. I'd only suggest the pepper be reduced because it became the most prominant flavor of the sausage, it's use should be subtler. I'm also curious about the casing. I'm sure it is edible, but it seems to peel off rather easily, so I did for the omelet filling, but for grilling it's necessary to keep the sausage intact.

[col klink]

J'accuse, M. Klink.

I am convinced that you guys got more than I did, and I am officially insinuating that Klink is sucking up.

Dave, everyone received only a pound each except for Jason and Rachel who got two pounds and that's only because he ordered four pounds to begin with. Everyone else ordered only two pounds.

As for the pepper, that flavor came off stronger than I would've liked. There is supposed to be a balance of flavors and you taste the garlic after the pepper, the pepper should be second. In the next batch I will be lowering the pepper quotient and with the casing problems I've been having, I'm going to reduce the amount of fat.

Heron, I'm sorry about misleading you about cooking the sausage in the bag, I meant you cook them in the bag only if it isn't opened. Sorry about that!

The casing is edible but it only becomes an issue if the sausage isn't stuffed to full capacity. When the sausage is smoked it is heated and the fat renders out leaving a small amount of meat for a casing with larger capacity, this makes it difficult to cut and drops the moisture content.

Jjhlurie, I haven't thought about making breakfast sausage though I have thought about making sausages other than kielbasa. I'm very close to getting the kielbasa just right. I'm sure that the next batch I'll have it 95% to 99% there and the rest will be a matter of really expensive equipment. Maybe after the next batch of kielbasa I'll take a stab at something else. And yes, breakfast sausage has sugar, has a smaller diameter as well as length and it has roughly the same fat content. There is a local butcher here that makes a pork and blueberry sausage that's really good. One note of difference is that breakfast sausages aren't typically smoked making them more difficult for transportation. However, I'd be willing to give it a whirl!

[sladeums]

I had my first helping of klink's links last night.

I gave a link a short dunk in boiling water to warm through and then browned it off in a pan. Nicely aromatic, good browning and the bit of fat left in the pan made me wish I would have had some potatoes on hand to recreate the aforementioned hash a la Shaw.

To allow the sausage to be the focus, I ate this unadorned, sliced on a bias...on the side a salad and some pickled cherry bomb peppers.

The sausage is very, very good.

Nice texture and mouthfeel - coarse but without any notable gristle or tough 'chunks'. Fat content left the meat suitably moist. It had a nicely assertive garlicky kick on the tongue. The smoking hand was applied adeptly - a nice undercurrent of smokiness that compliments instead of obscures the meat, a good pork flavor w/ a little richness added by the beef.

I did not notice any problems with it crumbling as others had - in fact each individual slice held quite well. The pepper level was fine - but I do have a very high tolerance.

As a personal preference I might cut back a little on the garlic, though - or maybe use roasted garlic (would it still be kielbasa?) - it didn't seem overly strong while in the mouth - but there was a bit of a 'raw' garlic aftertaste...this would not be as notable if I were using it in a dish as opposed to naked...maybe I'll try the recipe for Easter Soup.

Great stuff, klink - thanks for sharing!

In the future you'll have to try some chorizo!

john

[k43]

Kielbasa is a generic term. With large chunks of meat, in a large (wrist-diameter) straight casing, its Krakowska. The same in a medium (French-rolling-pin-diameter) casing, about 2' long and tied in a loop, is Krayana. A medium grind in a medium casing (what you made), usually in two straight foot-long sticks is siekana. Medium grind in a small (little-finger-size) casing, usually about 4' long and looped over into a double stick) is kabanos.

Most have some juniper berry in the mix.

The genuine article is at its best from Kurowycky's Meat Market on 1st Avenue in New York

KRS

[Scooter3]

Theres a spice in kielbasa called kuhlithee can you tell what this is in english?