One of the most popular Polish sausages and likely the finest sausage stick in the world.
The name kabanos, or kabanosy in Polish, comes from the word 'kabanek', a nickname given to young fat hogs. This sausage is really, really good. If you ask my kids what the best sausage in the world is, they will say kabanos without hesitation. For me, it's a toss between kabanos and my absolute favorite, swojska kielbasa. That says a lot. For some reason it reminds me of dry cured sausage. Perhaps this is the result of low heat cooking followed by drying.
Batch size
The recipe - originally published in the Polish Government Archives between 1945 and 1989 - is for 5 kilos or 11 lbs of meat. You may think that it's a lot, but its not. By the time drying is done, the sausage will have lost almost half of its green weight. Once your family members find out how good it tastes, it will vanish in a matter of days, trust me. I've seen it happen.
Meat and grind for kabanos
Pork shoulder is the best cut to use for this sausage. It has just about the right ratio of lean to fatty pork required for this recipe. In the original Polish government kabanos recipe lean pork is ground through 8 mm grinder plate and fattier pork through 5 mm plate. These sizes aren't readily available here so I chose to use 1/4" (6 mm) and 3/16" (4.5 mm) grinder plates. You could probably get away with 3/8" (10 mm) plate for lean pork but I think what makes this sausage taste so good to me is its finer grind.
That said, if you don't have the patience to spend time separating all the lean pork from fattier pork, and wanted to just grind it all through 3/16" (4.5 mm) plate, I'd say go for it. There isn't that much of a difference between the 4.5 mm and the 6 mm plates. Just remember to trim off all the extra fat and the sinews.
Smoking
It's easy to over-smoke this sausage due to it's size and the use of thin sheep casings. I once smoked it for 4 hours, got a beautiful color, but the sausage had an almost overwhelming smoky smell. The original recipe calls for 1 hour of smoking. I've done 1 to 2 hours of smoking and consider those acceptable. So, which is it? One hour in the smokehouse or a smoker if you smoke with heavy smoke, 2 hours if smoking with thin smoke. Use your judgement.
As far as wood goes, oak, hickory or alder wood are all fine for this sausage. My favorite for kabanos is hickory.
Baking
Every Polish sausage recipe ends with 'bake for 20-30 minutes at 165F - 175F' or something like that. Those timelines rarely worked for me. It usually takes hours, depending on sausage thickness. Casings will shrink and harden. I rarely do that any more. Instead, I poach. The results are perfectly acceptable and predictable. I really does take 20-30 minutes to bring internal temperature to 154F this way, stress free.
I use a 36-qt stainless stock pot with a basket. It’s as effective and convenient for sausage making as it is for crawfish boils, which our family loves. It easily fits 10 lbs of sausage.
Drying
Kabanos will be perfectly safe to eat, and will taste fantastic, right after you take it out of the stock pot. Once you chill the sausage, it will taste even better. But let it hang in a cooler for a week, and it will be like an entirely different sausage. It reminds me of dry cured sausage. Fantastic!
Ingredients
- 2000 g lean pork 4.5 lbs (no more than 10% fat)
- 3000 g pork 6.5 lbs (no more than 30% fat)
- 66 g kosher salt about 3 2/3 Tbsp
- 11 g Cure #1 about 2 1/4 level teaspoons
- 7.5 g black pepper about 3 3/4 tsp, coarsely ground
- 2.5 g nutmeg about 1 tsp, ground
- 10 g sugar about 2 tsp
- 2.5 g caraway about 1 tsp
- 2 cups ice water
Instructions
- Cut the meat into 2" (5-6 cm) pieces, mix with the salt and Cure #1. Place in a container, cover and refrigerate for 48 hours.
- Grind the lean pork through 1/4" (6 mm) plate, and the fattier pork through a 3/16" (4.5 mm) grinder plate.
- Mix the ground meats, with the seasonings, adding two cups of ice water.
- Stuff firmly into sheep casings or young hog casings not bigger than 22 mm. Form links and tie with a butchers' twine, or leave as a continuous coil. Prick any visible air pockets with a needle.
- Dry in a cooler for 12 hours at 35F - 43F (2C - 6C), or for about 30-60 minutes at room temperature. You can also dry in the smoker at about 110F - 130F without smoke for 20-30 minutes, until the skin feels dry.
- Smoke at 140F for 1 hour, until the casings develop dark brown color, followed by 20-30 minutes of baking, until the internal temperature reaches 154F (68C).
- Instead of baking, you can poach at 161F - 165F for 15 - 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 154F.
- Dry at 53F - 64F (12C - 18C) and 75-80% RH for 5-7 days, until 45% total weight loss.
- Store in a refrigerator.
Scott says
I made a batch following this recipe and my son and I found it a little bland. Do you have a suggestion for which seasonings to increase to make it more flavorful?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You would think that the entire nation of Poland over many centuries of making this iconic sausage would figure out how to make this sausage flavorful... 🙂 Alas...
On a serious note, I have no idea. We all have different tastes. I find this sausage quite flavorful for the style, so my recommendation would be of little value in this case. You can try doubling caraway, pepper and nutmeg, that should give it more flavor. You can also add garlic and/or paprika, those add quite a bit of flavor. Good luck.
Ella says
Question - I'm reading this recipe tonight (Thursday evening) and wanting to make some on Saturday. What mischief do I risk if I only mix the chopped meat with the salt and cure 24 hours before making?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
My apologies for the late response - you message drowned in a big pile of spam. No harm if you do that. The usual recommmendation is 24-48 hours for curing. I've even made sausages where I grind, mix and stuff right away. I give them a few hours to rest and let the salt work it's way into the meat and then smoke. Either way works. Good luck!
Kevin says
Your enthusiasm comes through your writing, it is wonderful and infectious. I myself have been making sausages and curing meats (ham, bacon, etc.) for several years because I live in Asia where we cannot get such things so you have to do for yourself. But your website has some very good information and you clearly love what you do. I also bought the Marianski books on meat curing and sausage making, which I think are the very best. So now I have started making Polish sausages (I am English) and have to say they are amazing. I have just finished smoking a batch of Kabanosy this evening and will finish cooking tomorrow. They will be amazing. It is very important we do not forget these skills so what you are doing is very important for the future of our species. Please keep up the good work. Ah yes, I will do a Keilbasa next week. I have a good Chinese butcher in the local wet market who will cut from a pig just what I ask for. I wish you all the best sirs....
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thank you for the kind words, Kevin. I am glad you are smoking sausage while living in Asia, despite all the challenges with getting equipment, smoking wood, and high ambient temps, or at least that's what I've heard from some of my readers that live there. Carrying on the tradition is very important for sure. I teach my kids my sausage-making skills and they love it, which makes me very happy. Happy smoking!
Kevin says
God bless you Sir. I will keep on the tradition, though the temperatures now are 35 celcius and the humidity 80%. There are ways around this. But you have to be committed, and teaching your offspring these arts is important. I will continue to look at your amazing website. Maybe offer a sausage recipe or two. But may I suggest a site, that is an English Master Butcher, who can teach you the nitty-gritty about how to break a carcass into primals and prepare for bacon, ham and sausages, if you happen to slaughter your own meat. His name is Scott Rea. Have a look at the 'Scott Rea Project' on his Youtube channel. Lots of good information and I think you will enjoy. Scott is a bit of a rough diamond from the midlands of the UK. A traditional butcher. My next project here is to break down a sheep. People here do not eat lamb but I know I guy with a herd of sheep. Only problem is my wife will not let me kill a sheep because she is Buddhist and taking a life is very bad for them. So maybe I can find someone who can do the deed and I can butcher the carcase at home? Anyway, I want to make some Lamb Mergues sausages and Sheesh Kebabs and also do a nice French trimmed rack roast. My wife likes to eat lamb but she does not want me to kill a sheep. Can you figure that one out? As they say, "You cannot cook an omlette without breaking an egg".
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hello, Kevin. Thank you for the kind words and for the recommendation of Scott Rea's website/YT channel. Lot's of good info. I've been using The Bearded Butchers YouTube channel to learn some butchering techniques but it's always good to have a different perspective. Thank you for sharing. I've never tried Lamb Mergue sausages, though we like lamb. Sounds like something I'd like to try in the near future:) All the best!
Sean says
Wow. Excellent Recipe. I am not a novice sausage maker but it would be hard to improve this recipe.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enjoy!
Nicole Campbell says
smoked kabano sauausage
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
???
Mark says
Awesome!!!!
Any reason you cut the spices in half compared to traditional Polish recipes ?
By the way where did you get the candy cane butchers twine ?
Thinking I could use it to differentiate my spicy sausage from my normal !
Thanks great site !!!!
Mark
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Mark, I don't know what traditonal Polish recipes you are referring to, perhaps you can elaborate, but this specific Kabanosy recipe has the exact amounts/proportions of spices that were published in the Polish Governemnt Archives from 1959-1989. I like tweaking sausage recipes and creating new ones but this one is as good as I think it can be. For my taste that is. The twine I got from Etsy I think.
Mark says
Well i made a batch to your recipe , the spices were just right, the flavor of the pork shined.
I did add a little more fat than usual because of what I had on hand, still came out great but a little too much for me , it was even better after I dried it in the cooler for 5 days.
Thanks for the site very informative.
Mark
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are vwey welcome, Mark. Thank you for your feedback and the kind words. Enjoy!
Jay says
I’m not using cure and am just going to poach it , will I need to add more salt ?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
No, I wouldn't. Keep the salt at the same level or you could go even lower (6 grams/lb) if you like it slightly less salty. 6-7 grams per pound of meat is what I find tastes good in a cooked type of sausage.
Brett says
Victor - my apologies if I've submitted this post twice.
I'd very much like to try making the smoked Kabanos with a mix of venison and pork. Any suggestions on the type and ratio of pork to include in order to get some fat in there?
Then, for the final drying step - I don't own a humidity controlled cooler. Do you have another suggestion for how I might accomplish this drying?
Thanks!
Brett
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Brett, pork butt or pork butt trimmings will work well, you can also use pork belly or back fat just keep the overall fat ratio at about 20-25%.
As for the drying, other than a temp/humidity controlled room/chamber your best bet is to use a good old fridge. I smoked a batch of Andouille three weeks ago, cooled it and put in the fridge loosely wrapped in red butchers paper. The sausages are nicely dry by now. They will get drier and drier over time so keep an eye on them and vacuum seal as soon as you get the desired dryness level. Once sealed, keep in the fridge or freezer. They will stay fresh for a very long time.
Alberto says
Is this sausage safe to store at room temperature??
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
No, you would need to dry it to a certain level for it to store well at room temp, like jerky.
Atakan says
great looking sausage! Will this work with beef brisket or wagyu since i cant have pork at all?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hello Atakan, my apologies for the delayed response. Interesting that you should ask, but I've made this kabanos recipe, as is or slightly modified with beef, chicken and turkey and every single batch turned out great. I think brisket or wagyu will be work great so long as you keep the fat at around 20-25%. Any fattier and I don't like it, but some actually do... your choice. You can also try my beef stick recipe. It's my favorite. If you can't source fermento in the UK, you can just omit it. It only adds some tang here, not for preservation or any other purpose.
Robert says
I plan to try making this this weekend. Have you tried using sous vide to poach the sausage? It may cook the sausage without melting the fat. I’ll let you k ow if it works. Also when I saw your reference to a crawfish pot I assumed you were local until I noticed that your pot was 36 qts. I did t know they were made that small. In south Louisiana an 80 qt pot is considered small.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
I do find that pot small too but the prices I have to pay to overnight crawdads over here sure make this pot seem huge;-)
Sous vide and poaching are essentially the same. Poaching works very well for me. I tried sous vide a couple of times, one time it was fine, the other time a lot of liquid got released during cooking. I settled on poaching. Quick and easy. It works. The last two batches one in sheep casings and one in 23mm collagen I finished in the smokehouse without much trouble. May stick to that as there is a bit more smoky flavor. Thicker sausages than that are more challenging so poaching is a huge help.
Darius says
Done it and all.... Never read the comments and kept the sausages in water at 70 degrees C. And as you said fat started to melt. What did i did wrong. Shouldv i switch the heat of after reaching 70?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Darius, 70C is a little low. I heat water to 74C, turn off the heat and let the sausage get to 68C internal temperature. I suppose you can keep it at a constant 70C and achieve the same result but I think it will take longer, which will increase the chance of fat melting. Also, did you prick your sausages with a needle? I am not sure if that will make much difference to fat melting. I've had that happen to me a couple of times but I did not keep detailed notes to pinpoint the exact cause. Made three types of sausage for Christmas, all three poached, no problem at all. For larger sausages, I had to heat the water up midway as it was too cold outside, which did not seem to have any negative effect. Good luck with your new batches.
Darius says
Thanks for quick reply. Thats what i was trying to do to keep it around 70. And fat started to melt. Was no air gaps so i didn't prick them but did it after the fat started to colleckt under the casing. But.. 2 days drying now and had a taster. I can say not to bad at all like for the first time. Thanks and Happy New year!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Happy New Year!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Been thinking about this more, I recall when I had this problem my temperature in the smoker crept up too much, to 155F (68C) I think, that's when after poaching, I noticed a lot of melted fat. It looked a little greasy in the smoker too. Make sure to not let the heat get above 130F - 140F (55-60C) in the smoker. As I am typing this, I remembered that someone was having this problem all the time and I believe he mentioned that he had to keep the temp in the smoker higher as he was not able to generate good smoke at lower temps. Something to think about.
John says
Great recipe! Can these be cold smoked? I have to try!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
John, you can cold smoke it but you will still have to bring it to at least 154F internal after smoking. Cold smoking usually takes days, the sausage will have a very nice dark color and a strong smoky flavor.
John says
Thank you. I can only cold smoke in my set up and I usually throw my kielbasa in boiling water until IT 155F, into ice then freeze. I don't know if this is the best way.
thank you.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
John, it's a good way but you can make it better. I poach most of my smoked sausages. Boiling water is bad for sausage as it will melt the fat pretty quickly and the texture will be affected to an extent. Instead, try poaching at 168F - 175F. The colder the ambient temperature, the more sausage you have, the less water you have - the higher the water temp should be and vice versa. I use a 36Qt crawfish boil pot and start with 175F in colder weather and 168F in warm weather. About 10 -12 lbs of sausage per batch. Regular size sausage (28-32mm) gets to 154F in about 20-25 minutes. Kabanos - 12-15 minutes or so.
Heinz says
In your smoked Kabanos recipe you say in the ingredients 2000 gr lean pork and 3000 gr beef, where as in the instructions you do not say anything about grinding beef. I also thought Kabanos are made of pork only. Please reply asap as I am in the middle of sausage making
Thanks
Heinz
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
My bad, I made a typo. No beef in this recipe. Corrected.
Heinz says
👍👍👍👍
John says
Great, thanks a lot. Smoking in the next few weeks.
John says
can you please convert smoked kabanos sausage ingredients to dry tablespoons or teaspoons . Pork to lbs. also. Thank you.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Done. Enjoy!
John says
excellent ,thank you
John says
the kabanos sausage . What temp do I start with until temp reaches a min. of 155 internal ?. I plan not to give it a hot bath and I want to smoke it till it is done. What are the steps and do I gradually increase temp ?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You start with fridge temps or room temps if you are drying at room temperature, then smoke at 140F until the desired color is achieved, then gradually bump the temperature to 155F-165F-175F and higher if needed, until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches at least 154F.
John says
You say 154 degrees is safe to eat when smoking the kabanos sausage or 165 degree in the hot water bath ? Are both ways safe to eat and why at those temperatures?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
John, 154F is the minimum internal temperature of the sausage. 165F is the temperature of the water. You poach the sausage in the water at that temperature until the in the internal temperature of the sausage reaches a minimum of 154F.
John says
Can I smoke other types of smoked sausages all together at one time?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
John, yes, you can, provided you want the same smoke flavor. If you smoke sausages of different thickness, you want to pull out the thinner ones sooner. If you finish by poaching, this will work just fine. If you want to finish in the smokehouse, it will be a challenge and in that case, I'd recommend smoking together only same-thickness sausages.
John says
can you add a little hot pepper to the mix for a little tand ?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
I don't see why not if you like it. I think 1 or even 2% of cayenne pepper will give you nice mild spicy taste.
Karl says
Hi Victor, just ran across your web site. Some vary good looking sausage recipes. Several are a must try. I have a question for you about water bath for the sausage. How do you hold temp? Do you use a Sous Vide? Thanks Karl
PS Nice looking smoke house. Did you build it?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Karl, thank you for the compliment. I did sous vide a few times initially but since then have found a better way, IMHO. Now I use a 36 Qt stockpot with a basket. It fits a lot of water which results in high thermal mass. Say, if I heat the water to 167F, add 10 lbs of warm sausage right out of the smokehouse, after 20-30 minutes the water and the sausage temperatures equalize at around 156F-158F. Works like a charm, and there is no need to maintain the temperature. I've made 7-8 batches like that so far and the results have been pretty consistent. Thinner sausages like kabanos need about 15 minutes at this temperature. Thicker - 30-35 minutes or so. Very thick - I haven't tried those yet but I am sure it's doable as well, perhaps heating water to 175F and extending the pouching time.
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About the smokehouse, yes, I built it myself. I posted many details here:
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1221799/my-smokehouse-laid-a-green-egg
Karl says
Thanks for the quick reply. Working on the Kabanos now.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
My kids say it's the best sausage they ever had. I made a new batch a week ago, half of it is gone, before it had a chance to dry. It's very addictive, like jerky. Makes a great snack.
Steve says
Victor, I’m with you in terms of cooking sausage. I’ve run into issues with kielbasa when it’s cold, and the sausage in the middle of the smoker is 150 and the sausage closer to the walls is nowhere close.
I think I’m going to try cold smoking everything, and then finishing in the oven. At least in the winter.
I’ll see what happens
Steve
Btw, we had a lovely breakfast today of home smoked salmon and your cream cheese. It was pretty great.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Steve, good to hear from you. The problem with the sausage you are describing has two potential causes: 1) the smoker is not insulated, the walls are cold, 2) no baffle that would distribute smoke and heat evenly. I've struggled with those issues in the past. Rearranging sausages during smoking helps, but to a point. Insulating and installing a baffle (see below) is the best way to go.
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Finishing in the oven works well but also takes a while at 175F - 195F. Fat starts to melt at 150F. Long times in oven at over 150F are not good for preserving fat. You may see casings start getting greasy. Convection speeds things up but also causes casings to get tough. This mostly goes away after a day or two in the fridge though. I like poaching the best so far, and I see this method also often used in official Polish sausage production recipes. No grease on casings. I like it.
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Glad to hear you that like my cream cheese recipe. I've been experimenting with a couple of eastern European cheeses, also making my own sour cream, kefir... delicious. Asian store nearby sells whole salmon for quite cheap, $2.57 per lb. The fish is smaller than your typical salmon, takes more effort to scale and filet but I can't complain. We often make gravlax with it but I want to cure and cold smoke too, just need to find time for this.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thanks, TJ. Yes, you can use collagen casings of similar size. I've used them to make a couple of batches. They are not bad... they are quite enjoyable and shrink nicely as the sausage dries. They are noticeably thicker compared to sheep casings but it's not a turnoff for me. They are much, much easier to work with though. Sheep casings break if you are not careful or slow enough, collagen casings are much more forgiving.