Gramercy Tavern's Beef Kielbasa

By Executive Chef Michael Anthony
(Yields approx. 12 pounds)

Ingredients

• Lean beef 6 ¾ pounds
• Pork (fatty belly or shoulder and back fat) 5 pounds
• Kosher salt  ¾ cup
• Pink salt (Instacure #1)  1 teaspoon
• Dextrose  1/8 cup
• White peppercorns, finely ground 3 teaspoon
• Mustard powder  ¼ cup
• Garlic powder ½ Tablespoon
• Milk powder ½ cup plus 1/8 cup
• Crushed ice  1 to 1 ½ quarts

Preparation
1.    Combine beef, pork, salt, pink salt, dextrose, white pepper, mustard powder, and garlic powder.  Let cure overnight.
2.    Lay out meat on 2 sheet trays lined with plastic wrap. Put in freezer for 1 to 1 ½  hours until the meat is firm but not frozen.
3.    Grind meat through 12 3/16 die (medium die), alternating pieces of meat, fat, and bacon.
4.    Return meat to freezer until it is firm, about 1 ½ to 2 hours..
5.    Grind meat through 12 1/8 die (small die), while gradually adding crushed ice. Grind very small amounts of meat at a time. As the meat grinds, it should be cold enough so that it extrudes on its own, without pressure.
6.    Place mixture in bowl of stand mixer, add milk powder and paddle on lowest speed for 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to clear paddle as needed.  Take care not to overmix as it could result in rubbery texture.
7.    Poach about 1 tablespoon of sausage to test seasoning and texture. Adjust as necessary.
8.    Stuff sausage into hog casings. Twist into links about 6 inches long. Store sausage uncovered in refrigerator overnight.
9.    Hot smoke sausages at 200 degrees F until sausages are nicely red on all sides and firm throughout (time ranges from 2 to 3 hours). As the sausages are smoking, rotate the racks in the smoker once or twice and flip the sausages so that they smoke and cook evenly.

Gramercy Tavern
Address: 42 East 20th St., nr. Park Ave.
Phone: (212)477-0777