How to Cook Fresh Kielbasa (Guide)

A lot of people are wondering what in the world is Kielbasa? Is it just a name that someone came up with by mistake? Don’t be confused by the name. Kielbasa is simply a type of sausage that hails from Europe, specifically from the Polish (Poland) region. Now that you know what it is, we can easily proceed to the ways to prepare it.

Kielbasa needs to be boiled or fried for you to eat it. Do not eat it raw!

So there are different ways in which you can prepare your kielbasa. It really depends on how you want to eat yours. Whether boiled or fried, you may think that Kielbasa is similar to the usually smoked sausages, but they are not. Kielbasa has a garlic taste and has a little bit rough surface than the usual smoked sausage. It does not have the smoky flavors since it is traditionally made from pork meat unlike the usual “smokies” which are boiled then smoked or added with smoky flavors.

Smoked sausages can be eaten while cold or warm. There is commercially made kielbasa which uses different kinds of meat other than the traditional pork. Some are made using beef meat, while others come with turkey meat. So if you are trying it for the first time and you want a traditional Polish kielbasa, you better be careful not to pick the commercially made ones. If you know how to make them yourself, then it is always advisable that you purchase the raw pork and the traditionally made coats and not processed collagens. You can also buy raw fresh sausages from renowned kielbasa vendors to avoid all the problems.

How to prepare Fresh Kielbasa

Some experts disagree with the idea of boiling kielbasa. They argue that since you are cooking raw sausages under a specific temperature to ensure that you maintain the correct texture and flavor, it is called poaching.

Consider: If you want to try making fresh kielbasa consider one of our meat grinders!

1. Boiling kielbasa

How we recommend it:

• Place fresh polish sausage in a large pot of cold water and make sure it is covered with water.
• Once the water starts to boil, simmer on very low heat for about 10 minutes – medium heat.
• Quick note: Do not forget to prick the sausage.
• After 10 min turn the stove off and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
• Optional: If you want you can then slightly brown it on a grill or pan.

Use: Xtrema Pure Ceramic Cookware

2. Grilling kielbasa

• Pre-Heat the grill (keep on medium) or using charcoal to get the coals really hot for about 15 minutes.
• Put the sausage on the cover, flip in 7 minutes, cut a slit every 2 inches, grill covered for another 7 minutes.
• Sausage is done once it is firm in the middle

3. Frying kielbasa

• Put kielbasa in a frying pan with a little water (about an inch) on the bottom,
• Cook on Medium, covered.
• Flip after 7 minutes, cut slits every 2 inches,
• Cover and cook for another 7 minutes.
• Uncover, strain, and brown if desired.

Frying it with oil and a pan will definitely create a brown color. This is my favorite technique because it allows me to fry kielbasa alongside many different ingredients too.

4. Bake

• Pre-heat over to 375 degrees (high heat).
• Place sausage in an oven-safe dish,
• add one inch of water so that the sausage is halfway covered with water,
• Baking time is 40 minutes
• Flip the sausage after 20min
• Remove the sausages and serve them.

Whichever technique you have chosen to prepare the sausage, now it’s time to serve it.

You can decide to eat it just like that, or you can eat it alongside any other dish. You can eat it with potato fries or other ingredients like a stew. I recently found out an awesome ingredient that you can eat with cooked kielbasa. Kenyans call it “Kachumbari.” This is simply a mixture of neatly chopped fresh onions, chopped tomatoes and coriander topped up with a little chili powder. This combination will leave you asking for more.

Conclusion

Now that you fully understand what kielbasa is and all the ways in which you can cook your kielbasa, don’t you think it’s time you try it out?
Preparing kielbasa whichever way you like it is not a hard task as long as you follow correctly all the steps I have mentioned above. Most people prefer grilling theirs because it is the fastest and the natural way to cook your sausages.