Kranjska klobasa

Ingredients

Meat

• 900 gpork shoulder, well trimmed and chilled to 2°C (35°F)
• 300 ghard back fat or fatty pork belly, chilled
• 22 gnitrited curing salt (2 percent of the meat weight)
• 3 gcoarsely cracked black pepper
• 4 ggarlic, crushed to a paste with a little water
• 50 mlice-cold water

Casing and linking

• 2m natural hog casing, 32–34 mm, soaked and flushed
• 8short wooden skewers or toothpicks, to pin the pairs

To serve

• 2 tbspsharp mustard
• 2 tbspfreshly grated horseradish
• dark rye or sourdough bread
• 1 bottleof cold lager

Directions

1. Cut the chilled shoulder and fat into strips and mince through a 10–12 mm coarse plate. The legal Slovenian specification allows nothing but pork, back fat, salt, pepper, garlic and water, so the coarse grain is the whole texture of the sausage.
2. Mix the mince with the curing salt, pepper, garlic paste and ice water by hand for 2–3 minutes, until the mass turns tacky and clings to your palm when you turn it over. Keep everything below 4°C (40°F) throughout.
3. Rest the mixture, covered, in the fridge for 12–24 hours so the cure penetrates evenly and the colour turns rosy.
4. Stuff the casing firmly but not tightly, with no air pockets, and twist into pairs of about 13 cm each.
5. Pierce each pair through the joining end with a wooden skewer, which is the visual signature of the sausage, then hang the pairs to dry at 12–15°C (55–60°F) for 2–3 hours until the casing is dry to the touch and slightly tacky.
6. Hot-smoke over beech at 55–65°C (130–150°F) for 2 hours, raising the temperature until the internal temperature reaches 70°C (160°F) and holds for 10 minutes. The sausages should be dark amber and glossy.
7. Cool quickly in cold air and refrigerate. To serve, lower them into water held at 80°C (175°F) for 8–10 minutes; never boil and never prick, or the fat escapes and the sausage goes dry.
8. Lift out, drain and serve whole on a warm plate with mustard, freshly grated horseradish and dark bread. A traditional Slovenian serving keeps the sausage intact and the cutting to the eater.

Technique

• Kranjska klobasa is a protected EU designation: it must be pork with back fat, contain no more than 5 percent added water and no binders, fillers or extra spices beyond salt, pepper and garlic.
• Food safety: use nitrited curing salt at 2 percent, keep the mix under 4°C (40°F) and take the sausage to a verified 70°C (160°F) core. Warm smoking without cure is genuinely dangerous.
• Grinding warm meat smears the fat and gives a greasy, crumbly sausage. Chill the mincer parts in the freezer for 30 minutes before you start.

Substitutions

• No smoker: hot-smoke in a covered kettle barbecue with a foil pouch of beech chips over indirect low coals, or cook them sous-vide at 68°C (155°F) for 1 hour and finish with 30 minutes of cold smoke.
• Hog casing can be replaced with collagen casing of the same calibre, though it will not take the skewer neatly.

Variations

• Served sliced into jota, the Slovenian sauerkraut and bean stew, where its fat enriches the whole pot.
• Grilled over embers rather than poached, common at Slovenian country fairs despite purists’ objections.

History

Carniolan sausage, protected in the EU in 2015 after a dispute with Austria and Germany; it may contain only pork, bacon, salt, pepper and garlic.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kranjska klobasa?

Kranjska klobasa is a charcuterie & cured from Slovenia: juicy smoked Carniolan pork sausage with mustard, horseradish. Carniolan sausage, protected in the EU in 2015 after a dispute with Austria and Germany; it may contain only pork, bacon, salt, pepper and garlic.

How long does Kranjska klobasa take to make?

Kranjska klobasa takes 1 hr of preparation and 24 hr resting plus 3 hr smoking of cooking. The recipe makes 8 sausages (about 1.2 kg). It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kranjska klobasa?

Yes, within limits. No smoker: hot-smoke in a covered kettle barbecue with a foil pouch of beech chips over indirect low coals, or cook them sous-vide at 68°C (155°F) for 1 hour and finish with 30 minutes of cold smoke. Hog casing can be replaced with collagen casing of the same calibre, though it will not take the skewer neatly.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kranjska klobasa?

Cut the chilled shoulder and fat into strips and mince through a 10–12 mm coarse plate. The legal Slovenian specification allows nothing but pork, back fat, salt, pepper, garlic and water, so the coarse grain is the whole texture of the sausage.