Darn the stories I could tell about when I was young.
My dad and I would dig a trench about 18" x 18" in the ground & 20' long and cover with tin sheets. The at one end we would have a fire pit for Apple, Cherry Wood and the other end a Wooden Barrel like from Whiskey Storage. My mom would make the Rings of Kielbasa and then my dad and I would put the rings on wooden sticks and put on the top of the wooden barrel. Then cover with Burlap to let the smoke filter through. we would start a fire at the fire pit end but let it smolder then the smoke would travel through the trench cooling down before getting to the Barrel with the kielbasa. This was a two day process for all the Kielbasa Rings we would smoke.
This was done before Easter and we had a never-ending line of people wanting my Mom's and Dad's Kielbasa. It is a tradition for the Slovak and Polish people.
I still have the cast iron packer for the kielbasa, it is over 70 years old.
Jill and I make venison/wild hog Kielbasa with the same packer and a newer meat grinder and automated Bradley smoker.
I'll have to post some pictures.
Our friends say that it is so good that we should sell what we make. I tell them We would have to charge about $200 per pound with all the work of hunting a deer & Hog then processing. People that don't hunt and don't process their own meat have no idea of the cost and work involved.
BUT it is worth it for there is no better taste of a wild animal than making it HOME MADE!!!