Homemade Bologna

[Fatback Joe]

Probably the best thing to call it based on size and texture. Missing some of the "classic" bologna spices though. We made tortellini the other night and the recipe/procedure we based it on called for ground proscuitto in the meat mixture. They turned out great and that got the gears spinning. I had some pork in the fridge that planned on using for italian sausage before this idea got wedged in my head. I was at the store on Saturday and found a good deal on lamb so figured I would use that as well.

1615g Pork
432g lamb
191g proscuitto

2.2% sea salt
.2% black pepper
.2% paprika
.2% ground mustard
2.0% sugar
.25% Cure #1

The pork and lamb were already ground, added proscuitto and seasoning for the first pass in the grinder.

As soon as it went through the first pass, I fed it right back through.

Did a light cleaning and put everything in the fridge to cool back down then 2 more passes through the grinder.

Usually, I'll give things a quick run through the mixer, but decided to skip that and give myself a little less cleaning to do.

Stuffed into a collagen casing.

I had intentions of the smoker, but it was kind of rainy, crappy day, so went the sous vide route. 160 degrees for 4 hours. Ice bath then into the fridge over night.

Yesterday decided to bust it open and give it a try.

Very pleased with the taste and texture. The light seasoning really let the meat shine through. I'll keep this one in the rotation as it was pretty simple to knock out.

 

[Shiz-Nit]

Looks awesome

 

[KClandcruiser]

That looks outstanding! Fun and tasty experiment there

 

[ssv3]

Looks killer Joe!

I did one some time back and it turned out more like mortadella. :laugh: Was good but that right there is it sir. Impressive as always!

 

[Titch]

Looks very good mate, good to see you this year

 

[sudsandswine]

Nice, gonna have to try this sometime. I like mystery meat-laden bologna, I bet I'd REALLY like it with some quality ingredients.

 

[Bbq_lover]

When you did the sous vide, did you vacum seal it in a bag, or just put it in with the collagen casing between the meat and water? Just curious!

 

[Fatback Joe]

When you did the sous vide, did you vacum seal it in a bag, or just put it in with the collagen casing between the meat and water? Just curious!

Yes, vac seal. Although probably not necessary the way it turned out, but just in case of leaks, casing rupture, etc.

 

[Fatback Joe]

Looks very good mate, good to see you this year

You too, Titch. :biggrin1:

 

[thirdeye]

That looks wonderful, and you are right about all the various spices in hot dog & bologna recipes. I prefer finding a fine grind too, the emulsification is a pain and if you break it, it's start over time. It's also hard not to find a recipe without liquid smoke too, which I resisted on the first batch of hot dogs, but it does help. I checked around and located Wright's brand 'Apple' flavored liquid smoke. As you can imagine, it's milder than the hickory and not immediately recognized when properly used.

I've used sous vide to finish off cured chicken breasts, and some specialty sausages and I'm curious how you arrived at the 160° water bath temp for your bologna? With the cure plus pasteurization at lower temps, did the 160° give you a certain texture you were after?

 

[Hoss]

Impressive! I really enjoy your posts Joe.Please keep em coming.The Baloney looks fabulous.

 

[cowgirl]

You knocked it out of the park again Joe! Looks danged fine!

 

[jzadski]

That's wonderful! I really enjoy the sausage and cured posts. Some day I will get up the never to do so myself.

 

[ModelMaker]

Nice, I'm going after bologna and hot dogs after I become satisfied with my polish sausage.
Ed

 

[BBQ Bacon]

Nice. Another reason to get a sous vide. I imagine you could make a smoke bath for it using liquid smoke when using a smoker is not an option.

 

[LloydQ]

Oh Man. A thick slice of that in the skillet frying would be mouth watering!

 

[Fatback Joe]

Thanks for the tip on the apple flavored liquid smoke. I haven't used any in years, but looks like I should revisit it.

I had dabbled with the fine grind for a while and it seems like one of your post kind of sold me on the idea. I think it was one where you were giving someone some pointers......I am sure I would never find it, but I do attribute a bit of it to you.

As far as the 160 goes, it seems like that is just where my smoker would kind of settle in when I would try to "cold" smoke things like this so when I turned to sous vide, I gave that a shot. I was happy with the results so I stuck with it. Honestly, until you asked, I can't say as I gave it a whole lot of thought. Any other temps you would recommend? I certainly like to experiment with stuff.

That looks wonderful, and you are right about all the various spices in hot dog & bologna recipes. I prefer finding a fine grind too, the emulsification is a pain and if you break it, it's start over time. It's also hard not to find a recipe without liquid smoke too, which I resisted on the first batch of hot dogs, but it does help. I checked around and located Wright's brand 'Apple' flavored liquid smoke. As you can imagine, it's milder than the hickory and not immediately recognized when properly used.

I've used sous vide to finish off cured chicken breasts, and some specialty sausages and I'm curious how you arrived at the 160° water bath temp for your bologna? With the cure plus pasteurization at lower temps, did the 160° give you a certain texture you were after?

 

[sudsandswine]

I had dabbled with the fine grind for a while and it seems like one of your post kind of sold me on the idea. I think it was one where you were giving someone some pointers......I am sure I would never find it, but I do attribute a bit of it to you.

Might have been a thread of mine where I emulsified some meat for hotdogs....he suggested multiple fine grinds vs the emulsification process, I guess I got lucky and it worked out for me the only time I tried it, but it would be a shame to lose the emulsification and have to start over. After seeing your bologna results, I'm sold (not that thirdeye's recommendation isn't good enough itself).

 

[Fatback Joe]

Might have been a thread of mine where I emulsified some meat for hotdogs....he suggested multiple fine grinds vs the emulsification process, I guess I got lucky and it worked out for me the only time I tried it, but it would be a shame to lose the emulsification and have to start over. After seeing your bologna results, I'm sold (not that thirdeye's recommendation isn't good enough itself).

That does sound familiar now that you mention it. :mrgreen: In any case, I like the fine grind, it is just less hassle IMO......atleast with the equipment I have at my disposal. Either way, keeping stuff cold is crucial to success either way you go.

 

[thirdeye]

Thanks for the tip on the apple flavored liquid smoke. I haven't used any in years, but looks like I should revisit it.

I had dabbled with the fine grind for a while and it seems like one of your post kind of sold me on the idea. I think it was one where you were giving someone some pointers......I am sure I would never find it, but I do attribute a bit of it to you.

As far as the 160 goes, it seems like that is just where my smoker would kind of settle in when I would try to "cold" smoke things like this so when I turned to sous vide, I gave that a shot. I was happy with the results so I stuck with it. Honestly, until you asked, I can't say as I gave it a whole lot of thought. Any other temps you would recommend? I certainly like to experiment with stuff.

Using a fine ground meat was suggested to me by "Reinhard" a sausage expert that posted on one of the Minnesota outdoor forums after I posted about emulsified hot dogs. It was excellent advice, so I pass that along. Here is one of my emulsified hot dogs, the texture mirrored a butcher shop hot dog. Pre sous vide one option was to cold smoke and finish in a water bath with a roaster and then an ice bath. The water was in the 160° to 170° range so I would not 'fat out' the dogs.

My first attempts with fine grind hot dogs was much better on flavor and skin snap. I smoked them a few hours then into a 175° oven until the internal was 155° to 160° which was fine since the meat had cure. You can see the texture is not quite as fine, but much finer than my other sausages.

Back to the bologna.... I have seen a few articles where people are using a sous vide circulator in a meat lug or the larger Rubbermaid containers for their summer sausages and bologna. They use the same water bath range (160°s), so I was curious if you had a source or just did what worked for you. One side note... here is something I've had on my radar for a year or so. I received this photo in an email and it intrigued me. It's emulsified ring bologna but it has cubes of beef as well. I would think sirloin or round. This one was cooked with sous vide at 161° for 2 hours (which seems long) but it looks like it's worth a try. Maybe a cool smoke for an hour or so, then sous vide finish plus an ice bath to cool?