Years ago I gave up on emulsified meat for my frankfurters in lieu of a double-grind of my pork and beef.... and since they are similar products the same holds true for bologna. This weekend I tweaked my frankfurter recipe and made two chubs of bologna to test out. My recipe has about 15 ingredients making this most 'complex' sausage I make. I wanted a little more heat so I added cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper to the white pepper already in the recipe. Plus I did 6 hours of cold smoke followed by a sous vide finish. I'm very pleased with the outcome.
I used a 60:40 mix of pork butt/beef chuck, then added a generous handful of cubed sirloin. I used a double grind, first through a medium plate, then through a fine plate. The seasoned meat rested in the fridge about 30 hours and was stuffed into 2.5" fibrous casings. Next was a 6 hour cold smoke with an A-Maze-N tube, then another overnight rest. The last step was a sous vide finish. I started off at 100° and over an hour ramped the water temp up to 150°. Then I did a 3-hour cook time followed by 1-hour in an ice bath.
I didn't catch any of the sirloin cubes in these first slices, but there was about 3/4# in the mix.
EDIT - Here is the recipe... comments welcomed.
EDIT 2 1-16-2020: The taste testing is over and I thought I would share the comments and my changes for next time. There was unanimous thumbs up in the texture and moistness department. On the flavor side everyone liked the 3-pepper component and the combination of the signature spices was fine. The number one negative comment was the saltiness was too bland and needs to be increased. A couple of folks thought a little more garlic would help too. I'll put an asterisk in the recipe below to indicate the changes. Next time: The cubed sirloin is good, but I went too light I will increase that. I also want to add mustard seeds, I have both yellow and brown. I will definitely increase the salt, and maybe add fresh garlic, but keep the garlic powder where it is.
~thirdeye's~ Country Style Bologna (check out Edit 2)
60:40 pork/beef with some cubed sirloin
Meat Weight in Pounds: | 1 |
Ingredient | grams/lb |
Sharp Paprika | 1.40 |
Dry Mustard | 1.70 |
Onion Powder | 1.40 |
Roasted Garlic Powder | 3.00* (see above) |
Mace | 0.40 |
Coriander | 0.50 |
Cardamon | 0.40 |
Ground Celery Seed | 0.70 |
Canning Salt | 5.20* (see above) |
White Pepper | 1.70 |
Black pepper (cracked) | 1.70 |
Nutmeg | 0.50 |
Red Chile Flakes | 0.50 |
Dry Milk (NFDM) | 15.60 |
Corn Syrup | 6.50 |
Cure #1 (pink salt) | 1.15 |
Liquid Smoke (apple) | 1.00 |
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