A little background I've had very little exposure to sausage making and I just purchased all my equipment this year and just finished up my smoker beyond that Ive cooked at a restaurant in highschool so this is all new to me but I tend to research and try to get a good grasp of what Im getting into before spending lots of money. I had a bunch of venison beef and pork in the freezer so decided to try ring bologna. I converted all of this to kilogram to keep my formulation recipe much easier to follow in gram per kilogram.
My meats were
15.1kg (33lb) venison 99-100% lean
16.3 kg (35lb) pork butt i assumed 20-25% fat for this
12.75 kg (28 lb) beef burger i had in my freezer from a half i bought last year i assumed 20-25% fat for this
So if my fat estimates were accurate it left me with about 15% fat content
First grind on 3/16 second grind on 1/8 plate. Stuffed into 43mm Collagen rounds from LEM. Meat kept at 34-36F the whole time.
I did 4 batches. Two were premixed from Pittsburg spice company first time ever using them but I saw someone recommend them on this for and I live in PA so i figured I'd give it a shot. The other two were my own formulations I came up with. This was my first time ever making bologna and first time ever making my own recipe thanks to the internet, this forum, and youtube Duncan Henry channel specifically I was able to make really good bologna I recommend any newbies watch his channel.
My first recipe
17g/kg salt
4g/kg black pepper
4g/kg garlic powder
2g/kg onion powder
2g/kg smoked paprika
4g/kg mustard seed
1g/kg ground coriander
10g/kg NFDM powder
2.5g/kg cure #1
0.5g/kg sodium erythorbate
100g/kg water
My second recipe
17g/kg salt
4g/kg black pepper
4g/kg garlic powder
2g/kg onion powder
2g/kg smoked paprika
4g/kg mustard seed
1g/kg celery seed
0.5g/kg marjoram
10g/kg NFDM powder
2.5g/kg cure #1
0.5g/kg sodium erythorbate
100g/kg water
(Note on the sodium erythorbate: I added this as cure accelerator as I wasn't sure if I was gonna throw it on the smoker immediately or not) It ended up sitting in fridge for 8 hours but it isn't necessary if you hold it overnight. A gram scale to .01 gram is absolutely essential for this)
Pittsburg spice Co: Venision bologna seasoning and Trail Bologna seasoning kit
Started the smoker at 160F (low as it will go and filled a cold smoke ring with pellets for extra smoke for first 3 hours with one pellet hopper turned on)
after two rounds of smoke with the cold smoke ring and IT of 100-110F I turned it up to 180 till 130 IT. With one pellet hopper running and 20F outside it stalled out at around 130 so I decided to fire up the second hopper at 180 then 200 and the temps started climbing. Pulled every thing at 152 -154 IT. Ice bath till 95F then fridge overnight. Turned out excellent!
My meats were
15.1kg (33lb) venison 99-100% lean
16.3 kg (35lb) pork butt i assumed 20-25% fat for this
12.75 kg (28 lb) beef burger i had in my freezer from a half i bought last year i assumed 20-25% fat for this
So if my fat estimates were accurate it left me with about 15% fat content
First grind on 3/16 second grind on 1/8 plate. Stuffed into 43mm Collagen rounds from LEM. Meat kept at 34-36F the whole time.
I did 4 batches. Two were premixed from Pittsburg spice company first time ever using them but I saw someone recommend them on this for and I live in PA so i figured I'd give it a shot. The other two were my own formulations I came up with. This was my first time ever making bologna and first time ever making my own recipe thanks to the internet, this forum, and youtube Duncan Henry channel specifically I was able to make really good bologna I recommend any newbies watch his channel.
My first recipe
17g/kg salt
4g/kg black pepper
4g/kg garlic powder
2g/kg onion powder
2g/kg smoked paprika
4g/kg mustard seed
1g/kg ground coriander
10g/kg NFDM powder
2.5g/kg cure #1
0.5g/kg sodium erythorbate
100g/kg water
My second recipe
17g/kg salt
4g/kg black pepper
4g/kg garlic powder
2g/kg onion powder
2g/kg smoked paprika
4g/kg mustard seed
1g/kg celery seed
0.5g/kg marjoram
10g/kg NFDM powder
2.5g/kg cure #1
0.5g/kg sodium erythorbate
100g/kg water
(Note on the sodium erythorbate: I added this as cure accelerator as I wasn't sure if I was gonna throw it on the smoker immediately or not) It ended up sitting in fridge for 8 hours but it isn't necessary if you hold it overnight. A gram scale to .01 gram is absolutely essential for this)
Pittsburg spice Co: Venision bologna seasoning and Trail Bologna seasoning kit
Started the smoker at 160F (low as it will go and filled a cold smoke ring with pellets for extra smoke for first 3 hours with one pellet hopper turned on)
after two rounds of smoke with the cold smoke ring and IT of 100-110F I turned it up to 180 till 130 IT. With one pellet hopper running and 20F outside it stalled out at around 130 so I decided to fire up the second hopper at 180 then 200 and the temps started climbing. Pulled every thing at 152 -154 IT. Ice bath till 95F then fridge overnight. Turned out excellent!
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