Good old fashion round bologna

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oden010

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 6, 2010
16
10
Hey everyone. One of my favorite childhood memories of food involve bologna. I remember going to the butcher and having them thick slice old fashion garlic bologna and smoked cheddar. Has anyone found a recipe to compete with this bologna. I hate to buy it in the store or buy a kit. I just don't like pre-packaged seasonings.
 
I've been fooling around with a modification of an old family recipe (my Grandpa's) to work with more modern practices. He'd pack beef and pork trimmings in Freeze 'Em Pickle (just like Tender Quick as far as I've read) and sit the meat in the cooler from a few days to longer depending on his butchering. I can't do that, so here's my recipe. I like coarse grind, but if you want to emulsify it go ahead!

2.5 lbs beef chuck, mixed with it's own fat and bacon ends/pieces, etc. to make 75/25 mix.
2.5 lbs pork, same thing as above - 75/25 mix.
1 Tsp cure
7.5 Tsp Kosher salt (If you don't use Kosher you need to figure out how many Tsp in 1.5 Oz.)
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Tsp Pepper ( I use Black, I'm not big on appearances. Use White if you don't want to see it)
1 Tsp ground Coriander
1/2 Tsp Allspice
1/2 Tsp sage
1 Tsp Sugar
Use as much binder as you would for 5 Lbs. Everybody has their own preference; Soy Protein, Milk Powder, I use 1/2 C of Buttermilk Powder.

Grind the meat and fat separately in as fine a plate as you'd like. I use 3/8, for my grind. You really don't have to be too fine here since if you want really fine grained bologna you need to emulsify it anyway.

Mix all the other ingredients in a cup of water then mix well into the meat. Stop there and stuff into a 4" fibrous casing or hog middles or, in a pinch, regular hog casings twisted every 2' or so and tied into rings. Set in the fridge overnight, follow typical smoker instructions, i.e. drying cycle and then smoke at mild temp (maybe 130) until you get a nice smoke and finish in boiling water to 155-160. Chill quickly and hang to dry, then refrigerate.

Grandpa always cold smoked with local Maple and boiled the sausage until it squeaked. He used hog middles, I believe, and the rings were nice and chubby and around 1.5 lbs each. He didn't emulsify his, just ground it fine but I suppose you'd just need a bit more water to really get the meat into a paste in a blender, etc. My grinder is way too underpowered to emulsify anything or even push out a really fine grind.

I don't do the boiling method; I finish in my smoker because I like that feel better. I don't recall any of the butchers not boiling to finish. It was just easier and took much less time. Not to mention a dirty little secret - Grandpa's original recipe used a butt-load of flour and gallons of water. Butchers did like to sell you flour and water at .49 a pound in those days! Boiling doesn't exactly cause any water content loss either, as you can imagine.
 
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