I am told I make a pretty mean Jalapeno and cheddar Kielbasa, and I think so too, lol
There is a butcher shop that I go to that has a Jalapeno and Cheddar loaf that is so god damn good.
I thought " why dont I take my kielbasa recipe and make my own?"
Ok so I know how to cook the kielsbasa in the smoker, obviously, but I was wondering if there would be any change in the cooking method when doing a slow cured deli meat in a loaf pan.
I take my kielbasa and dry out the casing with no smoke for bout an hour at 150 ish then add smoke at 170f and hold temp until internal reaches 154f.
Would I do a similar method for the cooking part? i dont need the drying time so just cooking at 170f be right? It will be like a meatloaf so I was also thinking just cooking at a higher temp but I dont want to get fat out.
Anyone done a deli style loaf to offer some guidance?
I've done cured smoked sandwich deli meat like this plenty of times.
If your goal is something like any of these then here is the info to help you out:
(Venison Pastrami Sandwich Meat, post:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pastrami-loaf-with-qview.263815/)
(German Bologna, post:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/owens-german-bologna-with-qview.316307/)
Answers to your questions:
-Yes, you do a similar cooking method to doing sausage if you want cured deli meat like what I post above.
-No, you don't need to do any drying. This will take a good long while to cook so it will form a pellicle on its own in the smoker AND you aren't using water soaked casings that would benefit from drying.
-Yes, I'm someone who does deli style loafs for cured sandwich meat from meat that would be the same as stuffed in casings. The difference is no casing.
Ok with your questions answered here is a little more info.
Follow your sausage smoking process of walking the temp up and avoiding fat out and you will be fine.
Form a loaf in any shape you like that makes sense and works. If you try to make long rectangular blocks they will not come out the way imagine. Flatter rectangular blocks works well vs a thick rectangular block.
What works better are individual square blocks rather than 1 solid block.
Determine the shape you want. I wanted less tall but longer sandwich meat slices for my venison pastrami to be more like what actual pastramri or store bought turkey pastrami looks like.
For my bologna and other types of deli meat, I have evolved to 4.5-5inch square blocks (about 7-8 inches tall)so when cooked and sliced, they fit sandwich bread slices and sandwich/tortilla wraps better. I just kinda make a mold with cardboard where the mold isnt fully enclosed (missing a long side and an end side). Then I lay out a big sheet of plastic/saran wrap that I put the meat on.
I drop the plastic wrap with meat on it into the mold and fold over the plastic wrap to cover the meat loosely enough to allow me to start using the cardboard mold to shape meat without making mess.
I form it into shape and tighten up the plastic wrap around it so the block best holds it shape and the weight doesnt allow it to deform too much. You can let them set or smoke immediately.
When smoking, I unwrap the meat and set on the grid like q-mats that have the holes with my q-mat already on on my smoker rack. Again the weigh of the meat can start it to lose some shape so you may not have a perfect square/rectangle but that's ok.
Smoke using sausage smoking techniques and pull at your desired temp. I think I pull these at 152-156F internal temp. Why the difference in temps? Because one side of the smoker is hotter than the other and I don't bother messing with it all or opening the smoker until I can usually put it all or most of it at once. As long as the meat's IT doesnt get too high, it doesnt really matter about them all being one exact temp. I just make sure they hit the minimum temp.
Finally for the sandwich meat I make, I don't use any pans in the smoker with meat in the pan. The pan prevents that nice wonderful "rind"
all the way around, and there is more complete smoke penetration without the pan.
If I had a specific type of meat I was making that would benefit from the pan I would use the pan. My options thus far have no benefit from a pan.
I have thrown a ton of info at you, let me know if it makes sense or if you have any questions :)
