Venison Bologna

[Butterbean]

I was making some stuff the other day when I got the whim to make some bologna. The idea of having to clean the chopper offended my laziness and I decided to try again and make bologna using the grinder which was already in need of cleaning. I was a little hesitant about this because the last bologna I made with the grinder didn't have the best texture but my laziness won out and I proceeded. Laziness and time limitations led me to use liquid smoke rather than using the smoker also. Only so much time in a day.

I decided to use Marianski's recipe for American Bologna but as is often the case I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to follow the recipe to the letter so I made do with what I had and tweeked the recipe a little.

Here is the tweeked recipe.

For 1 Kilogram
Approximately 50/50 pork butt and venison
Salt 18 grams
Cure 1 2.5 grams
White Pepper 2.0 grams
Paprika 1.0 grams
Nutmeg 0.5 grams
Garlic Powder 3.5 grams
Sodium Erythorbate 0.65 grams
Hunter’s Special 5 grams
Water 240 ml
Liquid smoke per instructions added to water

Procedure


Partially freeze the keeping them separate. Grind Venison through the 3/16 plate then add with pork and grind again.

Mix dry ingredients to mince adding a third of the water and place in freezer.

Once partially frozen again run the mince through the grinder using the 1/8” plate then add the remaining water to the mince and place back in freezer.

Once partially frozen again grind everything again through the 1/8” plate. You should have a pretty descent emulsion now but if not freeze again and regrind. I was a little hesitant with my emulsion because I could see white specks of either fat or tallow in the mince and this had me a little worried the emulsion wasn't fine enough but it was really sticky and I didn't think a further grind would be helpful so I stopped.

Stuff tightly in bologna casing - this should hold about 10 lbs. Hang the casing unrefrigerated for a couple three hours.

Poach in 160F water till the internal temperature reaches between 153-155F then remove and submerge in a cold water bath till cool. Hang till it comes to room temp then refrigerate overnight to set and for the flavors to meld.

Next morning I sliced the bologna and was really pleased to find the emulsion was great, the texture was perfect and the flavor was much better than I could buy at the grocery store. Apart from some tiny air pockets I couldn't have been more happy with the results. These air pockets are a pet peeve of mine but I think I'll have to learn to live with them.

[Scogar]

Looks great Butterbean. Hope this doesn't hijack the thread but I have to ask...I'm seeing some negatives from a few folks on the use of a chopper, including yours in the above post. I read in the archives about your search for one a few years ago - has the reality of a chopper not lived up to the expectations? . I was able to score a commercial Hobart from the Fire Department in Gaffney SC last weekend - 7 hour round trip in the truck but the price was crazy right. I am excited to use it. It doesn't seem like it should be too difficult to clean (any more so than a grinder at least). Am I missing something? Or is the PITA factor more associated with the smaller noncommercial versions?

[Bob K]

Apart from some tiny air pockets I couldn't have been more happy with the results. These air pockets are a pet peeve of mine but I think I'll have to learn to live with them.

Gees BB that looks good. Air pockets - maybe time for one of those vacuum stuffers . Other that that I don't think there is any way around them.

[Butterbean]

Nice find on the chopper Scogar. My chopper isn't that hard to clean really it was just the amount of cleaning I had to do. I had made quite a bit of stuff that day and the bologna was an afterthought but the thought of having to clean another piece of equipment was just more than I felt like doing.

I don't think you can beat a chopper for making emulsions especially if you are going to work the emulsion based on temperatures which I think is the best way. For me, emulsions have been the hardest thing to learn to make and the chopper sure helps but in this situation the grinder was pretty respectable. I will say when it was all said and done I think I would have preferred cleaning the chopper than my grinder. The remains of the emulsion was like super glue on everything and its a big grinder so it required a lot of elbow grease and hot water clean than the chopper would have.


Bob, those air pockets offend the OCD side of me.