Had an itch to try this for some time now. To me this one is hard to understand and goes against the grain as far as cure #1 and cure #2 and my understanding of how they work ::) :-\
So I asked a couple of questions from NePaSmoKer (thanks Rick) and he has made it a few times. He said it is well worth it and just follow the recipe.
So here is the recipe if you want to check it out:
http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Bologna-Lebanon-sweet.pdf
Now this is just not a grind it, stuff it and smoke kind of deal where your done in a day. So far I have 24 hours into it from the grind. I have just finished stuffing the casings and they are going into a 48 hour nap @85F
After that I can give it a good heavy smoke.
I am still up in the air as to when these will be ready to eat, but I am sure something will tell me when they are done. :)
So here are some pics of the process so far.
Had 90/10 GB and ran it through my grinder with the smallest plate. This kind of gives it a emulsified look and feel. It got real sticky after the grind. It was still half frozen which is what you want, notice the GB chunks ;D
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6kKz5lXiCHQ/UidJNGR-oUI/AAAAAAAAGzY/fP7snrGD1SI/w835-h553-no/DSC_0105.JPG)
Here you can see just how cold the meat was from the condensation on the throat of the grinder.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VREyFnvkzdI/UidJL7dJbGI/AAAAAAAAGzM/4x5X6r04TyE/w835-h553-no/DSC_0106.JPG)
This is about 4 pounds ground up
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gm0uL-MPxdc/UidJMfk7guI/AAAAAAAAGzU/ye9HhxsyPCo/w835-h553-no/DSC_0104.JPG)
All bagged up and off to the fridge to rest with the spices, cure and F-RM-52 culture
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BsJb5CNuxcE/UidJqjGwwDI/AAAAAAAAGzw/DSq5mDEiQ-w/w835-h553-no/DSC_0107.JPG)
Stuffing time 24 hours later.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LcfW6YGZvvg/UidJm1MfHGI/AAAAAAAAGzg/fSh9L4ssePI/w835-h553-no/DSC_0108.JPG)
Lems bologna casings, these thing are so big I could have stuffed by hand ;)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-83DVP4MKBqQ/UidJoTW656I/AAAAAAAAGzo/7tTJAEKB74c/w835-h553-no/DSC_0109.JPG)
One down one to go
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1dKriudPiw0/UidKC2NqSkI/AAAAAAAAGz4/F2pLM5FxBYc/w835-h553-no/DSC_0110.JPG)
And here we have to 5 lbs twins ;)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UiLGi3j3YoY/UidKFagkGHI/AAAAAAAAG0A/CtKFsR1Tw_Y/w835-h553-no/DSC_0111.JPG)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gtbuKysZLTQ/UidRDPh4zLI/AAAAAAAAG0o/uD5pKcOhDQ0/w835-h553-no/DSC_0113.JPG)
Off to my curing chamber where I can control the temp and R/H for 48 hours. . So now we wait @ 85F degrees
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3qrghwgc-B4/UidKG9PaFyI/AAAAAAAAG0I/PNgbspcuesA/w366-h553-no/DSC_0112.JPG)
Looking good.
Dont be alarmed if you have some slight dripping in the 48 hr time period.
Been pondering this one as well Don. Like you said the whole cure 1 cure 2 thing makes you really wonder.
Can't wait to see your progress on this one.
Don
Sorry to hijack your post.
Here is the last batch of the Sweet Lebanon i did using Poli's recipe.
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/2013%20sausage/lpswl9.jpg)
I used natural beef middles.
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/2013%20sausage/lpswl1.jpg)
You can see that the SL is semi dry.
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/2013%20sausage/lpswl3.jpg)
QuoteDon
Sorry to hijack your post.
No problem Rick.
Those look really great. Is that a natural casing or synthetic ?
Quote from: devo on September 05, 2013, 12:26:15 PM
QuoteDon
Sorry to hijack your post.
No problem Rick.
Those look really great. Is that a natural casing or synthetic ?
natural beef middles
Smoking day, gave them almost 8 hours of heavy cold smoke from the A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER hanging in the bradley. Started getting pretty warm outside and it was getting difficult to keep the temp down below 90F even with a large chunk of ice.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vaF8GJ03sF8/UitzYLpoCeI/AAAAAAAAG1A/V9REy35ew-w/w366-h553-no/DSC_0114.JPG)
With these casings its hard to tell color change but you sure could feel the smoke on them.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kZIVixb1nWk/UitzTsv7YjI/AAAAAAAAG04/dp5-Y0oVrEs/w835-h553-no/DSC_0115.JPG)
I weighed them after the smoke and they have already lost 1/2 a pound each. Now they are back in a fridge for 10 -14 days depending on how much moisture they lose.
Cool
Starting to shrink
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ktz3WKoxeyQ/UizSUPTDlWI/AAAAAAAAG1w/9XQDsUGM-ms/w835-h553-no/DSC_0116.JPG)
Don
Hows the sweet lebnun going?
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on September 13, 2013, 06:02:23 PM
Don
Hows the sweet lebnun going?
Feels very firm already
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1_IsVLm7xas/UjSiuuLyenI/AAAAAAAAG4A/np4Ak6-JxGs/w702-h465-no/DSC_0130.JPG)