Mortadella: 'Fancy' Italian Bologna

[Kevin A]

Here's a go at making a five-pound batch of Mortadella. My wife loves this stuff, and so after recently make 10-pound of bologna, she asked me to try my skills at making some traditional mortadella.

For those unfamiliar with this Italian delicacy, mortadella is a firm, emulsified pork & beef product with visible bits of high-grade white pork fat. Often it also contains black peppercorns and pistachios. Good mortadella is slightly spicy (not hot) with a distinct 'good bologna' aroma, and a pleasantly smooth texture. Unlike it's distant cousin, bologna, mortadella is usually very thinly sliced & served as is—no frying. It makes a great sandwich or simply eaten by itself.

First we need to start with some good meat. — 2 to 1, pork to beef ratio. I'm using a fairly-lean beef chuck and pork loin, with a bit of pork shoulder I had :


Very important to this recipe is the addition of pork back fat. Belly fat is considered not ideal due its softness and ease of rendering, so I was able to pick up a thick slab of the back fat from a local carnicería. I cut a half-pound into ¼" cubes.
Ratio of meat to fat for this mortadella is 80-85% lean/15-20% fat—so in fact the end result will actually be much leaner than the vast majority of store-bought lunchmeats. Traditionally, mortadella is 70/30 lean to fat; so I've trimmed the fat down just a bit.


Here are the list of ingredients I'll be adding to the ground meat. Although this product is not smoked, the cure adds the traditional color & texture to the final results. The whole peppercorns and whole pistachios (locally-grown!) will be added, along with the fat cubes, prior to stuffing.


Grind Number One: 4.5mm medium grind to start. I'll next add the majority of spices:


MIX: Using my Kirby Bucket mixer; meat in and spices added...


Less than a minute later, the meat is well-mixed and ready for a second grind:


2nn GRIND: Using a 3.0mm plate for a fine grind.


Final mix: Adding the last 'whole' ingredients to the meat paste- the whole peppercorns, the pistachios, and the fat. I'll mix this in and let it rest overnight.


Going to do some stuffing next.
More to come....

Kevin

[3rensho]

Looks great so far.  I love that stuff too.  The monsters imported here take two good sized men to carry into the deli.

[SouthernSmoked]

Heck Yeah!

Looking good Kev!

[Kevin A]

Nice day outside today so I brought the Kirby cannon outside to make quick work on this single chub.
Meat-cannon loaded & ready to go:


Using the largest feed tube (41mm). This particular Kirby cannon will hold about 12 pounds packed, so its only about half-full.


Minutes later, the chub is done.

The "Mini Mort"... ;)


Next step is to get water up to 165 degrees and add the mini mort.
I expect this slow-poach will probably take a good 3 hours to reach the desired IT of 155 degrees.


Once it reaches the IT, next is a quick ice-bath. The chub will then rest for a day or so in the fridge before being sliced.

More to come....

Kevin

[NePaSmoKer]

Thats nice.

Its like a chubby mort  ;D

[pikeman_95]

Kevin
I knew this was going to get good. That chubby looks very interesting. Looking forward to the sliced shots.
Kirby

[bears fan]

All I have to say is wow!  I look forward to the sliced photos.  No smoking though?  Sorry, ignorant to what you are making here but it looks awesome.

[Kevin A]

Kirby, I hope to do some slicing sometime tomorrow.  :)

Bears Fan — no smoking on this particular meat product. Just poached the chub until desired temp is reached.

Kevin

[Tenpoint5]

I can't wait to see the Money shot and that Chubby Mort all sliced up for sammies!

[Sam3]

Looking good Kevin!

[anthony]

Looking very good.  Can't wait to see some sliced. 

[Sailor]

Hog Dang! That looks so good.   

[ExpatCanadian]

Wow...  I can't wait to see the end result of this!  Somehow I've only recently discovered how amazing Mortadella is!  I was always put off by the big chunks of fat in it.  But I had some paper thin slices from a local deli last year and fell in love with the stuff.  Would love to try making my own!

[Kevin A]

After resting overnight, the mini mort is ready to be sliced...


Upon slicing it, I was pleasantly surprised to find a good distribution of all the whole ingredients in the chub. The flavor and texture were great. Thinly sliced, it has a nice somewhat mild flavor with a kick of heat from the peppercorn. Nice crunch from the pistachios, too. My wife said it was quite delicious, and since she's the 'mortadella connoisseur' around here, I'll take that as a success!




Got a portion put in ziploc bags for the fridge, and the rest I'll keep in foodsaver bags that'll keep for quite some time.



Best eaten freshly sliced with some olives, cheese & crusty bread! Good stuff!

-  Kevin

[Sailor]

Wow Kevin.....that really looks good.