25Lbs of Lebanon Bologna (with plenty of pix)

[Kevin A]

Here's a relatively QUICK N EASY version of Lebanon Bologna from a recipe that is significantly easier and faster than the traditional "ferment-n-smoke 3 days" version. Two of the shortcuts involve using a standard Snack Stick mxi (AC Leggs#116), and citric acid for tang.

I love the real stuff I had in PA years ago—and the store-bought stuff isn't the same— and I was hoping to replicate the smokey bologna at home. I've read many positive reviews of this recipe, so here we go...

Start with a load of beef (25 pounds of lean beef). The local market has a nice '2 for 1' deal on some nice cuts so I took advantage & saved some big $$...


I'm going to do a single medium grind (4.5 mm plate).
Grinding under way:


In less than 4 minutes, I've a big lug of lean ground beef...


To the meat I'll be adding the follow ingredients. The recipe called for 'dark brown sugar' but all I had was the light brown. Easy fix. I added some molasses. For a "Sweet Lebanon Bologna" I would double the amount of sugar, but since this was my first go at this recipe, I played it safe. I didnt want twenty-five pounds of "too sweet" meat!


I mixed the dry with an ample amount of chilled water and mixed the load.
All mixed & ready to stuff:


I finally broke down & purchased a smaller stuffer (5 pounder). Normally I'd use my kirby-cannon (12 pounds), but it's in need of repair. So rather than use my grinder as a 'stuffer' again—which would be absolutely nutz for doing a 25-pound batch— we'll break in this little Grizzly


I'm using 4" clear fibrous casing for these bolognas. I'm estimating about 3 or so total. The new stuffer makes filling these chubs MUCH easier than the grinder ("doh! No kidding!'). The hardest part of the whole job was taking photos while doing it. The red tape you see on the work surface indicates the maximum length I wanted to make these chubs. This is important as we'll see later.


I used ½" hog wire to seal the ends of the chubs. I wanted something strong as each of these chubs weighs about 8 pounds.


All chubbed up. Three large monsters and a pee-wee chub.


Now to the smoker...

The recipe calls for a LONG smoke. (12-16 hours minimum, longe =better), but there's no way that's going to happen. My plan is to give the chubs a good dose of heavy smoke for 6-8 hours and finish them in a water bath. After an hour of drying (no smoke) @ 130°), I'll be using hickory pellets for smoke. Even temps of about 140-145° for a good part of the smoking process. I'll amp up the temps as we close in on last two hours.

Two-hours in: Starting to pick up a good hickory red.


Six-hours in: Getting a nice even color. Two more hours & we'll hit the poacher...


Regarding the poacher: My turkey poacher will hold a 22 pound turkey, but I need to make sure the length of large chubs don't exceed the poaching basin. I set a determined length (with the red tape!) when stuffing the chubs. Unfortunately, one turned out a bit longer and so I had to squeeze him in on the diagonal. Total time in the poacher to get it to 154° was abut 2 hours per load. The poaching liquid turned amber from the hickory smoke off the casing.


The other two I was able to fit together and they took about the same time as the first chub: about 2 hours to reach the final IT.
The little 'chubbette' I poached in a pot on the stovetop. The little guy only took about 25 minutes to hit the desired IT.

Tub for Two:


The chubs went to an ice bath to cool and will hang overnight in my fridge to firm up before slicing.

NEXT DAY: After a night of 'chilling' in the fridge, the chubs are now ready to slice.


Since I only ground the meat once, I expected a coarser texture than my other 'smooth' bolognas. So I was happy to see that the slices held together nicely. Taste? Very nice smokey taste with a bit of sweetness & tang—pretty much what I remember Lebanon bologna to taste like!
It's not as dark as the store-bought stuff, but the taste is there! The slices have a nice, dense outer ring where the heavy some has penetrated. Very tasty! The fact that its very lean sausage (less than 20% fat) is a plus without losing any flavor.


After slicing up the lot, now comes the vac-seal bags. This should keep us in bologna for awhile!
It goes great on a roll with some horseradish mustard!

...and now to finish that seven-pound batch of braunschweiger I'm working on!

Kevin

[mikecorn.1]

Nice thread/pictorial. That's a boat load of bologna.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SouthernSmoked]

A+ again Kevin! Bologna looks awesome!!

[ghost9mm]

As always Kevin...a great job and super presentation...

[pikeman_95]

Kevin
You are driving me nuts. I love bologna this batch you made looks so great. Great job!!!

KC

[Mr Walleye]

Another fantastic job Kevin.

Outstanding!  8)

Mike

[SiFumar]

It's like following in a sausage making book when you post...but even better! Looks fabulous!

[rajzer]

What a bunch of bologna!  Superb job and A1 results.  I envy your setup!

[carnie1]

Looks real goood,Casper was licking the screen right after I got done, you're gonna kill poor Kirby, I send him a chub of this recipe when I made it back in Febuary and he really liked it, I can see the next Lebanon bologna post from Kirby "200 Lbs of Lebanon"  :D

[Sailor]

Hog Dang Kevin you done good.  I am going to have to get off my duff and make some.  Fantastic job of writing this up.

[pikeman_95]

Looks real goood,Casper was licking the screen right after I got done, you're gonna kill poor Kirby, I send him a chub of this recipe when I made it back in Febuary and he really liked it, I can see the next Lebanon bologna post from Kirby "200 Lbs of Lebanon"  :D

You bet. I have started scouting out some road kill as we speak.

[viper125]

Awesome Job! Never ate it may have to give it a try. See what it tastes like.

[Kevin A]

Awesome Job! Never ate it may have to give it a try. See what it tastes like.

If you like 'regular' bologna, then you're sure to like the Lebanon version. It's smokey, sweet & tangy—can be very rich—makes great sandwiches but also very nice to just eat by itself or wrapped around cheese (or pickle) :P
I've never had it fried—like regular bologna—but my son tried it today & thought it was spectacular. I'm going to have to try some fried in the near future, just to see what I'm missing.

Kevin

[Sam3]

Freekin awesome!!!

[pensrock]

Nice job, being from PA I love Lebanon! I do not care for the sweet stuff just the regular. I seen Rick make it several times but I never got to taste it. It looks just like the stuff I get here.