2. Homemade Smoked Bologna Recipe
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Homemade Smoked Bologna Recipe

Homemade Smoked Bologna Recipe
5.0 from 1 vote
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Make genuine cured and smoked bologna, 100% from scratch! There’s lots of ingredients and a lot of steps, but practically anyone can make some real, delicious bologna sandwiches at home.

Here is a list of items and equipment you will need to make this bologna recipe (along with links to the exact products I use for each):

Homemade Smoked Bologna Recipe
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Homemade Smoked Bologna Recipe

Recipe by Great Lakes
5.0 from 1 vote
Course: Lunch, Dinner, SnacksCuisine: American, Southern, BBQDifficulty: Medium
Servings

20

servings
Prep time

5

hours 
Cooking time

5

hours 

Ingredients

  • 3 3/4 lbs Lean beef and/or lean pork

  • 1 1/4 lbs Beef fat

  • 45 grams Kosher salt

  • 12 grams Garlic powder

  • 6 grams Onion powder

  • 6 grams Paprika

  • 3 grams Nutmeg

  • 6 grams White pepper

  • 12 grams Mustard powder

  • 6 grams Ground caraway seed

  • 13 grams Pink curing salt (Prague No. 1)

  • 90 grams Milk powder

  • 230 Ice cold water

  • 1 Large red fibrous bologna casing

  • Dijon or yellow mustard

  • BBQ seasoning rub for pork

Directions

  • Making Bologna
  • Cut meat and fat into chunks. Chill in freezer until firm.
  • Grind meat and fat with fine plate. Chill again in freezer until firm. Grind again with fine plate.
  • Mix seasonings and curing salt together. Mix into ground meat. Then mix milk powder and ice water into meat. Chill in fridge for 20 minutes.
  • Emulsify meat in small batches using stand mixer. Use paddle attachment and mix meat on medium-high speed until it is a sticky paste. Keep all meat in fridge while not actively working with it.
  • Soak red fibrous casing in room temperature water for 30 minutes.
  • Load emulsified meat into sausage stuffing machine. Stuff casing as full and plump as possible. Twist the open end tight, then tie with string.
  • Hang vertically in the fridge for 18-24 hours so the meat can cure.
  • Cold smoke with pellet smoke tube for 4 hours. If the log is laying flat in your smoker, rotate the log every 30 minutes so it doesn’t get flat on one side.
  • Cook bologna in a hot water bath (sous vide) at 180 Fahrenheit degrees, until the internal meat temperatures reaches 155 degrees (this takes about 2 hours).
  • Immediately place bologna into ice water to stop the cooking process. Leave for at least 30 minutes.
  • Refrigerate overnight, the remove red fibrous casing and discard. Bologna is now ready to eat.
  • BBQ Bologna
  • At this point, the bologna log can be turned into smoked BBQ bologna.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut very shallow slits along the length of the log, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Then cut shallow slits around the circumference of the log, about every 1 1/2 inches apart.
  • Slather the bologna log with a thin layer of mustard. Then season with a BBQ pork seasoning rub. Use about as much seasoning as will stick to the mustard.
  • Place bologna in the fridge and get your smoker heated up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Then put the bologna into the smoker and smoke for 3 hours. It works best if you but one end off the bologna log so it can stand upright in the smoker.
  • Once the smoking is finished, the BBQ bologna is ready to eat (or slice it up and fry it for bologna sandwiches).

Recipe Video

Great Lakes Prepping YouTube Channel