# 50 Lbs Of Lebanon Bologna



## hounds51

Ok folks Last Saturday I made 50Lbs of some of the best Lebanon Bologna that I have ever tasted. I took pictures, but lost them due to a camera glitch. Operator error (I mistakenly formatted the memory)

This stuff looks, tastes and smells like the real McCoy! And since I live in the middle of Lebanon Bologna country, I have excellant taste testers here. The first batch that I made a couple of weeks ago I used 20 lbs of beef, and 5 lbs of pork, along with only 2 tbls of a weaker liquid smoke. Everyone asked me where I got the formula for such good salimi. So in a nutshell If you modify this recipie by using 20lbs beef & 5lbs pork, and limiting the liquid smoke you will have a great Salimi.
If you stay strict to the recipe you will have the best tasting Lebanon Bologna you can make.
Believe me it's that good
I will try to get pictures of the finished product.
When people from Lebanon say it's good, you know ur doin something right.


*Home Made Lebanon Bologna* 
Hi Folks Here is a relatively easy way to make some homemade Lebanon Bologna.
Here goes
25 lbs of chuck or beef neck (whatevers cheapest) 
1 - 18.5 oz bag of Leggs #116 snack stick seasoning http://www.columbiaspice.com/116snackstick.html
1 - 3oz bag of LEM citric Acid http://www.lemproducts.com/category/190
1 - 8oz or 1/2 bag of LEM soy protien (to keep shrinkage down) http://www.lemproducts.com/product/384/Soy_Protein
6 to 8 *tbs* of liquid smoke http://www.lemproducts.com/product/2...gs_cure_spices
6 to 8 *Tbs* of Brown sugar (For Sweet Bologna Add 10 to 16 Tbs, or sweeten to taste) test cook in microwave.

Cut and grind beef mix Legg's with water and Instacure#1 as per instructions then add liquid smoke and brown sugar. After final grind (if one) and right before stuffing, mix the 3oz bag of citric acid into meat. *Do Not Grind Citric Acid Into Meat!!!!*. Stuff into large casing and heavy smoke with hickory with low heat slowly bringing up to finishing heat (about 150-160 degs internal) Smoke for about 12 to 16 hours. The longer the smoke the better.
Give the bologna a cold water bath.
Let sit in fridge overnight, vacupack freeze eat and enjoy at leisure.
Dennis


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## bossdogg

from another southcentral pa'r no one knows what balogna tastes like unless they have lebanon balogna.  mmmm.  I will have to try it sometime.


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## hounds51

Follow the recipe and you'll know you have the real McCoy. Believe me it's as good as any commercial Lebanon Bologna and this is comming from everyone that tasted mine. Friends Family and Co workers
Dennis


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## cajunsmoke13

Just bought some this week at Weis market.  Nice


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## kltjs

Gotta love that Lebanon Bologna! I really like the sweet Lebanon Bologna!!


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## mballi3011

Now it's alittle weird to me that I get a graving for some lebanon balonga every now and then and when I do I cann't get enough of it for about a couple of weeks and then it's over. But I haqve been feeling a graving aq couple of weeks ago when someone here posted a thread and recipe but I just haven't been around the house long enough to make my own tho.


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## hounds51

Just add more sugar to the recipe. 
Also you can cut the amounts in half, and only make 12lbs. The only problem is that it will go so fast, that you will have to make the other half the following week. Yes it's that good.


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## hounds51

Here are the pictures


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## roller

That looks good I will have to try it.


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## pops6927

Ok, I'll bite, why not grind the citric acid into the meat?  I've done it before with encapsulated citric acid for different sausages.


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## hounds51

This is what I found in research of encapsulated citric acid.
[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']*Encapsulated Cirtic Acid*[/font]
[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']*Encapsulated citric acid effectively preserves sausage and meat products and is used a lot today in commercial products. Product quality is maintained while pH remains controlled. Company processes have eliminated the use of starter cultures and has increased production capacity with the shortening of cook cycles which makes the product cheaper to manufacture. Although it does produce a tang it is more of an acidic tang not quite the same thing.*[/font]
*[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']Encapsulated citric acids are made by [/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']coating [/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']citric acid[/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif'] with maltodexrine, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, which by design will melt at 135º F. What this means is that the [/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']citric acid with not blend with the meat and lower the pH until the internal temperature of the sausages reach [/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']135º F in the smoker preventing the meat from getting crumbly.[/font]*
*[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']Encapsulated citric acid should be used when making summer sausage or snack sticks when the classic tang is desired due to reduced pH, but the long fermentation cycle is not. [/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']Encapsulated acids for sausage should be added just before stuffing and mixed into the meat. To not grind after adding the capsules. [/font]*
[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']*Fermento*[/font]
*[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']Fermento[/font][FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif'] is another product used to produce a tangy taste in normally fermented sausages. The recommended level to start with is 3%, (about 1 oz. per lb. of meat) add up to 6% to produce a more tangy taste, but do not exceed 6% or the sausage will become mushy. This product does not require refrigeration. [/font]*
[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']*Fermento is used to eliminates the curing times necessary for the fermentation process to take place. When using starter cultures you may have to wait up to two days for the culture to create enough lactic acid to lower the pH to sufficient levels where with Fermento you can start smoking right away. Fermento is suggested for products such as; Venison Summer Sausage, Cervelat, Goetburg, and any other Summer Sausage. The usage is usually about 6 oz of Fermento per 10 lbs of meat*[/font]

[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']My take on this is that if you compromise the encaptulation, you may not get the full effect of the cureing process. It appears that the encaptiluation process is done so that it gives your meat a chance to bind before the process takes affect. Thus your meat won't crumble but will still have the desired PH balance that it requires.[/font]
[FONT='Century Gothic','sans-serif']If you read the instructions on the encaptulated citric acid bag it will tell you to mix only before stuffing.[/font]


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## hounds51

I also found this information, which answers alot more questions, including the encaptulated citric acid question.

http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/p.../howtos/key/22

*ENCAPSULATED CITRIC ACID:*<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Use encapsulated citric acid when making summer sausage or snack sticks and that distinctive tang, associated with reduce pH, is desired but the lengthy fermentation cycle is not. When used correctly, it is almost impossible to tell if the sausage was manufactured by fermentation or by the use of this product. There is no need to worry about processing under special conditions. You just add the citric acid to the meat at end of the mixing process (making sure that you do not grind meat again), and then blend into the meat by hand or by mixer. If using a meat mixer, mix only until the encapsulated citric acid is blended into the meat mix, usually about one minute is sufficient. Longer mixing can cause the capsules to rupture resulting in the premature release of the citric acid.
Encapsulated citric acid is citric acid, a naturally occurring acid, *that has been *encapsulated (coated) with maltodexrine, a *hydrogenated vegetable oil, which will melt at 135 degrees F. releasing the citric acid into the meat product.*This prevents the citric acid from releasing and prematurely lowering the ph of your sausage meat mix. If the meatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ph drops before the protein sets at 105-115 degrees you will get a negative effect on the texture of your finished sausage. It won't bind as well and the texture will be crumbly.


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## shellbellc

Great looking lebanon!  Growing up (well and now too) the ONLY bologna I eat is sweet lebanon.  I've tried a honey lebanon too but that was a different flavor.


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## hounds51

Yea honey and maple syrup will give you a different flavor to the finished product. The next batch I make will have Honey in the ingredeants. Most of my family are asking for honey bologna, and since there my biggest fans, I guess I will have to keep them happy. This stuff is soo easy to make it ain't all that hard, and it really tastes like Lebanon bologna.
This is great for smokers that can't by the commercial stuff in thier area.
Dennis


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## erain

as an avid sausagemaker this makes the to do list... thanks for sharing, will get some seasonings and give it a shot prolly this fall!!!


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## 93viking

Hounds51...thanks for the recipe! I just made it using 25 pounds of venison and it came out tasting just like Lebanon Bologna. Great job and thanks again!


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## scsmoker

Looks great, I too am from Bologna country. quick question. if I didnt want  to package in smaller quantities can i just freeze the whole bologna or do i need to do something else before I freeze. also what type and size casing did you use and did you hand stuff the casings, thanks for any info.  looks great cant wait to try it!!!


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## roadkill66

Sounds delicious, I gotta try it.  Do you have any guidelines for smokehouse temps and times?  Thanks for the recipe!!


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## 93viking

scsmoker said:


> Looks great, I too am from Bologna country. quick question. if I didnt want  to package in smaller quantities can i just freeze the whole bologna or do i need to do something else before I freeze. also what type and size casing did you use and did you hand stuff the casings, thanks for any info.  looks great cant wait to try it!!!


I used 2 1/2" x 20" 3lbs. casings and used my meat grinder with a stuffing plate. I would love to have a vertical stuffer, but funds are and issue at this time. As far as freezing the bologna I used my Food Saver for storage.


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## scsmoker

Thanks for the info. do you think the bologna would be ok to freeze in the casing. how long would it last just refrigerated. sorry for the questions but this will be my first attempt at sausage/bologna. what type of casing do you use?  thanks for all the help!!!


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## 93viking

If your going to freeze it I would just wrap it real tight in some plastic wrap trying to get all the air out...then wrap it tight with some freezer paper. If you smoke, use cure with the Citric Acid I would think it would be okay in the refrigerater for a month or two.

Here is a link to LEMs website where I purchase my fibrous casings. http://www.lemproducts.com/product/3854/Fibrous_Casings

Good Luck!


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## 93viking

roadkill66 said:


> Sounds delicious, I gotta try it.  Do you have any guidelines for smokehouse temps and times?  Thanks for the recipe!!


This is what I did with my electric smoker (MES). I started out with 1 hour *NO* smoke at 140 degrees, damper open. I then bumped the temps up to 160 degrees (damper half open) and smoked with hickory heavy for 5 hours. I had 13 pounds of bologna in my MES and after 6 hours the bologna temp was at 140 degrees. I then filled the water pan in the smoker with boiling water from the stove, and bumped the temp up to 180 degrees and closed the damper. Once the internal temp of the bologna was at 155 degrees I pulled and placed in cold water to cool down.

This was with 100% venison, no mix and it turned out great.


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## BGKYSmoker

I just wanna bring this back to life.

This recipe is fairly easy to do.

I made this 2 years ago but cut it down to a 10 lb batch and added more brown sugar. My hang time was about 20 hours.

Somewhere i do have pics of the process.

Here is some cut $ shots. (Its not venison, I just needed to use the casings up)


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## rbranstner

Sure looks good to me. I always get confused by this and I know Nepas or someone else can set me straight. What is the difference between  Bologna and Summer sausage? I know what Bologna looks like in the store that pink very finely ground greasy crap but this stuff looks like what I would call summer sausage.


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## smokinhusker

So glad you revived this Nepas! I do so love me some Lebanon Bologna and these look great! I'm still working on understanding the ECA and citric acid though.


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## gersus

Ok, I'm sold. This is going on my list to do! I love bologna!


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## BGKYSmoker

Summer Sausage

With proper curing SS can be kept with low or no refrigeration. Semi dry or dried, smoked with Lactic Acid tang and course ground.

Bologna

Fine ground with no large chunks. Most emuslified bologna is either poached or steamed. Some of the Amish smoke the bologna.

If your going to do this recipe just be patient with it. It can take some time. Do a 5 lb batch first.


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## big casino

Hounds51 said:


> I also found this information, which answers alot more questions, including the encaptulated citric acid question.
> 
> http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/p.../howtos/key/22
> 
> *ENCAPSULATED CITRIC ACID:*<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Use encapsulated citric acid when making summer sausage or snack sticks and that distinctive tang, associated with reduce pH, is desired but the lengthy fermentation cycle is not. When used correctly, it is almost impossible to tell if the sausage was manufactured by fermentation or by the use of this product. There is no need to worry about processing under special conditions. You just add the citric acid to the meat at end of the mixing process (making sure that you do not grind meat again), and then blend into the meat by hand or by mixer. If using a meat mixer, mix only until the encapsulated citric acid is blended into the meat mix, usually about one minute is sufficient. Longer mixing can cause the capsules to rupture resulting in the premature release of the citric acid.
> Encapsulated citric acid is citric acid, a naturally occurring acid, *that has been *encapsulated (coated) with maltodexrine, a *hydrogenated vegetable oil, which will melt at 135 degrees F. releasing the citric acid into the meat product.*This prevents the citric acid from releasing and prematurely lowering the ph of your sausage meat mix. If the meatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ph drops before the protein sets at 105-115 degrees you will get a negative effect on the texture of your finished sausage. It won't bind as well and the texture will be crumbly.




Also do not let it set over night b4 smoking as the the capsules may dissolve and rupture, making your sausage very vinegary tasting


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## couger78

This (Sweet Lebanon bologna) is actually NEXT on my list. I have all the ingredients; just need to set aside some time to actually make the big load.

- Kevin


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## clarego

i just made some cutting this in half i was a little scared at first being 1/4 from weavers Bologna made me getting a little deter ed i had it out to bloom for at least 2 hours then into the fridge. the next morning didn't taste like it at all 10 hours more in the fridge the taste change for the better. will taste it again today 12.5 is alot of bolgna for my bradley smoker it was to long to hang so i had to rack it. when i try this again real soon i will stuff a whole one leaving some space to half it then ill be able to hang it.


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## Moyert

For those of you that made this recipe, did you use Legg's cure or can you use any Instacure #1?  I'm just wondering because Legg's website says to use Leggs' cure when using the 116 Snack Stick seasoning.


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## pc farmer

Moyert said:


> For those of you that made this recipe, did you use Legg's cure or can you use any Instacure #1?  I'm just wondering because Legg's website says to use Leggs' cure when using the 116 Snack Stick seasoning.



Any cure # 1 will work.  Leggs cure I am assuming is just cure #1.


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## BGKYSmoker

This is an antique post


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## rohfan2112

SWFLsmkr1 said:


> This is an antique post



It sure is!

Can the original poster's recipe be scaled down to 5 lbs of meat?


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