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First, I apologize for being MIA the last month or so. Age and circumstances overcame me. Life is improving except for heavy snow here in the Canadian Rockies today.
Trail Bologna is an all beef sausage that originated in Trail, Ohio. You can still buy Troyer’s a brand from one of the original purveyors. However, I don’t like the texture of 100% beef sausage so I tried to maintain a tasty version with some pork in it.
I have had to do work arounds for making sausage. To get a good texture in cured sausage, you need 2 things. First, you must keep the meat cold at all times.
Second, you need to start it at a low temperature that you slowly increase to prevent the fat breaking from the meat giving a poor texture from a fat out.
My trustee old Bradley would go to low temperatures but my newer pellet smokers don’t. I have got by by using my WSM mini but I am getting lazy and wanted an more automated system.
I have started cold smoking my sausage with a A-Maze-N tube smoker and then using my oven to do the slow cooking at the lowest temperatures. I then put it in my pellet smoker when the desired temperatures are in that range.
I put a couple of fibrous casings in warm water to soak.
I started with a mixture of 70% lean beef and 30 % fatty pork shoulder. I have made this with venison and moose instead of the beef. I used ground beef and ground my own pork shoulder. I put the meat in the fridge to get very cold.
I mixed a slurry to add to the meat. For each kilogram of meat, you will need:
100 ml dry skim milk powder
13 ml Kosher salt
7 ml dry mustard
7 ml paprika
5 ml white pepper
5 ml garlic powder
4 ml onion powder
2 ml celery seed
1.5 ml dried chili flakes
1 ml ground cardamom
1 ml ground mace
0.5 ml ground nutmeg
0.5 ml ground coriander
2.6 grams (2 ml) Prague powder #1
90 ml ice water
10 ml light corn syrup
If you are uncivilized and use US measures, for each pound of meat you will need:
3 tablespoons skim milk powder
1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/16 teaspoon ground coriander
1/5 teaspoon Prague powder #1
3 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
I spread the meat on a large sheet tray and poke holes in it with my fingers. I poured the slurry over the meat and mixed by folding half of it towards me and pressing the meat flat. Turn the tray 1/4 turn, fold towards me and press. Continue turning and pressing for 3 minutes.
I put the meat in the fridge for an hour to chill.
I put 1 kg (2 pounds) of the meat in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I mixed at medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes.
You are looking for the meat to be pasty and sticky. It took two batches to mix it in my stand mixer. I refrigerated the meat for 1 hour.
I stuffed the meat into the casings and tied off the open end.
I refrigerated the chubs overnight to allow the ingredients to blend.
My pellet smoker just doesn't go low enough to do the sausage well. I cold smoked for 2 hours with my A-Maze-N Tube smoker and refrigerated overnight.
I put the chubs in the oven as follows:
1 hour at 140 F (60 C)
1 hour at 150 F (65 C)
I moved them to my smoker and smoked at:
1 hour at 160 F (70 C)
1 hour at 170 F (75 C)
I increased the temperature to 180 F (80 C) and cooked until the internal temperature of the sausage was 155 F (68 C).
I plunged the chubs into ice water for 10 minutes to stop the cooking. Then let them sit at room temperature for 4 hours.
The Verdict
I love this recipe. It has a nice firm texture, hints of bologna spices but with a great garlic hit and just a touch of spice.
The Old Fat Guy
Trail Bologna is an all beef sausage that originated in Trail, Ohio. You can still buy Troyer’s a brand from one of the original purveyors. However, I don’t like the texture of 100% beef sausage so I tried to maintain a tasty version with some pork in it.
I have had to do work arounds for making sausage. To get a good texture in cured sausage, you need 2 things. First, you must keep the meat cold at all times.
Second, you need to start it at a low temperature that you slowly increase to prevent the fat breaking from the meat giving a poor texture from a fat out.
My trustee old Bradley would go to low temperatures but my newer pellet smokers don’t. I have got by by using my WSM mini but I am getting lazy and wanted an more automated system.
I have started cold smoking my sausage with a A-Maze-N tube smoker and then using my oven to do the slow cooking at the lowest temperatures. I then put it in my pellet smoker when the desired temperatures are in that range.
I put a couple of fibrous casings in warm water to soak.
I started with a mixture of 70% lean beef and 30 % fatty pork shoulder. I have made this with venison and moose instead of the beef. I used ground beef and ground my own pork shoulder. I put the meat in the fridge to get very cold.
I mixed a slurry to add to the meat. For each kilogram of meat, you will need:
100 ml dry skim milk powder
13 ml Kosher salt
7 ml dry mustard
7 ml paprika
5 ml white pepper
5 ml garlic powder
4 ml onion powder
2 ml celery seed
1.5 ml dried chili flakes
1 ml ground cardamom
1 ml ground mace
0.5 ml ground nutmeg
0.5 ml ground coriander
2.6 grams (2 ml) Prague powder #1
90 ml ice water
10 ml light corn syrup
If you are uncivilized and use US measures, for each pound of meat you will need:
3 tablespoons skim milk powder
1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/16 teaspoon ground coriander
1/5 teaspoon Prague powder #1
3 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
I spread the meat on a large sheet tray and poke holes in it with my fingers. I poured the slurry over the meat and mixed by folding half of it towards me and pressing the meat flat. Turn the tray 1/4 turn, fold towards me and press. Continue turning and pressing for 3 minutes.
I put the meat in the fridge for an hour to chill.
I put 1 kg (2 pounds) of the meat in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I mixed at medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes.
You are looking for the meat to be pasty and sticky. It took two batches to mix it in my stand mixer. I refrigerated the meat for 1 hour.
I stuffed the meat into the casings and tied off the open end.
I refrigerated the chubs overnight to allow the ingredients to blend.
My pellet smoker just doesn't go low enough to do the sausage well. I cold smoked for 2 hours with my A-Maze-N Tube smoker and refrigerated overnight.
I put the chubs in the oven as follows:
1 hour at 140 F (60 C)
1 hour at 150 F (65 C)
I moved them to my smoker and smoked at:
1 hour at 160 F (70 C)
1 hour at 170 F (75 C)
I increased the temperature to 180 F (80 C) and cooked until the internal temperature of the sausage was 155 F (68 C).
I plunged the chubs into ice water for 10 minutes to stop the cooking. Then let them sit at room temperature for 4 hours.
The Verdict
I love this recipe. It has a nice firm texture, hints of bologna spices but with a great garlic hit and just a touch of spice.
The Old Fat Guy
on the reload
I say it looks good.. I have no other comments at this time...
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