How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

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ChrisSmolinski
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How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Thu Jul 16, 2020 15:56

First time poster here. I have been experimenting with making my own lowcarb/keto Sweet Lebanon Bologna. I'm using liquid Splenda to replace the sugar for sweetness, and liquid smoke for the smokey flavoring. I'm not aiming for perfection obviously, but something that I can eat, and is as close to the original (say Seltzers) as I can get with the compromises. I think I am pretty close, but the result is not as moist/"wet" as I want. I'm looking for tips as far as what I can do to improve that. Here's my latest recipe:

2 lb ground chuck

Liquid:
1/3 cup water
3T liquid smoke
24 drops liquid Splenda

Spices:
4t salt
2t ECA
1.5t ground black pepper
0.5t cure #1
0.5t ground nutmeg
0.5t ground allspice
0.25t sodium erythorbate
0.25t paprika
0.25t ground clove
0.25t ground cinnamon
0.25t ground ginger
0.25t ground mace
0.25t ground mustard

I stuff it into a 2 3/8" non edible casing and into a 155F oven with the convection fan on for 2 hrs until the internal temperature also reached 155F, then into the freezer for a bit to cool down quickly, then the fridge.

One change I want to make is to use a 4" casing to see if that helps. But I also wondering if there's anything else I can do to make it more moist/wet like the real stuff. Either with ingredients or cooking. Thanks!
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Bob K
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by Bob K » Thu Jul 16, 2020 16:25

Welcome Chris!
I would try poaching instead of your convection oven. Even better yet if you have the resources is to vac seal and poach. (Sous Vide) . Either way should make a difference. To retain more water you can also add phosphates the the recipe.
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Thu Jul 16, 2020 16:44

Thanks Bob! I do have a vacuum sealer, so I can certainly try that method next. I don't have proper sous vide equipment but have had reasonably good luck carefully adjusting the burner setting while monitoring the water temperature. I suppose I could get the water the correct temperature and put it in an oven set to that temperature also to keep it stable. And if it works... now I have an excuse to buy a sous vide setup :P Any recommendations on the water temperature & time?

For the phosphates, would Sodium phosphate be appropriate? I see recommendations of 2 oz per 25 lb of meat, does that sound right?
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by Bob K » Thu Jul 16, 2020 18:20

You can poach it sous vide at 170-180 f til an internal temp of 154 or 6 hrs at 145f. Phosphate use at .50 to.55% by weight
By all means get an immersion circulator. Especially if you like steaks cooked to perfection every time :D
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Thu Jul 16, 2020 19:54

You've convinced me, I have an immersion circulator on the way. I will give it a try, and report back with my results.
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Sat Jul 18, 2020 19:57

It definitely turned out more moist. This was just using sous vide, 155F for 5 hours. I do wonder if I should try cooking at a lower temperature so less fat renders out, the traditional smoking methods do not get about 125F IIRC. Perhaps try 140F? I need to research the required sous vide times for pasteurization.

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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Mon Aug 17, 2020 14:28

I made another batch of Keto Lebanon Bologna. This time I sous vide for 7 1/2 hours at 130F, the goal was to prevent rendering of fat. I accomplished that, but the resulting bologna was loose, not bound together. I am not sure if that was due to the lower cooking temperature, or because I did not make it the day before and put in the fridge before cooking, could that have affected the ability of the actin and myosin to bind the ground beef? I'm going to try to salvage it by putting it back into the sous vide bath for another 10 or so hours and see what happens, perhaps monitor it from time to time and see if it is firming up.

One positive, I sampled some of it and it was pretty tasty :D
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by Bob K » Mon Aug 17, 2020 14:56

How are you mixing, enough to make the mince sticky?
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by ChrisSmolinski » Mon Aug 17, 2020 15:24

Bob K wrote:
Mon Aug 17, 2020 14:56
How are you mixing, enough to make the mince sticky?
In a stand mixer, although that is a very good point, it's possible I did not mix it as much as usual this time as I was concerned about breaking down the fat too much. Excellent point, that's quite likely my failure mode. So I'm probably not going to be able to get this to bind together at this point.

One other change I left out - I put the ECA into hot water to melt the wax and release the citric acid (then removed the floating wax from the water before pouring it into the mix) as I knew I'd be cooking the sausage below the melting point of the wax. I was willing to accept any additional discoloration that caused to the sausage (although honestly so far all my batches have turned out more grey than pink/red, but perhaps that is due to not actually smoking it?.
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Re: How to keep Lebanon Bologna moist?

Post by MosleyCale » Mon Nov 02, 2020 04:03

Thank for your recipe
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