Ring bologna

[twilliams]

First time doing ring bologna, i would like to see the casing a little tighter. They were tight when i stuffed them but when the casing got some moisture from the meat they relaxed. Im sure they will still be delicious. 75% venison 25% pork fat. Usually i would add ground pork to it but i ran out

[Jonathon]

twilliams inedible collagen? Did you follow the rule of 15s? 15 minutes in water that is 15°C and it is a 15% salt solution?

[twilliams]

Jonathon no, i was told you do not soak these, i questioned myself if that was incorrect

[Jonathon]

twilliams Yeah, if it is inedible collagen you should soak them for 15 minutes in 15°C water in water that is a 15% salt solution. Sorry if one of us said no when we here collagen we tend to just think of the smoked, fresh or clear varieties that do not need any soaking.

[twilliams]

Jonathon thanks, will give em a soak next time. I made a 25 lb batch and ran out of casings so i have left over meat to stuff when i get new casings. Had to freeze the left over meat. I know its not ideal as the meat stiffens up so will be difficult to stuff. A little trick i found is if you use a long jerky gun it makes it useable

[twilliams]

Jonathon so i followed the smoke schedule recipe frome prosmoker/vitron. It says to heat up smoker to 120° for 1 hour with dampers wide open. Then after that hour add a pan of sawdust close dampers to 1/4 open and increase temp to 170° and smoke for 3 hours until internal temp is 154°. It only took 1 hour to reach that internal temp. I really questioned this as going too high of temp too quick will render fat out. I went ahead and did it anyways as they know what they are talking about right? Well low and behold i was correct and had alot of fat out. What is your recommendation for smoke schedule? Im guessing the same as snack sticks?

[Jonathon]

twilliams Yeah, that seems too fast for sure. https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/179/how-to-make-homemade-ring-bologna-recipe?_=1582750128528

Here is what we would recommend to prevent fatting out:
120F for 30 minutes
130F for 30 minutes (start adding smoke now and throughout entire cook cycle)
140F for 30 minutes
150F for 30 minutes
160F for 30 minutes
170F until internal meat temperature of 160F
Shower final product or place in an ice water bath for 10-20 minutes to set the casings and cool the product