mrobisr it’s definitely a niche food item that’ll keep you coming back for more. I’ll have to see if I can go find the sweet bologna that is locally made and upload a photo. I have some snack sticks planned for tomorrow. Maybe I’ll try this recipe next weekend!

mrobisr that was the odd part to me. It seemed to be more of a coarse grind that your typical store bought ring bologna. You could definitely see/feel the texture within the meet rather than it being emulsified like typical bologna. Seems like it would be worth experimenting with!

Randie N Seems like this could get me very close! Appreciate it!

mrobisr I would say it had more of a maple syrup type taste, but wasn’t overwhelming. Just enough sweetness to notice.

My father-in-law came across some sweet bologna at a local shop. Tasted so good! It was in a smaller casing (maybe 2” or so) than a typical ring bologna. Does anyone have any experience with making a sweet bologna?

Midwest_kc what would you recommend to get more of that true summer sausage taste? A lean beef and pork shoulder combo?

Hello, very new into experimenting with homemade snack sticks/summer sausage. Greatly appreciate this community and all of the content!

My question is if I can use a pork shoulder as my meat block or if I should chose a lean piece of meat and add fat separate? Our goal is to make homemade venison snack sticks/summer sausage after getting a result we like with pork/beef. I was planning to experiment with more readily available meat.

Appreciate the help!

glen this seems like a good recipe to try. To be clear, your recipe is:
-155 degrees for 2 hours
-1 tbsp water in vacuum sealed bag
-Ice bath for how long after 2 hour cook? And how long do you dry/bloom after ice bath?

Dr_Pain Greatly appreciate the in-depth explanation! I’m excited to give it a go with this method.

By the way, those pepperoni sticks look awesome. My wife would probably love something along those lines. Did you post how you did those on this site? I assume you used a smoke collagen casing for these?

Dr_Pain If you wouldn’t mind, could you provide how you do yours step-by-step? I am very comfortable smoking meat and using the sous vide for meat. But, combining the two for snack sticks/summer sausage is completely foreign to me. I assume I would smoke at the lowest temp I could get my smoker to for 3 hours and then immediately transfer to sous vide until internal temperature is 155-160? What temperature do you set your sous vide at? I will be doing a pork/beef mixture first and then a venison/pork mixture after I get good results. Thank you!

RON PARRISH I do have a sous vide. Would you suggest starting with the low temperature smoking and then transitioning to the sous vide when a certain internal temperature is hit?

Thank you for the quick reply! I will give it a go with the above suggestions and we will see how it turns out. I think I’m going to use a beef/pork blend to start. Ideally, I will be using a venison/pork mixture after I process a deer this year.

Hello, I am looking to try my first batch. I will be receiving H summer seasoning, sure gel, and encapsulated citric acid today. A couple of questions:

Can I used a kitchen aid mixer with a paddle attachment to mix? (I will be doing a small batch to start, likely less than 5 pounds).

Can you over mix? From reading, it looks like you can definitely under mix and not achieve proper protein extraction.

I use a charcoal barrel house smoker. It’s relatively difficult to keep the temp low and consistent. Any suggestions here? Or could I do like 180 degrees, the entire smoke, until internal temp reaches 145? Alternatively, is the oven an option?

Appreciate it!

Hello, I am looking to try my first batch. I will be receiving H summer seasoning, sure gel, and encapsulated citric acid today. A couple of questions:

1. Can I used a kitchen aid mixer with a paddle attachment to mix? (I will be doing a small batch to start, likely less than 5 pounds)
2. Can you over mix? From reading, it looks like you can definitely under mix and not achieve proper protein extraction.
3. I use a charcoal barrel house smoker. It’s relatively difficult to keep the temp low and consistent. Any suggestions here? Or could I do like 180 degrees, the entire smoke, until internal temp reaches 145? Alternatively, is the oven an option?

Appreciate it!