Homemade Deer Bologna

In my never-endin' quest to be a little more self-sufficient about such things, I decided I was gonna whip up my own batch of deer bologna. I picked up an ol' hand grinder at the auction a few weeks ago, a few ol' pillowcases to use for casin', and most of the ingredients layin' around. All I needed was time to do it.

To start the fracas, I discovered that tryin' to use a grinder with shot knives is pretty much a pain in the ass. I didn't realize the knives were that beat until I was balls deep into the process. Took a lot longer than it shoulda, but I finally got it done. Thankfully I only thawed about five pounds just to experiment with. Reckon I'll have to go about orderin' a new set of knives and plates before I try that again.

I also had a helluva time findin' some cure, as the shit the recipe called for wasn't exactly readily available as I thought it was gonna be. Not a good discovery to make once everythin' is already ground, mixed up and ready to go. A trip to Grander Mountain netted me a different type of cure, so with a few minor recipe adjustments, I got pretty close to what I needed.

And, just to make sure the entire process was an all-around shitshow, the sewin' machine decided it was gonna be a rat bastard commie while I was tryin' to sew up the casings. A lot of help from the girl and her mother got me through that.

So, I'm sittin' here soakin' in the wonderful aroma comin' from the oven and wonderin' if I managed to get a decent end product. I'll let ya know.

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Here's the recipe I used. As normal for me, I didn't follow it to a T, but it was a good base to start from. I also used pork instead of beef as an add-in for the higher fat content, since I trim most of the fat offa my scrap durin' the butcherin' process.

4lbs fine ground venison
1lb ground hamburger
1/3 cup Morton Tender Quick (cure)
1 TBsp Black Pepper
1 TBsp Accent
1 TBsp Ground Mustard
1/2 TBsp Onoin Powder
1/2 TBsp Ground Red Pepper (less if you want less spice but 1/2 tbs is not spicy at all)
1/2 TBsp Mace (you dont have to put mace in it. this stuff is like 6 bucks)
1/2 TBsp Garlic Powder
6 TBsp Liquid Smoke
1 Cup Brown Sugar (less if you dont want it to be sweet)
1/2 Cup King Syrup (molasses should work i use king syrup)

 I was a little short on liquid smoke, and didn't feel like runnin' into the store again so I have maybe 2 TBsp. I also scrapped the Mace since I'm cheap like that. My add-ins included Old Bay (of course), dried crushed onions, a dash of cinnamon, some soy and Worcestershire sauce and 2/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Prolly over-seasoned the hell outta it, but oh well.

Mix all ingredients very good by hand in a large bowl. Then place in fridge in a  covered bowl or wrap with saran wrap to keep it from drying out for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Stuff in casing as tight as possible getting all air pockets out. Bake at 200 degrees for around 5 hours or until inside temp is 165 degrees. Ovens vary so a meat thermometer is a must. If the inside temperature don't reach at least 165-170 the meat will be undercooked.