Been asked to smoke a chub of bologna need help!

[blazinfire]

Alright I'm gonna make this short and sweet.. A friend of mine offered to give me a chub of bologna if I smoked him one.. I'm real interested in doing smoked bologna... I have questions..



Should I score it with a knife? also why should I? I see lots of people scoring their bologna chubs in a cross pattern.. why is this?



Slather? Do I need to slather it with anything for rub to stick? I personally wouldn't want too.. but not sure how rub sticks to it?



How long do I smoke for? when is it done? Its already cooked? What IT do you take it too?



Last question... Once smoked.. can it be sliced and frozen for sandwiches later? Just wondering if its a large log the wife and I can't eat it all in one go. I'd vac seal and freeze sliced portions of it.

 

[jrichv]

I'll share what I do when cooking "Oklahoma Rib-Eye" :icon_smile_tongue:

I score mine, but you don't have to do that if you don't want? It may split the casing while smoking however.

I do slather a very light coat of yellow mustard, just because I like to add a light dusting of rub for spicier flavor. Your option there?

I got nothing on how long to smoke, or the IT temp to cook it to, and yes it is already fully "cooked". My trick is to take a long stainless steel shish kebob skewer and run it through the longest part. If it slides easily, it's done. If there is resistance, I cook it more.

If you have leftovers, by all means slice 'em up, vac seal them, and freeze them for consumption later.

You really can't mess it up - enjoy!

 

[old okie]

I prefer to smoke the small, 2 or 3 inch dia. stuff, if I do the big stuff I cut it in half lengthwise, I think I do that because the racks in my first smoker lacked vertical separation to accommodate a full chub.
I remove the casing, slather it liberally with yellow mustard, give it a light to medium coat of Cajun spice and then a heavy coat of rub of choice, I use Head Country. I don’t score it, don’t really know why maybe I’m too lazy.
I usually smoke it at 225-250, depending on what else is in the smoker. I don’t smoke to temperature. I leave it probably 2 or 3 hours, the stuff is pretty forgiving, I kind of go by color, pull it when it begins to char or just before the outside burns, if that makes sense.
I don’t have an opinion on freezing, however I vacuum seal and it keeps very well (weeks) in the refrigerator.
Good luck.

 

[WilliamKY]

Bologna is very dense and smoke doesn't penetrate very far. Scoring it allows crevices to open up for more smoke flavor. I coat with yellow mustard and dust with bbq rub, just about any kind works great. As far as the cooking time I usually go about 3hrs but I'm mostly looking for that nice darkened color.

 

[Greygoose]

This is what the one I did ended up looking like after 2-1/2 hrs.

 

[blazinfire]

This is what the one I did ended up looking like after 2-1/2 hrs.

So basically very light scores across in different ways of the bologna.. Got it... Does rub stick to it without slathering? Seems like 90% of the stories i hear about bologna does slather.. maybe its cuz rub doesn't stick to it well??


Also to make sure I get this.. 2-3 hrs? I'd probably smoke at 250...

 

[Greygoose]

Slather it with yellow mustard and put a good blessing of ur favorite rub om it

 

[WilliamKY]

So basically very light scores across in different ways of the bologna.. Got it... Does rub stick to it without slathering? Seems like 90% of the stories i hear about bologna does slather.. maybe its cuz rub doesn't stick to it well??


Also to make sure I get this.. 2-3 hrs? I'd probably smoke at 250...

Score the bologna about 1/4". Rub doesn't stick very well without mustard or some binder. You can also glaze with bbq sauce before it's finished. Several great ways to do bologna.

 

[thirdeye]

Ahhh, Oklahoma prime rib. It's already cooked so you just need to add flavor and heat it up. Buy a good quality full sized chub from the deli. A 2# or 3# piece is a good start and easy to handle. I score them and do the slather (mustard, Wooster, and pickle juice) then add your favorite rub and smoke it at low temps. You want to sweat some of the fats out. Saucing cubes is an option, as is making a mustard sauce. Bologna is a giant hot dog, so mustard sauces work fine.

 

[mike243]

I have always scored it 1/2 or so deep, mustard and then the rub, the last I fixed I sliced slices thick and mustard/rubbed and smoked, didnt take long and will always do it that way when I have room on the smoker, I stacked and vaced and froze, pull a pack out and the next morning its thawed enuf for my lunch sandwich

 

[blazinfire]

Alright.. So lets revisit this thread.. Getting ready to buy a 10lb bologna roll.. Going to split it in two or three.. try different things like mustard, no mustard slather.. don't know what the 3rd is gonna be.



So.. any exact time frame of cook? so far I'm getting 2-3 hrs.. I know I'll be cooking on the Grilla Silverbac... and going to cook at 250..



Once its done.. I plan on cooking.. slicing then vac sealing.. any recommendation on the best amount of slices to put in each vac seal pac? I was thinking no more than 6.. How many days can you let it sit out and eat it over multiple days after freezing?



I'm just asking these questions.. because I don't know what smoking/cooking and then freezing an already fully cooked product will do LOL

 

[thirdeye]

It's ready to eat as is...... so I've always smoked in the 250* range until I get the color I want. It's usually cubed and eaten that day or we'll snack on some and save the chub for slicing and frying. I would think it will hold in the fridge for a week at least. I've never frozen bologna, but it's basically a fat hot dog and they freeze just fine.

 

[Tannhauser42]

Only advice I can offer that others may not have touched on: use a good bologna. My first attempt at smoked bologna was with the Bar-S stuff you can easily find at Wal-Mart. It was nasty. My second attempt was with whatever they have at the deli counter at Wal-Mart. That was great.

 

[blazinfire]

Only advice I can offer that others may not have touched on: use a good bologna. My first attempt at smoked bologna was with the Bar-S stuff you can easily find at Wal-Mart. It was nasty. My second attempt was with whatever they have at the deli counter at Wal-Mart. That was great.

Well Some what On a budget.. but I passed on the Bar-S.. I'm curious to know if going to walmart Deli if its cheaper if you buy a chub vs buying it by the slice.. I wanted to get Wanderbar Beef.. but its like $6/lb (but this is sliced as deli cuts)..

This was the only option at the store I went too.. I've heard decent things about Cavalier.. has to be better than Bar-S.. I do believe Cavalier is a West Virginia local brand... I could be wrong

Going to cut it in half.. and do two chubs.. One with Dominator oak ridge rub.. and one with a regular BBQ rub. My plan is to cut 1/4-1/2 slices and freeze 4-6 slices per pack..

Also here's a sneak peak.. This going on early in the morning while cooking with the bologna..

 

[thirdeye]

Well Some what On a budget.. but I passed on the Bar-S.. I'm curious to know if going to walmart Deli if its cheaper if you buy a chub vs buying it by the slice.. I wanted to get Wanderbar Beef.. but its like $6/lb (but this is sliced as deli cuts)..

This was the only option at the store I went too.. I've heard decent things about Cavalier.. has to be better than Bar-S.. I do believe Cavalier is a West Virginia local brand... I could be wrong

Going to cut it in half.. and do two chubs.. One with Dominator oak ridge rub.. and one with a regular BBQ rub. My plan is to cut 1/4-1/2 slices and freeze 4-6 slices per pack..

Also here's a sneak peak.. This going on early in the morning while cooking with the bologna..

The deli I buy from carries Dietz & Watson brand which I like.

 

[4ever3]

Yer waaaay overthinking this bologna thang...

Score it 1/2” deep minimum, put whatever rub you choose and cook it till the scores open at LEAST the depth of the score then dig in!!!

 

[blazinfire]

Yer waaaay overthinking this bologna thang...

Score it 1/2” deep minimum, put whatever rub you choose and cook it till the scores open at LEAST the depth of the score then dig in!!!

Yeah your probably right! But you gotta understand.. I have other people wanting to try this.. lol Never tried smoked bologna before.. The moment I step into the meat department in the local store.. They call me the BBQ Man.. haha! One of them came to me said "hey.. you willing to bring me a couple slices of this bologna.. would love to try it" I'll be delivering each of the meat guys a couple slices by noon hopefully

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

let us know how details of how it turns out