# Queen G’s Classic Deli Bologna

This recipe makes a 3-lb bologna chub with a soft deli-style texture and classic flavor that’s great sliced cold for sandwiches, fried up in a skillet, or turned into bologna burnt ends.

- Total time: 450 min
- Cuisine: American
- Category: Lunch
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 2 lb pork shoulder, cubed very cold
- 1 lb 73/27 ground beef, very cold
- 1.5 Tbsp Morton’s kosher salt
- 1.5 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 0.75 tsp garlic powder
- 0.75 tsp onion powder
- 0.25 tsp nutmeg
- 0.25 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 0.5 cup nonfat dry milk
- 1 tsp Rainmaker phosphate
- 0.875 cup ice water
- 2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 3.4 g Cure #1

## Instructions

1. Start with the wet ingredients: add white vinegar to some ice water.
2. Mix in pink curing salt and then set it aside.
3. Add all dry ingredients to a separate bowl: dry milk powder, granulated sugar, kosher salt, white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, nutmeg, allspice, and paprika.
4. Lastly, for moisture and texture, add rainmaker phosphates.
5. Mix the dry ingredients together really well and then set them aside.
6. Cube up 2 lbs of pork butt and add 1 lb of 73/27 ground beef to a bowl.
7. With the pork cubes partially frozen, run them through a coarse grinder plate.
8. Add just the dry mix to the ground pork and mix it well.
9. Run the pork and dry mix through a fine grinder plate to ensure a nice smooth texture and well-incorporated seasonings.
10. Combine the ground pork and ground beef.
11. Mix in the wet mixture until all the water is absorbed into the meat and the meat becomes tacky and sticky.
12. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and emulsify it in small batches, grinding for about a minute each time until it's a nice smooth paste. Keep everything cold.
13. Transfer everything to a stuffing cylinder (kept in the freezer up until this point).
14. Stuff the emulsification into a fibrous sausage casing, filling it firm but not rock hard.
15. Tie off the casing and hang it in the fridge overnight to chill and help air bubbles work their way out.
16. The next day, probe the bologna with an internal thermometer.
17. Smoke it for about 5 hours on 180°F, or do this in the oven, rotating it about a quarter turn every half hour for the first 2 hours to ensure it stays nice and round.
18. Remove it from the oven or smoker when it hits an internal temperature of 152-154°F.
19. Immediately place it in an ice water bath for 15-30 minutes, then dry it off.
20. Refrigerate overnight to fully set.
21. It needs to be fully chilled before you cut it, like jello.

## Equipment

- coarse grinder plate
- fine grinder plate
- food processor
- stuffing cylinder
- fibrous sausage casing
- internal thermometer
- smoker
- oven

## Tips

- This bologna keeps 2 weeks in the fridge or 4 months in the freezer.
- It’s amazing fried thick in a skillet, sliced cold for sandwiches, or turned into bologna burnt ends.
- This is a great base recipe if you want to build extra flavor into it with more garlic, spice, heat, smoke, or other seasonings.
- To ensure the texture is nice and smooth and all seasonings are well incorporated, run the meat through a fine grinder plate after the coarse grind.
- Keep all ingredients very cold throughout the process.
- When emulsifying in a food processor, work in small batches, grinding for about a minute each time until it's a nice smooth paste.
- To help air bubbles work their way out, hang the stuffed casing in the fridge overnight.
- To make sure it stays nice and round during smoking/baking, rotate it about a quarter turn every half hour for the first 2 hours.
- It needs to be fully chilled before you cut it, like jello.
- For an all-beef option, use 3 pounds of beef around 80/20, or 2 pounds of 80/20 plus 1 pound of 73/27 for a softer deli-style texture.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8gysnBh/
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/ee3e283e-4653-4d91-8e5c-c2dba28ccba7
- Extracted: 2026-04-16

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt