The Art of making Ring Bologna

For years we have made deer Bologna and we have never blogged about it! With football smack in the middle of deer hunting season there was not time for much. And with only getting one deer during opening weekend there was not much to make bologna with. Six weeks later and more deer meat we took advantage of the snowstorm. So we ground about 75lbs of meat, mixing it with pork & beef. Grandma has this recipe that we use that has garlic, cure,cloves all spice and mustard seeds. Once that is all mixed in by hand it's time to sample. (the most popular of the ring bologna making event) Then at that point you chill the mixture down again as you clean the casings. Yes, casings are sheep intestines. Then everyone takes turns at filling the casings, tying the ends of the bologna. Not that long ago we had an old fashion sausage stuffer and we use to crank and crank. Once the casings are stuffed its off to the outhouse. We converted this old outhouse to a smoker. The rings are placed on rods that are hung in the house above the fire pit. The fire is started and when the logs get roaring hot and flames are put out with apple & cedar chips with water. It takes about 4 to 6 hours to smoke the rings. Basically it's an all day process but well worth it! It's so GOOD!