Have you ever eaten bologna? Bologna is a popular
deli meat found in the United States. It is a basic food in many children’s
lunchboxes in the US where bologna is served with a slice of American cheese on
white bread. Pronounced as “baloney”, this America’s favourite food name is
originated from the city of Bologna in Italy, a similar sausage called
mortadella is commonly made. American bologna was inspired by the delicately
delicious mortadella. Bologna is usually made from beef and/or pork, however,
it can also be found made with chicken, and a variety of herbs and spices are
included. The most notable difference between beef bologna and meat bologna
with the naked eye is in their colour. The beef bologna is significantly redder
in colour as beef is a red meat, whereas pork and chicken bologna are lighter
in colour due to its white meat.
The
differences in colour between beef
bologna (right) and chicken bologna (left)
Bologna fits into the USDA definition of cured,
cooked sausages which also includes hot dogs, cooked bratwursts and knockwurst,
made from different kinds of chopped or ground meats which have been seasoned,
cooked and/or smoked. Bologna
is an emulsion-type product that is stuffed in a large casing. Beef bologna is
made with a mixture of beef, mutton and veal or it is 100% beef; buffalo meat
can also be successfully used. Beef bologna is usually formulated using 60:50
ratio of beef to pork containing about 30% total fat.
The choice of meat for beef bologna production must
be fresh and derived from veterinary-inspected animals. Either frozen or
chilled beef is used successfully. The lean meat is well trimmed and free from
sinews, gristle, ligament, bone and cartilage particles. The selection of beef
should be such that most meat ingredients are of a good water binding capacity.
The fist-size chunks meat and fats ingredients are first grounded in grinder plate to reduce fatty
tissues. For beef meat, grinding through a finer plate will give a better
binding and emulsifying properties. The curing salts are added and the batch is
mixed in a mechanical mixer to ensure that the ingredients are well dispersed.
The curing process takes place after final chopping in the cutter with other
ingredients and stuffing.
Chopping process contributes to a better and more
uniform size reduction in the cutter which renders a fine meat-fat mixture,
known as an emulsion. The beef is cut to a very fine particle size which
encourages protein extraction. Proteins have the function of binding the water
surrounding fat droplets and keeping them dispersed. Firstly the lean meat is
placed in the cutter and chopped with simultaneous addition of all the curing
salts (kitchen salts, nitrite), phosphate, citrate and finely crushed ice or
water. The mixing process with ice or water helps to facilitate chopping or
mixing and dissolve curing ingredients. Increasing salt concentration in the
water phase of the mixture will result in a greater extraction of the meat
protein. This is important in forming a
stable emulsion. With higher salt content and longer cutter process, more salt
soluble proteins are extracted and binding quality of the finished product of
bologna is improved.
Frequently, bologna manufacturers experience
difficulty in emulsion destabilization with beef as the beef fats melt at a
higher temperature than pork fat. To form a stable emulsion, beef fats must be
chopped to a higher temperature, especially if raw materials are derived from
older cattle or buffalo. This is because the meats of older animals have less
salt soluble proteins. The mixture is passed through an emulsifying mill to
produce a finer texture with the initial temperature of the mixture prior to
the emulsifying process is below 10 °C. Increase in temperature can reduce the
stability of the emulsion.
Raw
beef emulsion is encased either in artificial (cellulose or collagen) or in
natural casings derived from slaughtered animals. Casings are thoroughly
selected in relation to the size and type. Filling of beef emulsion must be of maximum capacity and equal weight. Then beef
bologna in sausages form is tied or linked by machine in fixed lengths.
In large sausages, stuffed casings are tied with thread or fastened with metal
clips. The linked sausages are placed on smoke rods so that they do not touch
each other and allowed to dry before smoking at room temperature for a period
of one or two hours. The sausages on the smoke rods are transferred to smokehouse. The composition of smoke volatiles
is changed at different processing temperatures. Each major category of smoke
compounds is active in a particular phase of the hot smoking process. Acids
coagulate the muscle proteins. Aldehydes interact with protein molecules which
linking them together to form a strong net as well as contribute to the stabilization of sausage surface. Phenols are
responsible for smoke aroma and taste of smoked beef. Therefore smoke imparts flavour properties to beef bologna.
Cooking process takes place where bologna beef
sausages are moved immediately after smoking and immersed in the cooking vat.
After cooking in vats, sausages are hot showered to remove any adhering grease.
This provides a sufficient shelf life of
the product and desired organoleptic characteristics. Lastly,
chilling by cold water spray at 16 °C is applied at the end of the thermal
processing schedule to cool sausages to slightly above room temperature before
placing them in a 1–4 °C cooler for final chilling.
Beef
bologna is a versatile food product which
has its definitive flavour that does not
change drastically and has more dense texture due to nature of the beef.
Bologna is cheap and easy to be served in many ways. Bologna became available
on a mass scale as meatpackers sell packaged and pre-sliced deli beef and meats
in supermarkets. It is considered as a time saver for homemakers and a truly
industrial product since bologna took on a cultural cachet as consumers saw
this product as cleaner than meat at the butcher shop.
Take
a look at how easy the beef bologna can be made at home!
Youtube video credited to averageiowaguy (Published on Sep 3, 2017)
Here's also the link to the 'How to Make The World's Best Bologna at Home' youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeDmrdhwCEY
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