Ring Bologna
Pepper Ridge Ring Bologna
Smoky Pepper Style
Pepper Ridge Ring Bologna is a ring bologna built on a 50% lean meat / 50% pork blend, using lean wild game or lean beef. Smoke at 130-170°F (54-77°C) and finish at an internal 152°F (67°C), stuff into 38-42 mm fibrous or natural beef rounds casing, grind at 1/4". Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.
Black and white pepper do different jobs — black on the front of the tongue, white at the back of the throat — and having both is why this reads as properly peppery rather than just hot. Smoked paprika and mesquite push it darker still. The boldest ring in the library.
- Internal temp
- 152°F (67°C)
- Smoker temp
- 130-170°F (54-77°C)
- Casing size
- 38-42 mm
- Casing
- Fibrous or Natural Beef Rounds
- Bloom
- 1-2 hours
What goes in it
- Kosher Salt
- Cure #1
- Coarse Black Pepper
- White Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Onion Powder
- Coriander
- Ground Nutmeg
- Mustard Seed
- Sugar
- Ice Cold Water
Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.
The meat
Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef · Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder
Bear or wild hog: take it to 165°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not reliably kill trichinella — only heat does.
How it's made
- Grind meat through a 1/4" plate. Keep below 40°F.
- Mix all dry seasonings together.
- Add seasoning mix and ice water to ground meat. Mix until very tacky and paste-like with good protein extraction.
- Stuff into 38-42mm casings and tie into rings.
- Hang at room temperature for 1-2 hours to bloom.
- Dry at 130°F in the smoker with dampers open for 1 hour.
- Close dampers, apply heavy hickory/mesquite smoke. Increase temp 10°F every 30 minutes up to 170°F.
- Cook until internal temperature reaches 152°F. Important: Do not let your smoker exceed 170°F. Even if your smoker is set at or below 170°F, the actual temperature can spike higher — monitor closely.
- Immediately plunge into ice water bath until internal temp drops below 100°F. (Optional — an ice bath is not required. It is personal preference; many just let them cool at room temp, or outside in cold weather. Just cool them down promptly.)
- Hang to dry for 1 hour, then refrigerate.
Wood
Hickory · Mesquite
Safety
- Keep meat below 40°F during grinding and mixing
- Cook to 152°F internal temperature
- Ice bath immediately after smoking to prevent wrinkling and keep casing from sticking to the meat. (Optional — an ice bath is not required. It is personal preference; many just let them cool at room temp, or outside in cold weather. Just cool them down promptly.)
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