Recipe: Venison Bologna Loaf

The field-to-table movement is about procuring everything needed for special meals with regional ingredients. Hunters have been doing this for decades, and taking it to the next level means producing sandwich meats that cannot be sourced at the local deli.

Bologna recipes vary—they can be prepared in a casing or bung and are usually smoked. The other option is to prepare bologna and bake it in a loaf pan. The finished product may not be the round bologna some jokingly call “tube steak,” but it tastes just as good.

Bologna can be made with any wild game, and to help break down the proteins, you can double grind with a fine plate or use a food processor to emulsify the meat.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds of ground venison
• 2 pounds of ground pork
• 1 cup of milk powder
• 1 ½ cups of ice water
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 ½ teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of ground sage
• ¾ teaspoon of ground allspice
• ¾ teaspoon of ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 275-degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Double grind the meat or emulsify it in a food processor in small batches.
3. Add the powdered milk and ice water, and mix to incorporate the moisture. Add the species and mix until blended.
4. Grease two loaf pans.
5. Divide the meat mixture into two and form loaves. Place in pans and put into the hot oven. Bake for three hours until the loaves have an internal temperature of 160-degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Allow the loaves to cool and set before removing from the pan and slicing.

*A low temperature and slow bake help create the desired consistency and color. To prevent bubbles in the loaf, tap the pan full of meat on a counter before baking to settle any holes.