Use it under a brisket to keep the grease and juices from puddling.
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Very nice!Comment
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Now all I need is a lathe and some chisels. MTS is just as real as MCS. And to think I got into wood working to save money.
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Yes, there are as many enticing ways to stimulate the economy in the wood shop as there are in the BBQ world. The multitude of choices regarding equipment and the variation of opinions on using the equipment are similar as well.
For us old retired guys, it's a matter of which apron am I wearing today. -
Jfrosty27 I got started to make my own base and trim, so the investment has paid off for that. Plus I have been able to make profiles that you would never be able to find at any store. After that? Well, you know how it goes. Watching Stumpy's Cool Tools is as bad as a week in The Pit for causing the bank account to shrink.Last edited by WI Bubba; July 9, 2022, 04:25 PM.
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Jfrosty27 commented
Today, 08:28 AM
Save money with woodworking. 🤣😂. Never!
Not to brag but I got into woodworking in the early 70's because we couldn't afford to buy much of the furniture we wanted. I have a fairly respectable collection of quality shop tools such as cabinet saws, planers, corded power tools and shop accessories. My wife and I once were talking about the money I have tied up in my shop and she in her sewing room and were wondering about the cost. After looking at what we have done with it and what we would have had to spend to buy what we have made over the years we decided that none of my shop tools or her sewing machines owes us a nickel. By doing custom sewing and tailoring (with a $35.00 sewing machine we brought from Japan) she and the GI Bill helped me pay for almost 5 years of college plus living expenses with an infant in the home. For both of us it turned into a hobby but by that time the tools were paid for. Of course, others' MMV.
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Well, I tried this yesterday, following willsands ' method in the OP.
After a 9 hour cook with 4 chuck roasts, I upped the temp of Mr. Fancypants (the WSCGC) to 300°, added the bologna, and put the wrapped chuckies in the Advantium at 140-160° for a 3 hour faux cambro.
I didn't do a good job of slicing the bologna hunk to an even depth, even though I used chopsticks. I blame it on the curved boning knife I grabbed because it was handy. Next time I'll use the santoku knife. The edgemost cuts were nearly all the way through, although the center cuts were fine.
As soon as I put the Bologna Bud (pre-Bloom stage) on 3 half-inch ceramic spacer squares, squished together in a triangular sort of arrangement, the edge pieces fell off. Oh dear. What to do. Metal steamer to the rescue!
Brushed with some Fly by Jing Zhong Sauce and sprinkled with salt-free Meathead's Memphis Dust, they were ready to go. I figured there was plenty of salt in the game already with the bologna and Zhong. A salt-free rub was a good move, it turned out, since the end result was about a foot shy of being too salty.
During the first hour of the cook, I water-misted the BB as it began to open up and dusted with more MMD, since it's hard to get the rub on the inside of the pieces during the prep without breaking the Bloom apart.
I didn't know if I really needed to take the BB up to 165°, but decided to err on the side of food safety, so they stayed in Mr. Fancypants' sauna for 3.5 hours. By that time it was nearly 8pm and the fun was beginning to fade. A 14-hour smoking day and a couple of beers will do that to you. When I pulled the Bologna Bloom, the center was still at about 150-155°, but the edge pieces were a nice 165-170°.
It ate good, even though it was not photo-worthy. The meat was nicely done with the top edges being a little more so, adding to the flavor. Did it need to be taken to 165°? Food safety precaution aside, the meat was what I would consider perfectly done. There's nothing not to like about juicy, smoky bites of bologna flavored with a spicy sauce and sweet spicy rub.
Things I learned:
1. Cut it better the next time
2. Remember to foil the ceramic spacers
3. Figure out if a 165° end temp is a necessary move.
4. Even though the bloom looks great on an appetizer table, you still have to cut it apart to eat it. I mistakenly thought the stalks would pull away easily but they don't. So even though mine fell apart at the edges, I probably would have sliced it for serving anyway, or provided a sharp knife for folks to whittle off their own pieces.
Thanks, willsands , for inspiring a fun Blooming Bologna cook.
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; July 17, 2022, 08:55 AM.Comment
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Thank you for your kind words, willsands . I had some tough footprints to follow--you set the bar high. With a couple more tries, I may gain the dubious title of Baloney Maven in these parts.
That Zhong sauce is addictive. I also have a jar of Fly by Jing chili crisp--but haven't tried it on vanilla ice cream which apparently is the current TikTok rage. Imagine that.
Kathryn
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Do yall think something like this could be used to make a bloomin' baloney?
Fat Daddio's Cake Hemisphere Pan, 5 x 2.5 Inch, Silver
Amazon link: https://smile.amazon.com/Fat-Daddios...47&sr=8-7&th=1
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So, if I try this here baloney trick will I be then known as a Bloomin Idiot? Just wonderin.Comment
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So, I finally got around to testing this B'loney Bloom using the cake hemisphere pan that I posted above. It turned out surprisingly well! At first, the chub was sliding around on the top of the pan, but once I put rub on it, that gave it something to grip onto and it never slid off of the pan while it was on the smoker. Here are a few pics:
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Wow, that Fat Daddio pan did work well for your B'loney Bloom, Chadzilla . The chub perches so high on the pan I thought for sure the Bloom would crash and burn as the cook progressed, but hey, it held on like a champ.
Your Bloom turned out waaay better than mine did. For one thing, You didn't cut down as deeply into the chub as I did. You also made 3 cuts in each direction, to my 4 cuts. That's bound to hold together better. Next time I'm going to try your approach.
What temperature did you cook it to?
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; June 15, 2023, 12:12 AM.Comment
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Thank you, fzxdoc! Since baloney is already cooked, I didn’t temp it, I cooked it to color. Once I was happy with it, I sauced it and let that continue to cook to tack up… it took about 2 hours on a WSM @ 275 degrees with hickory logs and B&B charcoal.
The baloney was sliding off of the pan until I put rub on the underside of the baloney. That gave it some friction to hang on to. As long as your smoker is solid, you shouldn’t have a problem with it sliding off. Probably a good idea to check it every half hour or so as insurance.
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Chadzilla , thanks for the time and temp information. I was thinking of wrapping the dome with some slightly crumpled aluminum foil to help hold the chub in place. Do you think that will work?
I really don't know the "safe" temperature to cook bologna. For example, the USDA says that cooked hams must be reheated to 145° to be safely cooked before serving. I'm guessing the same might apply to bologna, but I can't find a USDA recommendation for it.
KathrynComment
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MCS kind of took over. Just ordered the cake pan. Be here tomorrow. Baloney bloom on Father’s DayComment
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For the win! This kind of thread is one of the many reasons I’m a member.Comment
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