For A Better Bologna Sandwich, Break Out The Smoker

Bologna is a famously easy solution to making a quick meal at any time of day; It's a classic staple in paper bag lunches, and the answer to working class America's need for a portable and budget-friendly meal. But it's not known for being the highest quality meat on the market; In fact, without the pistachios and fat chunks, bologna can be considered a cheaper version of Italian mortadella. Whether it's served cold with yellow cheese and white bread, or fried up in a Southern-style bologna sandwich, this pre-cooked and mashed-together deli meat creates — at the very least — something edible. If you know how to treat bologna right, however, you can make something that's a little more elevated than your basic bologna and cheese (Not to mention very delicious).

Smoke your bologna to transform it into a flavor-infused centerpiece for your next bologna sandwich, a dressed-up mac and cheese, or even a charcuterie board. Bologna should smoke at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for two or three hours with apple or hickory wood chips, until the loaf has formed a brown crust around the edges; A tasty and good-looking improvement to a regular old slice of deli meat. Once it's done, slice it up like you normally would, using a knife or a countertop appliance, like the Valley Sportsman Electric Meat Slicer. Then, you can use your smoked bologna to build dozens of different meals, appetizers, and snacks.

Bologna is deli meat sold as a cylindrical loaf that you can buy at all sorts of grocery stores and specialty meat shops. But because it's precooked and the loaf is thick, flavors from your smoker can have a tough time penetrating its center. To mitigate this, score the outside of the bologna loaf before you smoke it to help get that flavor as deep into the loaf as possible. The real magic from smoking bologna lies in the sweet and salty crust that develops around the edge of the loaf, elevating the already smoky flavor notes in bologna.

You can also use rubs and sauces to further upgrade your smoked bologna, making sure you score the loaf to allow all those flavors to saturate the center. Season the bologna before you put it in the smoker with spices like garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika, as well as oregano, thyme, and other herbs for extra flavor. Yellow mustard is a popular rub for smoked bologna, adding a tangy zest to the meat, and barbecue seasonings like sweet and smoky McCormick Grill Mates Mesquite Seasoning will help you create an unforgettable, flavorful crust on your bologna. Make your bologna sandwich even better with a glaze featuring honey so it almost tastes like a sweet-and-savory honey-glazed ham. Serve it up on a sandwich with mustard, pickles, kimchee, or other toppings to add crunch and a bright, acidic kick to your regular bologna sandwich.