Fire Up The Grill For A Smoky Bologna Sandwich

A classic bologna sandwich with cheese on white bread smeared with mayo and mustard is hard to beat. The sandwich meat itself offers a lot: smooth texture, rich flavor, and a hint of spice from nutmeg, coriander, and pepper. But, like any archetypal food, you can always build off of it for an even more mouthwatering version of the original. And while there are numerous ways to elevate a bologna sandwich — from upgrading the condiments, cheese, and bread, to adding a fried egg — there's a sure-fire method that takes a page from Southern cooking.

You may already know that folks in the South take bologna sandwiches to the new heights by frying the meat, but they also bring out the best in this cured sausage by cooking it on the grill. That's because heat heightens the savoriness that's already present in the meat and improves the texture by making it crispy. The grill can further boost the flavor by adding a rich smokiness.

There are several ways to use your outdoor grill with bologna. The simplest is to throw thick-cut slices directly on the grates. You could enhance the sandwich meat even further with a honey-mustard mixture for more flavor. If you go with this method, be sure to carefully watch the bologna so it doesn't burn. And since the meat is pre-cooked, you really only need a few minutes on each side to heat them through. It'll give the meat nice grill marks in addition to a nice touch of smokiness. You can also grill the slices of sandwich bread or buns before putting them all together with the same toppings you'd use on a burger.

A slightly more complex but ultimately worthwhile method involves smoking a whole bologna log or slightly smaller chub-style portions. The bologna is scored, then slathered in mustard and barbecue rub before going onto an outdoor grill on a low temperature, around 225 to 250 degrees F, for around two hours. Some recipes go even further. After smoking the bologna, it's then sliced into smaller pieces and either quickly grilled on each side or covered in barbecue sauce and put back on the grill to smoke for another 30 minutes or so. Dress it up (like any other type of barbecue sandwich) with coleslaw and a drizzle of barbecue sauce. This is an inexpensive and delicious way to give your bologna a smoky makeover.