]. Milk Food Technol., Vol. 36, No. 10 (1973) LEBANON BOLOGNA I. MANUFACTURE AND PROCESSING s. A. PALUMBO, J. L. SMITH, AND s. A. ACKERMAN Eastern Regional Research Center1 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118 (Received for. Pllblication June 22, 1973) ABsTRACT and technology of Lebanon bologna, considerable A process devised in our pilot plant to m®ufacture quantities are made in the Pennsylvania Dutch area. Lebanon bologna consists of three steps: . (a). aging s;llted One processor .p~oduces over 100,000 lb/week (2). beef at 5 C for 10 days; (b) smoking the stuffed bolognas at Some manufachii'ers of Lebanon . bologna claim that 35 c and high relative humidity for 4 days; and (c) mellow­ the sausage can not be made outside of the Lebanon Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article-pdf/36/10/497/2399343/0022-2747-36_10_497.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 ing the smoked bolognas at 5 C for 3 days. Aging the siilted area. Our purpose was to investigate the individual beef serves to enrich for a lactic microflora which wilt carry out the fermentation and for a micrococcal flora·. which will steps iD;. Lebanon bologna manufaCture and to define reduce nitrate to nitrite. Development of a f~ . qoh~ve the J~hnology of the process. structure which is characteristic of LebanOO: bologna is ~elated principally to acid production and only slightly to smolmiit; MATEIUALS Ami ME'rlions Fermentation occurs during the smoking p6riod with the ·pH of the bolognas falling at .least one pH tmil: during the first Meat 2 to 3 days. ..Nitrate reduction and subsequent formation of Freshly boned, whole, canner and cutter grade cow chuck 1iitrosylmyoglobin occur within the first .. 24 h. Flavor of was used throughout, except for one stUdy in which cow Leballori bologna is described as both acid and smoky. Both knuckle was used. The meat was not trimmed before use. components develop during the lengthy· incubation in the smoke house._. Analyses The moisture, fat, ash, and protein of the various sausages Lebanon bologna is a highly smoked, spiced, and~ were determined by standard AOAC procedures (3). Samp­ fermented all-beef sausage originally made in the' les of the different bolognas or other sausages were ground twice through a 3/ 16-inch plate and analyzed. Samples of Pennsylvania Dutch area around Lebanon, Pa. Its the ground sausages were also used for water activity ( aw ) manufacture probably represents an attempt to pro­ measurements using an Electric Hygrometer-Indicator (Model duce a sausage product similar to those of European 15-3001, wi.th . gray sensor) ( Hygrodynamics, Inc., Silver origin. A sweet product, called sweet Lebanon· }),p~ Spring, Md. 2);.. The pH was measured with a Radiometer Corporation pH meter (model 25) equipped 'with a single logna, is als?- produced. It is prepared in the usual combination electrode. The electrode was inserted directly f~shion.except. that a larger quantity of sucrose (at: into the s~usag~ or. futo the mass of coarse ground ( 3/4 inch) least 10%-:instead of the·.usual 2%) is added·along Beef cubes. .The acid content of the sa~ages was determined with the other ingredients just before the .fermenta­ as follows: a 1(}..g sample of the fine ground (3/16 inch) tion. Generally, the sweetness is ·great enough to sample was freeze-dried; the freeze-dried material was ex­ tracted 6 to 7 h With ethyl ether in a Soxhlet apparatus. The mask the acid tang. ether extract was th'en titrated with standard base to the The traditional Lebanon bologna process ·may be phenol red end point and the percent acid calculated by summarized as follows: (a) beef is coarse chopped 'aDd assuming that all acid was lactic. Cured meat color was de­ salted (ca. 3%); (b) aged in wooden barrels in the termined by the aqueous acetone extraction method of Hom­ sey (8). cold (ca. 10 days at 5 C); (c) added KNOs, sugar, and "Reference to brand or finn name does· not constitute en­ ~pices; fine grind; stuff into casings; (d) given a dorsem~nt by the U. S. Department of AgricultUre over others lengthy smoke ·at'relativ:ely low temperaturecarid high of a·· similar nature not mentioned. relative humidity in wooden ·smoke houses -(smoked C!ISings :~no; -... at least-4 days·art 35 G·and 9<J:t-% relative htiihidity); Either. fibrous or cellulose casings .. (Union,·parbide) were and-fe)'inellowed after smoking (held oa:·3 days at used. They were presoaked at 130 F before:.lise.. 5 G). stO:rt~r culture .. •* ·-~·"- • 'The process of Lebanon bOlogna marimacture ·ap­ For most studies, fennentation was ai:XXimplished with the pears to be similar to that of other fermented, semidry natural flora of the meat encouraged by aging th~ meat with sausages (5, 11) though little is known abOuf it. There salt. For certain studies, Merck's Lactacel MC starter culture are relatively few published processes for Lebanon was used for acid production. bologna (2, 9, 10, 13), but, Federal specifications do Texture exist for Lebanon-style bologna (6). Despite the ap­ Texture (firmness) of Lebanon bologna was measured in p-arent scarCity of knowledge of the microbiology two ways: (a) \vith a Warner Bratzler-type shear device (J. Chatillon and Sons, N .. Y.), and (b) with a subjective descrip­ 'Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agri- tion of. the. fennented bolognas. For the Warner Bratzlcr culture. · "" · ,, .. >hear values, measurements were made .on . core sample> 498 p ALUMBO ET AL. formed by a # 13 oork borer (I. D., 20 rnrn) and were cut RESULTS parallel to the long axis of the bolognas. Warner Bratzler shear measurements were made in an attempt to assign a To determine the composition of Lebanon bologna numerical value to firmness of the bolognas. However, be­ as well as oth~:.or fennented sausages, several com· cause of the non-homogenous nature of the bologna cores mercial samples were obtained and analyzed. These (it contained pieces of tough connective tissue along with the fine ground muscle), \Varner Hratzler shear values did not data and those from our Lebanon bolognas are in agree completely with our subjective evaluation of texture, Table l. Our sweet Lebanon bologna, though it i.e., bolognas with similar numerical \Varner Bratzler shear contained 10% sucrose, was not as sweet (judged by values were given different subjective descriptions of texture. tasting) as commercial sweet Lebanon bologna. Per­ In general, with mo~t of the \Varner Bratzler values, there was itgreement botween them and the subjective descriptions. In centages of acid in our sweet Lebanon bologna were some experiments (c.f., Table 4), there was a progression at least double those in the commercial bolognas, in­ of Warner Bratzler shear values; these data suggested that {Hcating that high levels of sugar might have limited the bolognas became firmer with longer incubation. the fermentation in the commercial products. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article-pdf/36/10/497/2399343/0022-2747-36_10_497.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 Salt, spice mixture, and curing agents The procedure for Lebanon bologna manufachtre Except where indicated, all bolognas contained 3% added was derived empirically based on the few published salt ( NaCl). Either potassium nitrate ( 1.85 g/kg meat) or formulae (2, 9, 10, 13). The process appeared to be sodium nitrite ( 0.0178 g/kg meat) was uSJed as the curing a lactic fermentation along with reduction of the agent. Sodium nitrite was used in only a few experiments when Lactaeel MC was employed. The following sugar­ nitrate to nitrite to yield cured meat color. In addi­ spice mixture was formulated based on published spice mix­ tion to it'! low pH, Lebanon bologna also has a char­ tures (9, 10, 13) and sugars used in Lebanon bologna: acteristic firmness and cohEsive texture. It was sugar or spice g/kg meat therefore decided to investigate the effect of the three main steps of Lebanon bologna manufacture, glucose 20.0 sucrose 20.0 aging, smoking, and mellowing on flavor, as well as black pepper 2.50 the factors responsible for texture of Lebanon bo­ nutmeg 1.25 logna. allspice 1.23 red pepper 0.62 Texture study doves 0.62 Inside portions of cow knuckle were handled in cinnamon 0.62 such a fashion as to minimize contamination and ginger 0.62 keep the bacteriological count low. These inside mustard 0.62 mace 0.02 portions were then coarse ground through a sterile grinder and held in sterile trays. The coarse ground The sugars and spices were premixed in a large quantity and meat was then divided into 1-kg batches and agel"\ weighed out as a single addition when the bolognas were prepared. at 5 C, 4 batches with and 8 batches without salt. When this aged meat was made into bolognas, salt General procedure was added to half of the non-salted batches. Bolog­ The general procedure for Lebanon bologna preparation was as follows: Beef chuck was coarse ground through a 3/4- nas were made from meat aged 0, 5, and 10 days, with inch plate, ~ salt added and mixed with the meat; salted and without the addition of Lactacel MC starter meat was then aged for 10 days at 5 C; after aging, the culture and/or the gram-negative rod culture isolated ~pice mixture and KN'Oa were added to the aged meat and from unsalted aged beef cubes (see Table 2). After mixed; this mixture was then fine ground through a 3/32- incubation in the cabinet, the bolognas were evalu­ inch plate, stuffed into casings, and incubated in either (a) a Mepaco smoke house for 4 days aA: 35 C and 93% relative ated bacteriologically (Smith and Palumbo, in prep­ humidity (wet oak sawdust was used to generate the smoke); aration) and for texture (firmness) and pH.