Bologna Burnt Ends
A budget-friendly, smoked appetizer that takes a $13 chub of bologna and turns it into sticky, smoky, sweet-and-tangy bites - glazed in a homemade Carolina Gold mustard BBQ sauce. These bologna burnt ends are perfect for tailgates, game day, or anytime you want serious BBQ flavor without the wait of a full brisket.
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chub of bologna
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons BBQ seasoning of choice like 'Que That Rub and Seasoning
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce full batch, *see notes
Instructions
- Cube the bologna: Peel the casing off the chub of bologna, and cut into cubes about 1" in size. Don't worry about making them perfectly even, since the bologna is already cooked.
- Season the bologna: In a large bowl, toss the cubed bologna with 2 tablespoons yellow mustard to coat evenly. Then sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons BBQ seasoning of choice. Mix well so the mustard and seasoning coat every piece.
- Heat the grill: Preheat a pellet grill or smoker to 250℉.
- First smoke: Flip a wire cooling rack upside down (so it slides easily on your grill grates), and arrange the bologna pieces in an even layer with a little space between each one. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon BBQ seasoning over the top. Smoke at 250°F for about 1 hour.
- Make the Carolina Gold BBQ sauce: While the bologna smokes, prepare a full batch of the Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce recipe. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook, stirring occasionally so it doesn't scorch, until slightly thickened.
- Butter and sauce the bologna: Add 4 tablespoons unsalted butter to the bottom of a foil pan. Add the smoked bologna, then pour the batch of Carolina Gold BBQ sauce over the top. Toss to coat - the mixture should look soupy, since it will reduce on the smoker.
- Second smoke to glaze: Return the pan to the smoker at 250–275°F. Toss occasionally, repositioning the pan to a hotter spot if needed to help the sauce reduce. In the last few minutes, raise the smoker temperature to 300–325°F to help the glaze tack up and cling to the bologna. *See notes.
- Rest and serve: Let the bologna burnt ends cool about 10 minutes, then give them one final toss in the sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
-
- For the Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce - We used our homemade sauce for this recipe, and the yellow mustard based sauce goes perfect with the bologna. However, you can substitute your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce to make this recipe even easier. Full recipe for the Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce is on the blog here - https://pelletsandpits.com/carolina-gold-bbq-sauce/
- Foil pan use - Use a sheet tray under your foil pan for support - thin foil pans can be flimsy on a grill grate and may stick or give out.
- Reducing the sauce - If you want the sauce to reduce even more, you can transfer the sauced and smoked bologna cubes to a foil-lined sheet pan, and leave the gold barbecue sauce in the foil pan. Place both the sheet tray and the foil pan back on the smoker at about 325°F. Cook until the sauce has thickened to your liking – for us, this took about another 45 minutes.