A process devised in our pilot plant to manufacture Lebanon bologna consists of three steps: (a) aging salted beef at 5 C for 10 days; (b) smoking the stuffed bolognas at 35 c and high relative humidity for 4 days; and (c) mellowing the smoked bolognas at 5 C for 3 days. Aging the salted beef serves to enrich for a lactic microflora which will carry out the fermentation and for a micrococcal flora which will reduce nitrate to nitrite. Development of a firm cohesive structure which is characteristic of Lebanon bologna is related principally to acid production and only slightly to smoking. Fermentation occurs during the smoking period with the pH of the bolognas falling at least one pH unit during the first 2 to 3 days. Nitrate reduction and subsequent formation of nitrosylmyoglobin occur within the first 24 h. Flavor of Lebanon bologna is described as both acid and smoky. Both components develop during the lengthy incubation in the smoke house.