Hot Dogs

5 from 2 votes

We love hot dogs but many of the store bought hot dogs have sugar, natural flavors and lots of other questionable ingredients. Making your own hotdogs is pretty easy and only requires a few things.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: Hotdogs

Calories: 167kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

2 pounds Ground Beef 80/20 or higher in fat (DO NOT USE LEAN)
2- grams Redmond Real Salt
10 grams Paprika
5 grams Granulated Garlic
4 grams Ground Black Pepper
3 grams Onion Powder
2.5 grams Prague Powder #1
1 cup Crushed Ice
20 feet Sheep or cellulose casing

Instructions

Get your meat very cold by putting it into the freezer for a little while. You want to keep the meat below 40 degrees
Grind meat on a course grind (if you are grinding meat)
Combine all of you spices and blend by hand into the meat
Put mixture back into the freezer for a little while to get it cold (again, keep it below 40 degrees)
Run meat mixture through a grinder on a medium grind plate. If you don't have a grinder, or are using pre-ground meat, skip to the next step
Place all the meat into a food processor along with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of ice. Emulsify the meat until it becomes a uniform consistency and color. After about 1 minute, add some more ice to keep it cold. You will know the meat is fully emulsified when it is one color and you can not distinguish the fat from the protein. It should be very sticky. It should stick to your hand when you hold it upside down
Place mixture back into freezer while you clean your tools and set up stuffer
Load up the sausage stuffer with your casings and hot dog meat.
Stuff the hot dogs and then tie off every 8-10 inches.
Place the links in fridge overnight
Precook your hotdogs in a smoker, Sous Vide or by Par-boiling. You want to do this at a low temperature until the hot dogs reach an internal temperature of 150-155 degrees
As soon as the hot dogs are done, immediately transfer to an ice bath for a few seconds to stop the cooking process. Then transfer back to pan to allow to further cool down.
Once they are cool, if you are using cellulose casings, remove from casing. Place hot dogs into an airtight container (we like to vacuum seal them)Can be stored in the fridge for 7-10 days or frozen for 6 months.

Video

Notes

The key to making good hot dogs is to keep the meat cold the entire time. It is also helpful to chill your grinder and sausage stuffer, which will help keep the mixture cold. If you allow the meat to get warm, it will affect the emulsification. You also want to not overcook them. Doing that will cause them to be dry and the fat will ooze out of the casing.

The below nutrition facts are based on the number of hot dogs we get out of 2 pounds of meat. It will be different depending on how long and thick you make your hot dogs

Nutrition