Hot dogs are an excellent option when you need to feed a sizable crowd during the summer holidays or come up with a quick, yet filling weeknight meal for your family because they’re tasty, affordable, and simple to prepare within 5-10 minutes.
However, not all hot dogs are created equal; some are all-natural and made entirely of beef, with no binders or fillers, while others contain artificial ingredients, preservatives, and multiple proteins. How do you determine whether a hot dog is safe to eat?
You have come to the right place if you want to learn more about hot dogs. In order to prepare meals with confidence, we’re going to look at what hot dogs are made of, how they’re made precisely, and how to recognize a high-quality hot dog at the grocery store.
How Hot Dogs are Made
From the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council
How Hot Dogs are Made: The Real Story
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council is eager to share the truth about how hot dogs are made despite the numerous urban legends that exist.
First, specially chosen beef and/or pork trimmings are cut or ground into small pieces and added to a mixer, just like the meat you would purchase from your local butcher. When poultry hot dogs are made, poultry trimmings are used.
Check out our comprehensive guide, A Guide to Common Ingredients in Hot Dogs, if you want to learn more about the ingredients in your hot dog.
Watch the how hot dogs are made video.
First, specially chosen beef and/or pork trimmings are cut or ground into small pieces and added to a mixer, just like the meat you would purchase from your local butcher. When poultry hot dogs are made, poultry trimmings are used.
The meat, seasonings, ice chips, and curing ingredients are combined into an emulsion or batter using high-speed stainless steel choppers. To ensure that all ingredients are properly balanced, the mixture is continuously weighed. After that, a pump is used to feed the mixture into an automatic stuffer/linker machine, where it flows into casings. The most well-known hot dog brands have cellulose casings that are later removed. Some wieners have natural casings that stay on the meat after consumption. These “traditional” wieners are more expensive, frequently produced by smaller businesses, and are regarded as better quality. After being filled, the casings are linked together to form long strands of hot dogs, which are then transported to the smokehouse where they are fully cooked at a controlled temperature and humidity level. They may be hardwood smoked for added color and flavor.
The hot dogs are rinsed in cool water following the smoke and cook cycle. The hot dogs are sent to an automatic peeler, where the cellulose “skin” is removed if the casings were made of cellulose. The individual links are then conveyed to the packaging equipment. The hot dogs are precisely the right size and weight when cellulose casings are used. To preserve the flavor and freshness of the hot dog, they are wrapped in plastic films and vacuum sealed. Since the animal intestines used to make the casings for natural casings wieners have been cleaned and processed, they are similar in size but not identical.
Each hot dog package includes an ingredient statement that lists every component of the product. Variety meats like hearts are less frequently used in hot dogs today. The label on the package will clearly state “with variety meats” when they are added. The ingredient statement will also include the specific variety of meat that was used. On packages of hot dogs, there are also nutrition labels that list the calories and nutrients per serving. The entire process can be completed in a matter of hours, starting with the preparation of the meat and poultry trimmings and ending with their packaging and transportation to the retailers. The U.S. government also strictly controls and monitors the process to ensure its wholesomeness. S. Department of Agriculture.
Get it as a brochure.
Download the Hot Dog Facts, Figures and Folklore brochure
How Do You Say…?
- Spanish – Perrito Caliente
- Italian – Caldo Cane
- French – Chien Chaud
- German – Heisser Hund, or Wurst
- Portugese – Cachorro Quente
- Swedish – Korv, or Varmkorv
- Norweigan and Danish – Grillpolser
- Czech – Park v Rohliku
- Dutch – Worstjes
- Finnish – Makkarat
Think you know everything about hot dogs and sausage?
How It’s Made Hot Dogs
FAQ
What is 100% beef hot dogs made out of?
According to the USDA, a beef hot dog must only be made from cows and cannot contain any byproducts. Contrary to franks made with poultry or pork meats, beef franks cannot be made with mechanically separated beef due to precautions against BSE, or mad cow disease.
Are all beef hot dogs really all beef?
Beef is the traditional meat used in making hot dogs. There are numerous producers of all-beef hot dogs, so you can eat a complete hot dog made entirely of pure beef without any additional fillers. There are many different types of beef hot dogs, but the two most popular are kosher and franks.
How beef hotdogs are made step by step?
The process for making traditional hot dogs is detailed in the following nine steps:Meat Trimmings Are Collected to Make the Traditional Hot Dogs Grinding the Trimmings. Addition of Salt, Sweeteners, and Spices. Pureeing the Mixture and Removing Air. Casing the Meat Puree. Baking the Hot Dogs. Removing the Casing. Inspecting the Hot Dogs.
Are real hot dogs beef or pork?
The German Frankfurter, which was originally sausage, is where hot dogs originate. In the U. S. hot dogs typically contain either all beef or a combination of beef and/or pork meat trimmings. The production method and flavors of a hot dog and a pork frank are the main distinctions. Hot dogs are a subset of a pork frank.