Homemade Hot Dogs
Homemade Hot Dogs
This was an experiment, and it turned out very well! I only used collagen casings and that was spot on, I am not a fan of hot dogs with a skin. These can be all beef, all pork, or a combination. For this first experiment, I made them as listed here, which is a combo of beef and pork. No food processor will be used, just ample use of my electric grinder and a mortar and pestle. Keeping the grinder and meats cold is essential. I used collagen casings which are removed after simmering in water. Feel free to use casings of your choice.
Ingredients
- 500 grams lean pork, cubed, (1 lb)
- 350 grams lean beef, cubed, (¾ lb)
- 120 grams pork fat, cubed, (¼ lb)
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace, or nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 egg white
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- sausage casings, your preference, as needed
Instructions
- Place the onion, garlic, and mustard seed into a mortar. Feel free to use a food processor for this. The mortar we have is the granite type, weighs in at about 20 pounds. Need something mashed quick, use the granite mortars.
- Pound to a sort of smooth paste.
- Place the contents of the mortar into a mixing bowl then add the egg white, sugar, salt, coriander, marjoram, mace, paprika, white pepper, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add the milk and mix that in well. Place seasoning mixture in the fridge while you continue.
- Thoroughly wash, rinse, and dry the grinder parts that will have contact with the meat, the plate you are going to use is the fine plate, then place the parts (not the motor assembly) in the fridge to chill.
- Cut the beef, pork, and fat, one at a time, into cubes that will fit into your grinder. As each item is cubed, place in the fridge to chill.
- Assemble your grinder using the fine plate. Remove and grind the meats and fat separately, place all in a large mixing bowl. For this photo, I ground the beef first, visible a little on the left, then the fat, then the pork on top.
- Using your clean hands or wearing gloves, mix the meats together, then mix in the seasoning mix, then mix in the liquid smoke.
- Run the mixture through the grinder again. Place mixture in the fridge to chill. Now wash, rinse, and dry the grinder parts that had contact with the meat. When dried, place in the fridge as well.
- When 30 minutes have passed, assemble the grinder again, and then, you guessed it, run the meat mixture through the grinder again, also using the fine plate. The mixture is pretty much a near paste now, which is desired.
- Stuff the casings in your preferred way, using the grinder, a funnel, or sausage stuffer.
- I measure out the collagen casings in 14 inch sections.
- Lightly oil the stuffer tube for first use and thread the casing onto the tube, tie the end off with string, then puncture a hole right near the knot to let air escape when you start. Fill the casing to the end, after all casings are stuffed, tie a string at the 6 inch mark, no need to twist, just tie, then tie another at the 12 inch mark, cut off the tails of the strings and squeeze out the remaining sausage mix after where you tied it, put that back in the bowl with the sausage mixture. Repeat this using all the meat mixture. Leave the sausages in 12 inch lengths, do not cut them apart.
- Heat a pot of water to simmering, when hot, place the links in the water for 20 minutes.
- Remove the links and place in a large bowl or pot of ice water and allow the links to shock and chill, this stops the cooking.
- Remove the links from the ice water
- Cut off the opposite ends of the links, no need to cut the center, and squeeze out the hot dogs, place on a rack to cool further. There is only 15 here, I am the cook, I am allowed to try things. 🙂
- Now the hot dogs are ready for use. You can store in the fridge (they are cooked) for up to 3-4 days, or freeze them for later use. To prepare them, just pan fry or grill, enjoy in a bun with your favorite sauces and toppings.
- Fried.
- Ready to be devoured, simple dish with spicy mustard and ketchup on one, regular mustard and ketchup on another one. Tasty!
Notes
I will price this when I prepare these. I will say Fair cost for now.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made these on 13 Sep 2018, and I will say, a leaning experience! This does take time, but you know exactly what is in these, from the meat to the seasonings. Do keep in mind, no preservatives are used so the color is not retained, when cooked, these are a light grey. For taste, they are hot dogs, nothing really special, although I did forget the liquid smoke, which would have made a difference.
Now the Thai family is tasting them, so far, 3 out of 3 love them! They do understand they are pork and beef (60-40) but there is no casing, and they have flavor from the spices! When they first seen them, grey, they did not think they are cooked, I told them no preservatives to retain the red color. Once they took a bite, they liked them.
I do have this marked as a Go-To recipe because it is good, but this does take time to make, but you know what is in these.