Homemade Hot Dog Recipes

HOW-TO: HOMEMADE BEEF HOT DOGS

Steps:

• Untangle casings and remove the necessary amount. Place remaining casings back into package and store in refrigerator or freezer. Rinse salt from casings and soak in warm water for one hour. 
• Cube chuck roast into inch pieces, then place on a sheet tray, cover, and freeze for 30 minutes. Keeping your meat cold (but not frozen) will make grinding easier and ensure optimal shelf life of your finished product. 
• Compared to bratwurst, hot dogs have a finer texture that comes from the reduced coarseness of the fat. To get this texture, you may have to grind 2-3 times before your meat is ready for mixing. We recommend grinding the first pass of chuck roast through a 3/8" plate.
• Feed meat back into the grinder and pass through a 3/16 inch plate twice. With each pass, you'll see the fat pieces become small and smaller. 
• Place meat in a plastic bowl, tub or any large, non-metallic container. In a glass measuring cup or bowl, mix the cure with 1/4 cup of water, then pour over the ground beef. Mix by hand until distributed. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the seasoning, binder flour, and remaining ice water. The binder flour will add protein value to your mixture and will absorb and hold water, leading to less shrinkage in the smokehouse. Pour seasoning mixture over the meat. 
• Continue to mix by hand for 5 minutes, until the meat is tacky. The texture should be sticky and pasty with the seasonings mixed well throughout
• When ready to stuff, find the end of your casing, and run your sink head over it and let water run through. Thread onto a 1/2-inch stuffing horn and gently thread on the rest of the strand. Tie a knot at the end of the casing once it's fully on the stuffing horn.
• Place a metal sheet tray underneath the nozzle of the stuffer. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the sheet tray so that the sausage slide away from the stuffer without sticking to the bottom.  
• Slowly stuff the casings, making sure to not overstuff (test your fill weight by making a small link at the end of the casing, it should easily twist without bursting or creating large air pockets).
• Once the casings are filled, twist off into desired lengths, about 6-6.5" long. To twist, grab one end and pinch a divot to make a sausage that's about 6-6.5" in length. Grab the first pinch with your left hand and pinch another 6" down with your right hand so you have two links. Twist forward and repeat the process until you've linked all your strands. You can twist forward or backward or alternate as you go--whatever is the most natural to you. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat your grill or smoker to 130° F. Hang wieners on smoke sticks, or from stockinette hooks hanging from racks to avoid links touching. 
•  Run with dampers wide open for 30 minutes. Place ¼ pan of moistened sawdust on the burner. Increase temperature to 150 F. Set top damper ⅛ open, bottom damper ¾ open and smoke for 45 minutes. Increase temperature to 170 F and smoke until an internal temperature of 155 F is reached.
• Once internal temperature reaches 155° F, immediately place in a cold-water bath for 20 minutes until internal temperature reaches 100-110° F. Dry at room temperature then grill, boil, roast

HOMEMADE HOT DOG

Steps:

• Prepare the casings (see instructions below).
• In a blender or food processor, make a puree of the onion, garlic, coriander, marjoram, mace, mustard seed, and paprika.
• Add the pepper, egg white, sugar, salt, and milk and mix thoroughly.
• Grind the pork, beef, and fat cubes through the fine blade separately.
• Mix together and grind again.
• Mix the seasonings into the meat mixture with your hands.
• This tends to be a sticky procedure, so wet your hands with cold water first.
• Chill the mixture for half an hour then put the mixture thorough the fine blade of the grinder once more.
• Stuff the casings and twist them off into six-inch links.
• Parboil the links (without separating them) in gently simmering water for 20 minutes.
• Place the franks in a bowl of ice water and chill thoroughly.
• Remove, pat dry, and refrigerate.
• Because they are precooked, they can be refrigerated for up to a week or they can be frozen.
• Preparing the Casing.
• Snip off about four feet of casing.
• (Better too much than too little because any extra can be repacked in salt and used later.) Rinse the casing under cool running water to remove any salt clinging to it.
• Place it in a bowl of cool water and let it soak for about half an hour.
• While you're waiting for the casing to soak, you can begin preparing the meat as detailed above.
• After soaking, rinse the casing under cool running water.
• Slip one end of the casing over the faucet nozzle.
• Hold the casing firmly on the nozzle, and then turn on the cold water, gently at first, and then more forcefully.
• This procedure will flush out any salt in the casing and pinpoint any breaks.
• Should you find a break, simply snip out a small section of the casing.
• Place the casing in a bowl of water and add a splash of white vinegar.
• A tablespoon of vinegar per cup of water is sufficient.
• The vinegar softens the casing a bit more and makes it more transparent, which in turn makes your sausage more pleasing to the eye.
• Leave the casing in the water/vinegar solution until you are ready to use it.
• Rinse it well and drain before stuffing.

MICHIGAN HOT DOGS

Steps:

• Place hot dogs in a large stockpot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn heat off, cover, and let sit.
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef and half of the diced onions. Cook and stir until beef is no longer pink; making sure to break into fine pieces, about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk water, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder until smooth.
• Drain ground beef mixture and return to the skillet. Stir in reserved ketchup mixture, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Place hot dogs in buns. Top hot dogs with beef mixture. Divide remaining onions on top of the beef mixture and garnish with mustard.