First go at hotdogs.............FAIL!!

[Steve H]

Nobody's fault but my own on this one. But it did let me try a couple of things.
I used P&S blue ribbon wiener seasoning with cure and binder.
Measured out for 3.5 pound of meat 2.5 pounds of beef. 1 pound of pork. This was my error.
The directions said lean. Well, I should have paid better attention. It meant lean 90% beef.
And lean 50% pork. DUH!!! I discovered that after everything was mixed and resting in the fridge.
Figured I go ahead and finish it. Enough to do a half dozen dogs for practice.

Meat cubed and ready for the champion juicer.

Juicer is chewing through it nice. Took about 5 minutes to emulsify the meat. Meat stayed cool the entire time. Without pregrinding the meat before using the juicer. I had to feed the chunks in slowly.

At this point I wasn't too concerned about some air pockets. Though I did pop them before poaching them. I used sheep casings. Which is a complete PITA to work with!

After the poaching and ice bath. I could plainly see that these were a bit dry. The texture was still pretty good. I'm thinking that the binder helped there. The taste was still good. I could only imagine how they would have been with the proper fat content.
Live and learn. I'll take another go next weekend if time allows.

 

[SmokinAl]

Hi Steve,
We make Hot dogs all the time, I do a double grind with a pork butt. No
emulsification. We use sheep casing too, but use Joe’s way of keeping them ready to stuff. No blowouts & you can pack them pretty tight. We like the extra fat, the dogs just explode in your mouth with juice. Here is a link to Joe’s method.

How to handle natural casings

Thought I would post up what I do with natural casings. I use naturals 99.9% of the time when making sausages be it sheep or hog casings. I get compliments about how the casing are very delicate and have a perfect snap when you bite into the sausage. I believe the quality of the casings is part...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

 

[crazymoon]

SH, A failure is when you make something so awful that it is inedible. Your dogs look good, I would devour a few !

 

[Steve H]

Hi Steve,
We make Hot dogs all the time, I do a double grind with a pork butt. No
emulsification. We use sheep casing too, but use Joe’s way of keeping them ready to stuff. No blowouts & you can pack them pretty tight. We like the extra fat, the dogs just explode in your mouth with juice. Here is a link to Joe’s method.

How to handle natural casings

Thought I would post up what I do with natural casings. I use naturals 99.9% of the time when making sausages be it sheep or hog casings. I get compliments about how the casing are very delicate and have a perfect snap when you bite into the sausage. I believe the quality of the casings is part...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

Thanks for the link Al. I have no issues with hog casings. But those tiny sheep casings and my big hands just don't play nice together! I got the job done. Just took longer. I didn't have any blow outs with them. For which I was surprised. The leftover sheep casings are going to be stored like Joe does.

 

[Steve H]

SH, A failure is when you make something so awful that it is inedible. Your dogs look good, I would devour a few !

lol! Thanks! These were edible. I had three of them. Just a bit dry.

 

[gmc2003]

They look good to me Steve. As for being dry, isn't that what ketchup, mustard, and hot dog sauce are for?

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Steve H]

They look good to me Steve. As for being dry, isn't that what ketchup, mustard, and hot dog sauce are for?

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks! Yup, and pickle relish!!

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I did a double grind and most of my fat smeared out on the 2nd grind. The texture was weird too, kind of tough. I haven't had the guts to try it again. I'd say you did way better than I did!

 

[tallbm]

Nobody's fault but my own on this one. But it did let me try a couple of things.
I used P&S blue ribbon wiener seasoning with cure and binder.
Measured out for 3.5 pound of meat 2.5 pounds of beef. 1 pound of pork. This was my error.
The directions said lean. Well, I should have paid better attention. It meant lean 90% beef.
And lean 50% pork. DUH!!! I discovered that after everything was mixed and resting in the fridge.
Figured I go ahead and finish it. Enough to do a half dozen dogs for practice.

View attachment 670226
Meat cubed and ready for the champion juicer.

View attachment 670227
Juicer is chewing through it nice. Took about 5 minutes to emulsify the meat. Meat stayed cool the entire time. Without pregrinding the meat before using the juicer. I had to feed the chunks in slowly.

View attachment 670228

At this point I wasn't too concerned about some air pockets. Though I did pop them before poaching them. I used sheep casings. Which is a complete PITA to work with!

View attachment 670229

After the poaching and ice bath. I could plainly see that these were a bit dry. The texture was still pretty good. I'm thinking that the binder helped there. The taste was still good. I could only imagine how they would have been with the proper fat content.
Live and learn. I'll take another go next weekend if time allows.

Nice 1st go, and yeah proper fat should fix your biggest issue there.

As for sheep casings... they suck to work with. You might want to consider cellulose casings, they are a DREAM to work with!!!!

You would have to cook them in the smoker, oven, or somehow managed to vac seal them and SV them, but all are possible.

I can't speak highly enough of how easy it is to deal with cellulose casings.

Can't wait until your next run at these things and seeing how they come out :D

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I would say you did pretty good first time around.

 

[Steve H]

I did a double grind and most of my fat smeared out on the 2nd grind. The texture was weird too, kind of tough. I haven't had the guts to try it again. I'd say you did way better than I did!

Thanks! Sorry to hear it didn't work out good for you.

Nice 1st go, and yeah proper fat should fix your biggest issue there.

As for sheep casings... they suck to work with. You might want to consider cellulose casings, they are a DREAM to work with!!!!

You would have to cook them in the smoker, oven, or somehow managed to vac seal them and SV them, but all are possible.

I can't speak highly enough of how easy it is to deal with cellulose casings.

Can't wait until your next run at these things and seeing how they come out :D

Thank you! Not looking for a smoked dog. So, I would probably do a light seal and poach them if I used cellulose. Stay tuned, I'll be trying again.

I would say you did pretty good first time around.

Thanks Brian!

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good Steve . Shame about the lean fat ratio .
I store the sheep casing the same as my hog casings following Joe's method .
Couple tips for using them .
If I pull one out and I can't get it open in a couple tries , I put it to the side and get another .
I make sure the meat paste is in the hopper and ran out to the end of the horn before I try to slide the casing on . This way air pushes back through the casing as you push it on and helps to open it up .

Make sure you have slack in the casing as you slide it on . I hold the long end above the stuffer and make sure there is a large loop of slack . Not in line with the horn . If that makes sense .

Some really nice looking dogs though . My first thought was fail my back side .
I'll be watching for round 2 .

 

[bill1]

I don't disagree more fat for more juice is an improvement but I've had plenty of high-price bratwursts that also seemed too dry. As long as the taste is good, you're good.

 

[Winterrider]

They look alright Steve, got faith in you for rd 2.

 

[Steve H]

Looks good Steve . Shame about the lean fat ratio .
I store the sheep casing the same as my hog casings following Joe's method .
Couple tips for using them .
If I pull one out and I can't get it open in a couple tries , I put it to the side and get another .
I make sure the meat paste is in the hopper and ran out to the end of the horn before I try to slide the casing on . This way air pushes back through the casing as you push it on and helps to open it up .

Make sure you have slack in the casing as you slide it on . I hold the long end above the stuffer and make sure there is a large loop of slack . Not in line with the horn . If that makes sense .

Some really nice looking dogs though . My first thought was fail my back side .
I'll be watching for round 2 .

Thanks for tips. I do all of that except switching to another if I can't get it open. Stubborn me!

I don't disagree more fat for more juice is an improvement but I've had plenty of high-price bratwursts that also seemed too dry. As long as the taste is good, you're good.

Thanks Bill!

They look alright Steve, got faith in you for rd 2.

Thanks!

 

[slavikborisov]

Nobody's fault but my own on this one. But it did let me try a couple of things.
I used P&S blue ribbon wiener seasoning with cure and binder.
Measured out for 3.5 pound of meat 2.5 pounds of beef. 1 pound of pork. This was my error.
The directions said lean. Well, I should have paid better attention. It meant lean 90% beef.
And lean 50% pork. DUH!!! I discovered that after everything was mixed and resting in the fridge.
Figured I go ahead and finish it. Enough to do a half dozen dogs for practice.

View attachment 670226
Meat cubed and ready for the champion juicer.

View attachment 670227
Juicer is chewing through it nice. Took about 5 minutes to emulsify the meat. Meat stayed cool the entire time. Without pregrinding the meat before using the juicer. I had to feed the chunks in slowly.

View attachment 670228

At this point I wasn't too concerned about some air pockets. Though I did pop them before poaching them. I used sheep casings. Which is a complete PITA to work with!

View attachment 670229

After the poaching and ice bath. I could plainly see that these were a bit dry. The texture was still pretty good. I'm thinking that the binder helped there. The taste was still good. I could only imagine how they would have been with the proper fat content.
Live and learn. I'll take another go next weekend if time allows.

Has anyone made hotdogs and the texture was not dense and like store bought soft bite…. I’m saying after vac sealing and freezing and cooking …. Really curious how commercial places make them caz they are a pain in the ass to make and really discouraging when the bite just isn’t right

 

[tx smoker]

I don't see a failure there at all. They look pretty darned good to me. Great texture on the meat for hot dogs.

I used sheep casings. Which is a complete PITA to work with!

Yes they are. Very delicate and very temperamental.

I could plainly see that these were a bit dry.

Nothing a big dose of chili and some chopped onions won't take care of

Robert