First time hotdog making (prbly last time) and forgetting about ribs

[Apriliamille]

I tried to use the spoiler function to not make this a silly long post i hope it worked
Saturday morning I decided to make 7 ish pounds of all beef hotdogs. I wanted a win so I used Sausage Maker Wiener mix (I wanted a win my first time) I go to Costco every Sunday to get Greek Yogurt for my dog's meals and I walk by the meat section and when I see brisket on sale I buy it and break it down into vac bags of beef and fat so this was an all brisket hot dog.

I watched various videos and man this is a tedious job !

I took the meet / fat to 31 degrees and ran it on a 10 plate, then freeze back to 31, then 7 plate, freeze back to 31, then the 4.5 plate, /sigh then back to 31 degree, then through my Omega Juicer. I think it does work pic will show stuff in the Omega hopper shows fat specs but in the tray no fat specs. But i got a weird color change during the process and I do not know why as the temps seem to constantly be below 40 degrees. They went into the black stripe casings over night in the fridge cuz of the cure.

Spoiler: Juicer

During this time I had some ribs on the Kamado cooking. I was soooo exhausted after I got the mix into the casings I took a nap totally forgetting I had ribs on the kamado. My cooking app rang when the ribs hit 180 and i woke up totally forgetting about them so they got no spritz, wrap or jacuzzi effect. So this is a pure rub nothing else. A little crispy but still was a nice taste

Spoiler: Ribs

On Sunday they went on my SNS Kettle. which I have the rotisserie option giving me more space, and cold smoked for 2 hours with hickory pellets

Spoiler: SNS Kettle

It was soo many hot dogs that I had to bring out my HUGE stock pot and sous vide them in 2 batches. They aint pretty looking but taste pretty good. I did not change from the instructions on the tub of Wiener mix unless my math sucked. You can see the fat gel cuz i tossed the sous vide bags into an ice cooler to cool them off. I assume fat is gonna gel since there is no casing

Spoiler: The Batch of dogs

I vac sealed them in 6 inch bags and as i have one sealer with 16 inch bar and the chamber with a 14 inch bar this shows the power of a large seal bar and 6 inch bags (multiple bags at once)

Spoiler: Sealing

 

[Dave in AZ]

Those dogs look good!
I did a single grind to 3mm, right from chunks of meat, and that worked totally fine... a LOT less work than 4 grinds!

Hows the taste of the hotdogs with that mix?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Please don’t give up. Your process was more steps than really needed, that’s why it was so much extra work. Hang in there. You have some good looking dogs, but we can simplify that process a bit.

 

[Apriliamille]

D Dave in AZ SmokinEdge i was watching i think it was chud's he re ran meat through his grinder but he did not use a bunch of different plate sizes. I as a newbie just assumed i should work down the plates with the additional passes. Im sure the 22 grinder could hammer straight to a small plate. I guess I am still timid of testing the limits of the gear. I only started doing this grinding and sausage making in April and would really hate to test and strain the gear to a breakage. (Im still in the kiddie pool).

As far as taste, i have nothing to compare outside of store bought hot dogs. im kind of ruined in regards to store bought now as i liked the taste of the mix. luckily i have 50 or so hot dogs in vac bags to last me a bit, im sure its not healthy and would get boring to binge all 50 over the next few weeks till they are gone so luckily they will last me a while until i ponder coming back to the hot dogs...

if i do again, ill lead out with a starter thread for thoughts

 

[JLeonard]

Dogs look pretty good to me....Bring on the mustard and chopped onions....I'll get rid of a few for you!

Jim

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I just made hotdogs this past weekend as well. I did three grinds but didn't attempt to emulsify the meat. Someday I may try the juicer thing or some other method but I'm really happy with my results. It is a ton of work. I did once on a 6mm plate and then twice on 3mm, chilling in between each step. I finally redeemed myself from my last hot dog making attempt. I still had some vacuum sealed in the freezer from the last time I made them and I did a comparison. It was night and day different. I threw the rest of my old ones out they were so bad.

 

[SmokinEdge]

D Dave in AZ SmokinEdge i was watching i think it was chud's he re ran meat through his grinder but he did not use a bunch of different plate sizes. I as a newbie just assumed i should work down the plates with the additional passes. Im sure the 22 grinder could hammer straight to a small plate. I guess I am still timid of testing the limits of the gear. I only started doing this grinding and sausage making in April and would really hate to test and strain the gear to a breakage. (Im still in the kiddie pool).

As far as taste, i have nothing to compare outside of store bought hot dogs. im kind of ruined in regards to store bought now as i liked the taste of the mix. luckily i have 50 or so hot dogs in vac bags to last me a bit, im sure its not healthy and would get boring to binge all 50 over the next few weeks till they are gone so luckily they will last me a while until i ponder coming back to the hot dogs...

if i do again, ill lead out with a starter thread for thoughts

If you are going to use the juicer then you can cut the meat into about 1” cubes and single pass them through the 1/8” plate (that’s the final grind size you want) then through the juicer, or you can one pass through the 10mm plate then re grind through the 1/8” then the juicer. I bought the dual grind head for my LEM and single pass through the 1/8” mix then through the juicer. No matter how you look at or do it making emulsified sausages is more work, but in the end very satisfying.

The purpose for multiple grind through consecutively smaller plate, keeping the meat cold, is because it makes a very quality grind and every pass through the grinder extracts protein which is a must. Because you are using the juicer I would next try one pass through the 1/8” plate mix in spices then through the juicer and stuff.

 

[Makkara]

I too have had surface fat on a batch of dogs. What I did was strip off the casings as soon as done in sous vide, throw them back in warm sous vide water to rinse off fat. Bloom on racks with fan for an hour and then refrigerate. I never iced bathed them.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I had some fat that showed up on the ends of my hotdogs. I think it happened during the cooking process. I use a WSM with a Thermoworks Signals and Billows to control temp, and I wanted to run at 150 but it stayed at 165 the whole time. I chalk that up to the heat outside.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I assume fat is gonna gel since there is no casing

Did you cook them with or without the casing?

 

[Apriliamille]

Did you cook them with or without the casing?

They were vac sealed and sous vide inside the casing then i tossed the vac bags into an iced cooler and when i slid them out of the casings there was some fat gel on the wieners. i assume this is a good thing as fat is flavor? where is all the fat on store bought sausages. i was at a 80/20 mix of brisket and fat when i started into the grinder (and what ever inter muscular fat was in the brisket)

 

[SmokinEdge]

They were vac sealed and sous vide inside the casing then i tossed the vac bags into an iced cooler and when i slid them out of the casings there was some fat gel on the wieners. i assume this is a good thing as fat is flavor? where is all the fat on store bought sausages. i was at a 80/20 mix of brisket and fat when i started into the grinder (and what ever inter muscular fat was in the brisket)

So my next question is temperature and time?

 

[Apriliamille]

So my next question is temperature and time?

145 for 2 hours in sous vide. I guessed. The Sausage Maker Wiener container said "in a smoke house at 165 until internal temp of 138" Hmm typing that just made me think, i should have just done 138 for 2 hours. bah...... that probably messed it up going past 138 internal temp. Mega DOH

 

[jcam222]

Dogs look good to me. I'm intrigued by the spoiler function. How do you do that??

 

[Apriliamille]

Dogs look good to me. I'm intrigued by the spoiler function. How do you do that??

 

[Apriliamille]

jcam222 i fly rc airplanes for a hobby and i learned about the spoiler option during "build with me threads" where you put in step by step without making a giant single post wiping out the entire browser tab. You will get a spot between the two words spoiler to insert your picture

 

[Apriliamille]

I too have had surface fat on a batch of dogs. What I did was strip off the casings as soon as done in sous vide, throw them back in warm sous vide water to rinse off fat. Bloom on racks with fan for an hour and then refrigerate. I never iced bathed them.

It was my first time doing hot dogs and from the hog casing sausages ive done that ive seen many a video chuck them into ice water i just assumed the same for this

 

[Dave in AZ]

145 for 2 hours in sous vide. I guessed. The Sausage Maker Wiener container said "in a smoke house at 165 until internal temp of 138" Hmm typing that just made me think, i should have just done 138 for 2 hours. bah...... that probably messed it up going past 138 internal temp. Mega DOH

145 is plenty low, you didn't mess that up :) In fact, they can do 165 in a sous vide or smoker without fat issues... if you have a good bind.

Here are the things that will let you cook these without any fat melting out at all:
1. Strong protein extraction. Mix hard with meat temps around 32-35 F. Five min in a Kitchenaid.
2. 3mm is as small as you need to grind, then a hard mix, will give hotdog texture. Get to 3mm with AS FEW GRINDS AS YOU CAN! Every time you grind fat, it smears it and breaks it down and increases bind difficulty. It's also hard to keep meat at 32-35 F thru multiple grinds.
3. USE A BINDER. I like Walton's SureGel at 1%. You can also use NonFat Dry Milk at 1%. Sodium phosphates are super binders, and is in the SureGel with NDFM, so easy to use.
4. Keep external temps below 170F.
5. 145 F internal for 5 min or 140 F for 12 min is enough to cook and do pathogen lethality per USFDA appendix A cooking tables. More time not needed.

I didn't see anything in your process wrong, you put in great effort and did good! I am gonna guess that the multiple grinds caused too much heat and smearing, and the mix didn't have enough binder. But just guessing, you really didn't do anything wrong!
I'm gonna look for a short video I made of mixing hotdogs with single 3mm grind on a #22 grinder, showing texture etc for you...

Heres one showing just 2 grinds:


Ok, it looks like I filmed making hotdogs twice, once with a 3mm double grind, then again with a 6mm then 3mm grind. But I never edited the videos and posted. I will do that, and include some footage showing the grind and mix I would have cut, so you can see what 1 or 2 grinds at 3mm looks like for hotdogs, and strong extraction that gave no fat out. Maybe a few seconds of video will be helpful, if nothing else who doesn't like a 5 min hotdog making vid! ;) Will post link when I'm done editing...

 

[SmokinEdge]

145 for 2 hours in sous vide. I guessed. The Sausage Maker Wiener container said "in a smoke house at 165 until internal temp of 138" Hmm typing that just made me think, i should have just done 138 for 2 hours. bah...... that probably messed it up going past 138 internal temp. Mega DOH

The temp and time wasn’t a problem. But I suspect fat smear is the problem with the gelled fat. Doesn’t change the taste but could affect texture. Fat smear is a whole subject by its self but is common as a problem in emulsified type sausage. Shorten up your steps and you will get there. It’s all just a learning curve and emulsified sausage is an advanced skill.

 

[fxsales1959]

I tried to use the spoiler function to not make this a silly long post i hope it worked
Saturday morning I decided to make 7 ish pounds of all beef hotdogs. I wanted a win so I used Sausage Maker Wiener mix (I wanted a win my first time) I go to Costco every Sunday to get Greek Yogurt for my dog's meals and I walk by the meat section and when I see brisket on sale I buy it and break it down into vac bags of beef and fat so this was an all brisket hot dog.

I watched various videos and man this is a tedious job !

I took the meet / fat to 31 degrees and ran it on a 10 plate, then freeze back to 31, then 7 plate, freeze back to 31, then the 4.5 plate, /sigh then back to 31 degree, then through my Omega Juicer. I think it does work pic will show stuff in the Omega hopper shows fat specs but in the tray no fat specs. But i got a weird color change during the process and I do not know why as the temps seem to constantly be below 40 degrees. They went into the black stripe casings over night in the fridge cuz of the cure.

Spoiler: Juicer

View attachment 699684

During this time I had some ribs on the Kamado cooking. I was soooo exhausted after I got the mix into the casings I took a nap totally forgetting I had ribs on the kamado. My cooking app rang when the ribs hit 180 and i woke up totally forgetting about them so they got no spritz, wrap or jacuzzi effect. So this is a pure rub nothing else. A little crispy but still was a nice taste

Spoiler: Ribs

View attachment 699685

On Sunday they went on my SNS Kettle. which I have the rotisserie option giving me more space, and cold smoked for 2 hours with hickory pellets

Spoiler: SNS Kettle

View attachment 699686

It was soo many hot dogs that I had to bring out my HUGE stock pot and sous vide them in 2 batches. They aint pretty looking but taste pretty good. I did not change from the instructions on the tub of Wiener mix unless my math sucked. You can see the fat gel cuz i tossed the sous vide bags into an ice cooler to cool them off. I assume fat is gonna gel since there is no casing

Spoiler: The Batch of dogs

View attachment 699687

I vac sealed them in 6 inch bags and as i have one sealer with 16 inch bar and the chamber with a 14 inch bar this shows the power of a large seal bar and 6 inch bags (multiple bags at once)

Spoiler: Sealing

View attachment 699688

I tried to use the spoiler function to not make this a silly long post i hope it worked
Saturday morning I decided to make 7 ish pounds of all beef hotdogs. I wanted a win so I used Sausage Maker Wiener mix (I wanted a win my first time) I go to Costco every Sunday to get Greek Yogurt for my dog's meals and I walk by the meat section and when I see brisket on sale I buy it and break it down into vac bags of beef and fat so this was an all brisket hot dog.

I watched various videos and man this is a tedious job !

I took the meet / fat to 31 degrees and ran it on a 10 plate, then freeze back to 31, then 7 plate, freeze back to 31, then the 4.5 plate, /sigh then back to 31 degree, then through my Omega Juicer. I think it does work pic will show stuff in the Omega hopper shows fat specs but in the tray no fat specs. But i got a weird color change during the process and I do not know why as the temps seem to constantly be below 40 degrees. They went into the black stripe casings over night in the fridge cuz of the cure.

Spoiler: Juicer

View attachment 699684

During this time I had some ribs on the Kamado cooking. I was soooo exhausted after I got the mix into the casings I took a nap totally forgetting I had ribs on the kamado. My cooking app rang when the ribs hit 180 and i woke up totally forgetting about them so they got no spritz, wrap or jacuzzi effect. So this is a pure rub nothing else. A little crispy but still was a nice taste

Spoiler: Ribs

View attachment 699685

On Sunday they went on my SNS Kettle. which I have the rotisserie option giving me more space, and cold smoked for 2 hours with hickory pellets

Spoiler: SNS Kettle

View attachment 699686

It was soo many hot dogs that I had to bring out my HUGE stock pot and sous vide them in 2 batches. They aint pretty looking but taste pretty good. I did not change from the instructions on the tub of Wiener mix unless my math sucked. You can see the fat gel cuz i tossed the sous vide bags into an ice cooler to cool them off. I assume fat is gonna gel since there is no casing

Spoiler: The Batch of dogs

View attachment 699687

I vac sealed them in 6 inch bags and as i have one sealer with 16 inch bar and the chamber with a 14 inch bar this shows the power of a large seal bar and 6 inch bags (multiple bags at once)

Spoiler: Sealing

View attachment 699688

God bless your patience, but the yield looks great. as many chilidogs as we eat I woul not have the patience. Nice report and welcome to the gang. I'll just keep an eye out for bogo on the ballpark grill-masters, as they work for us.