I decided to make some hot dogs this year for the 4th of July. I did it two years ago and the texure was just terrible.
I used two chuck roasts and added some brisket fat. The last time I used two very lean chuck roasts. This time I had more marbling but I didn't want to take any chances.
My spices and my worksheet. This is basically a Chud's BBQ recipe. I added a little more water.
After one grind on the #8 LEM Big Bite through the 6mm plate.
This was after my third grind. I did once on the 6mm and twice on the 3mm. I don't think I froze the meat enough after the first grind because after the 2nd the meat got up to about 44 degrees. This maybe caused some slight smearing. Lesson learned.
After mixing. I decided to hedge my bets and not try to emulsify this. I've gotta a decent food processor but didn't want to chance it.
Stuffing.
Linked.
I cooked them in my WSM with the signals and billows using minion method (I should have used snake method at this outside temp). The WSM was probably at 130 with no heat. I couldn't keep the temp at 150 like I normally can. It ran at 165, but I didn't want to fight it. They only went about 2 1/2 hours to an internal temp of 145. As you can see there's a little rendered fat at the end. It didn't effect the flavor or texture at all, but it's something to work on.
Sliced shot.
Final thoughts: I got some things to work on but these were night and day better than my last attempt. The last ones had a very dense texture probably due to lack of fat. I added a little extra water and I tried to do a much better job keeping the meat cold. I need to work on my temp control on the smoker or wait until a cooler day. All in all I'm very happy with the results.
I used two chuck roasts and added some brisket fat. The last time I used two very lean chuck roasts. This time I had more marbling but I didn't want to take any chances.
My spices and my worksheet. This is basically a Chud's BBQ recipe. I added a little more water.
After one grind on the #8 LEM Big Bite through the 6mm plate.
This was after my third grind. I did once on the 6mm and twice on the 3mm. I don't think I froze the meat enough after the first grind because after the 2nd the meat got up to about 44 degrees. This maybe caused some slight smearing. Lesson learned.
After mixing. I decided to hedge my bets and not try to emulsify this. I've gotta a decent food processor but didn't want to chance it.
Stuffing.
Linked.
I cooked them in my WSM with the signals and billows using minion method (I should have used snake method at this outside temp). The WSM was probably at 130 with no heat. I couldn't keep the temp at 150 like I normally can. It ran at 165, but I didn't want to fight it. They only went about 2 1/2 hours to an internal temp of 145. As you can see there's a little rendered fat at the end. It didn't effect the flavor or texture at all, but it's something to work on.
Sliced shot.
Final thoughts: I got some things to work on but these were night and day better than my last attempt. The last ones had a very dense texture probably due to lack of fat. I added a little extra water and I tried to do a much better job keeping the meat cold. I need to work on my temp control on the smoker or wait until a cooler day. All in all I'm very happy with the results.
