Hot Dog

By á-25087

Growing up, I was surrounded by the German recipes and traditions that were brought to our area by our early immigrants. This is one of those recipes.

I remember it as being made with a combination of beef and pork, and that's the way I do it now. It is perfectly O.K. to use all of one kind or the other though.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean beef chuck and 3 lbs lean pork shoulder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground mace
• 1 tablespoon ground white pepper (can substitute black)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground dried marjoram
• i cup non-fat dried milk powder
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon #1 cure (prague powder or Instacure)
• 1 cup ice water

Preparation

Step 1

1.Cube the meat, refrigerate it for 30 minutes, then grind it at least twice through the finest plate on your meat grinder. You may find it easier to grind if you chill it between grindings.


2.Mix all the spices and cure and incorporate them with the egg whites into the ground meat. Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes, and then grind it one more time through your fine grinding plate.


3.In small batches, adding the ice water as needed, emulsify the meat mixture in your food processor.


4.Stuff the emulsified sausage into large sheep casings or small pork casings, and ready them for the meat smoker.

You can also finish this by cooking them in simmering (180-200 degree F) water until they reach 152 degrees internally. If you choose this method, add 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke to the meat mixture when you add the rest of the spices.


Emulsifying Meat


Almost all commercially produced hot dogs are made with emulsified meat.

You can produce a good frankfurter at home by grinding your meat multiple times through the finest plate on your meat grinder but...

...

If you want to go the extra step (and you own a food processor) you can emulsify your frankfurter meat and make something very close to a commercial product (only better).

By the way, this process works nicely for bratwurst, knockwurst, and bologna style sausages also.

1.Grind your meat twice through the smallest plate of your meat grinder.


2.Add all of the spices and cure to the meat and mix very well.


3.Refrigerate the meat mixture for about 30 minutes to make sure it is good and cold.


4.In small batches, process the chilled meat mixture in your food processor until it is the consistency of a fine mousse (almost like baby food). Continue until all the meat has been emulsified.

I find it is easier to get a good emulsification if I add small amounts of ice water to mixture while it is being processed.

You can add as much as 1 1/2 cups of water to 5 lbs of meat without it having any adverse effects on your finished sausage.