I just love a hot dog. It doesn’t matter the protein either. Something about making it myself and that velvety smooth emulsified texture makes it one of my favorite types of sausages and when it comes to emulsified sausages, texture is king. It’s got to have a springy bounce with a good bite and a nice snap. It does take a little practice to really hone in your emulsified sausage making skills but in time you’ll be able to make mortadella, weisswurst, bologna, and lots more.
You will need some special equipment in order to make a good hot dog. For starters a good food processor with sharp blades (we use one called Robot Coupe) is a great tool for making emulsified sausages (and lots of other things). The Robot Coupe is quite possibly the best food processor I’ve ever owned and trust me when I tell you, I run a commercial kitchen and this guy does the work of 4 employees. It’s a little pricy but you get what you pay for. Just make sure your food processor has a strong motor and sharp blades. If the blades are dull, you will “whip” air into the meat batter causing the texture to become pillowy.
No matter the food processesor you choose to use just make sure it has a strong motor (commercial grade). I’ve seen many folks burn up their residental food processors trying to make emulsified sausages.
After your sausage is made it’s time to cook. You have several options here. I find the best way to cook an emulsified sausage is sous vide. Cooking sous vide allows you to cook at a lower temperature ensuring that your hot dogs stay juicy with a great texture. We use the Kitchen Boss Immersion Circulator coupled with the Kitchen Boss Vacuum sealer to make this happen. To cook your hot dogs sous vide just vacuum seal your hot dogs and set your immersion circulator to 145f and once it gets to temperature place the bag of hot dogs in the preheated water and cook for 2 hours. Voila. It’s as easy as that.
If you don’t have an immersion circulator you could always poach your hot dogs for 18-20 minutes in 175f water. Just make sure to manage the temperature so it doesn’t get too hot.
Follow basic emulsified sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F)
- Grind your meat and fat separately.
- When it comes time to chop, chop the chilled meat first till smooth
-keep temp under 44F - When you add the fat add the rest of the seasonings and binders
-keep temp under 55F - Add ice cold liquid in increments to maintain a low temperature
-during the chopping of the meat
-during the addition of fat - Chop till farce is smooth – fat and meat particles are no longer visible and everything looks homogenous
- Stuff the farce into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
- Cook sous vide or by poaching in 175F water for 1 minute for every “mm” that your casing is wide.
-20mm sausage will poach for 20 minutes (roughly)
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Kitchen Knives
- Kitchen Boss Immersion Circulator
- Kitchen Boss Vacuum Sealer
- Meat Grinder
- Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
- Sausage Stuffers
- Robot Coupe Commercial Food Processor
- Custom Cutting Board
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. If you make this at home I’d love to hear about how it came out!!
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This recipe is spot on. The only problem I had was my food processor. I definitely need an up grade. Thanks for the solid information.
Excellentđ. The food processor makes a big difference..
Yes. You would cook them exactly the same way just get the internal temp to 155. For a chicken dog it shouldn’t take long..
If you don’t have a food processor can you use a meat mixer? Or what else could you use?
Yes. A food processor will just give you a very uniform texture but you can grind the meat and mix by hand or use a meat mixer or even a kitchen aid with the paddle attachment.
Can you do it in a couple batches in a food processor, as I don’t have a huge processor?
Absolutely. Just make sure you don’t overload the unit. So small batches will be better for you
I have made your chorizo and landjagers a few times and they are amazing. I want to attempt these hotdogs. Just wondering if I can substitute pork fat for the chicken fat if there isnât enough on the bird for the recipe
absolutely. We do it all the time!
Greetings from Greece
Iâve made the sausages with an extra 4 grams of smoked paprika and the result was verry tasty. The only problem I had is that they were a bit firm meat. Is there a way to make them less firm? Some Dextrose for example would help?
Sometimes humidity can cause the sausage to firm up. You could add a little extra liquid to the recipe.
Thank you
Any reason why you didn’t include any cure #1? Curious to if adding it would be worthwhile or not
no reason, adding it would be ok especially if you want to smoke them
Can these be smoked instead of boiled? If so, is Cure#1 a must or optional?
yes they can be smoked and in that case I would use Cure #1