- Also called:
- frankfurter or wiener
- Related Topics:
- sausage
hot dog
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What is a hot dog?
A hot dog is a sausage of likely German origin that has become very popular internationally, especially in the United States. Two European cities, Frankfurt, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, claim to be the birthplace of the sausage, hence the names frankfurter and wiener. German immigrants introduced the sausage to New York in the 1860s, where vendors sold them as "dachshund sausages," because of their shape. The term hot dog, implying the sausage was made of dog flesh, appeared in 1884 and was widespread by 1892.
Inexpensive hot dogs consist of trimmings, or cuts of pork and beef not used for other purposes, ground into a paste and stuffed into casings. Kosher hot dogs and more expensive brands use better cuts of beef, but the production method is mostly the same.
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What kind of sausage is typically used in a hot dog?
Hot dogs typically use inexpensive sausages made from "trimmings," which are cuts of pork and beef not used for other purposes. These trimmings are ground into a paste and stuffed into casings, traditionally made of intestine.
Kosher hot dogs and more expensive brands use better cuts of beef, but the production method is largely the same. The sausages themselves are also known as frankfurters or wieners.
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How is a hot dog sausage usually cooked?
Hot dogs, a sausage of probable German origin, are popular internationally, especially in the United States. German immigrants introduced them to New York in the 1860s.
Hot dogs are easily cooked at home. Inexpensive ones consist of trimmings, cuts of pork and beef that have not been used for other purposes, ground into a paste and stuffed into casings. More expensive brands are typically made solely from better cuts of beef, but the production method is largely the same. They are associated with picnics, holiday cookouts, and sporting events.
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What are some common ingredients found in hot dog sausages?
Hot dog sausages typically consist of ground meat, which can include inexpensive trimmings of pork and beef, that are ground to a paste. They also contain various spices and condiments such as salt, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, garlic, vinegar, mace, pepper, and chili peppers. Other additives may include water, cereals, vegetable starch, soy flour, preservatives, and artificial colorings. The resulting mixture is then stuffed into casings, traditionally made of intestine, to form the sausage shape.
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How do hot dog sausages differ from other types of sausages?
Hot dogs are sausages of probable German origin that have become popular, especially in the United States. Two cities lay claim to the hot dog's creation: Frankfurt, Germany, which may be the source of the name frankfurter, and Vienna, Austria, which may be the source of the name wiener.
Hot dogs are made from meat trimmings, specifically cuts of pork and beef that are ground into a paste and stuffed into casings. More expensive hot dogs are made from better cuts of beef, though the production method is largely the same.
Sausages are made of chopped and seasoned meat that is fresh, smoked, or pickled and then stuffed into a casing. The meat content is frequently beef or pork but may also include other meats, meat mixtures, and added meatpacking by-products. Other additives may include water, cereals, vegetable starch, soy flour, preservatives, and artificial colorings.
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What is the history of the hot dog and its sausage?
The hot dog is a sausage of likely German origin that has become very popular, especially in the United States. Two European cities claim to be the birthplace of the sausage: Frankfurt, Germany, which is the source of the name frankfurter, and Vienna, Austria, which is the source of the name wiener.
German immigrants brought the food to New York in the 1860s, where street vendors sold them as "dachshund sausages". The first use of the phrase hot dog dates to 1884, and by 1892, it was widely used around the United States. In 1871, a German immigrant named Charles Feltman opened a stand at Coney Island, associating the sausage with fun. Later, a Polish immigrant named Nathan Handwerker, a former employee of Feltman, opened Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand at Coney Island in 1916.
Sausages are meat products made of finely chopped and seasoned meat that may be fresh, smoked, or pickled and are usually stuffed into a casing.
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hot dog, sausage, of disputed but probable German origin, that has become internationally popular, especially in the United States.
Two European cities claim to be the birthplace of the sausage: Frankfurt, Germany, whence the byname frankfurter, and Vienna, Austria, whence the byname wiener. Frankfurt holds that it has been making the sausage for more than 500 years. Whatever its ultimate origins, German immigrants brought the food to New York in the 1860s, where street vendors sold them as “dachshund sausages,” presumably because of their shape. It is from this that the term hot dog derives, with the implied suggestion that the sausage really was made of dog flesh. The first attestation of the phrase used in that sense dates to 1884, and by 1892 it was in widespread usage around the United States.
New York remained the epicentre of the hot dog for many years. In 1871 a German immigrant named Charles Feltman opened a popular stand at Coney Island, a beach and amusement park in Brooklyn, New York, forever associating the sausage with fun and leisure. Feltman would later find a competitor in a former employee of his, a Polish immigrant named Nathan Handwerker, who opened his Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand at Coney Island in 1916. A gifted marketer, Handwerker promoted the stand by sponsoring a Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, a tradition that continues today; the winner in 2020 set a record by devouring 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
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By the time Nathan Handwerker opened his shop, hot dogs had become widespread throughout the United States. They were served by the thousands at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and they were standard fare at baseball parks around the country, just as they are today. Easily cooked at home and eaten on the move, the hot dog became a definitive American dish, with regional variations that include the Chicago dog (an all-beef hot dog served in a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, bright green pickle relish, chopped onion, sliced tomato, dill pickle, sport peppers, and celery salt), the New York dog (with sauerkraut, brown mustard, and onions), and, from Mexico by way of Arizona, the Sonoran hot dog (with pinto beans, salsa, mayonnaise, and bacon). Some vendors have become culinary destinations, such as Papaya King in New York, Pink’s Hot Dogs in Los Angeles, and Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C.
Inexpensive hot dogs are made of “trimmings,” cuts of pork and beef that have not been used for other purposes. These leftovers are ground into a paste and stuffed into casings—that is, encased in a tube traditionally made of intestine. (This is the source of the jocular name tube steak.) Kosher hot dogs, as well as more expensive brands of the sausage, are typically made solely from better cuts of beef, but the production method is largely the same.
Although they are seen as a quintessentially American dish, associated with picnics, holiday cookouts, and sporting events (especially baseball games), hot dogs are eaten well beyond the boundaries of the United States. U.S. Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt courted controversy when in 1939 he served hot dogs to a visiting king, George VI of Britain. Although some commentators criticized the dish as embarrassingly plebeian, the king asked for a second hot dog after finishing the first. Not surprisingly, hot dogs abound in Great Britain today and nearly everywhere in the world.