Hi Moms,
My little 4 year old loooooooves hot dogs, but I am very hesitant to let him eat them since there is so much additives and preservatives in them. I was wondering if any of you out there knows how to make wholesome homemade hot dogs without having to buy a fortune worth of equipment. I tried googling it, but all the google recipes seem to be very complicated, and require a lot of equipments. By the way, we do eat red meat, but we do not eat pork, so recipes with out pork would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance for all you helps and suggestions
This is quite unconventional and home-made, but tenderize minced beef as you would for burgers, etc. Mix in eggs and breadcrumbs to keep it together. Roll it in the form of a hot dog and fry, bake, cook, grill whatever you normally do. Put in between hot dog buns. You can even grind it further in your processor for a real mushy meat. It's up to you!
I don't have any specific recipes, just a little info. My husband makes homemade sausages and brats all the time - we haven't made hot dogs yet. It is time consuming. Always yummier than store bought (we love to make interesting combos like apple chicken or chicken with sundried tomato sausage), but not always cheaper. You will definitely need a grinder. Before investing in an electric grinder, we bought a manual one. We have found a lot of the sausage making equipment - grinders and casing to be cheapest at sporting good stores, usually with the hunting equipment.. Many of the recipes will require fat. You will need to call the butcher dept and let them know what you are looking for. Fat is usually thrown away, so if they know ahead of time they will save it for you. It's usually free, but we have been charged a nominal fee for it as well.
There is a lot of controversy of what is "healthier" concerning a hot dog, but fortunately , there are lots of store bought choices available. You may have to look at a more specialized grocery store, but there are fat free, no nitrate added options. You can choose between natural or synthetic or skinless. Shopping around is another option.
/Growers/2
We buy the kosher ones that you can get at the store. They are called "Hebrew" I believe.
Applegate farms makes organic hotdogs that don't have the nitrates and nitrites. My son loves hotdogs and I love them too. I felt much better with the two of us eating these while I was pregnant, and we have continued to eat them.
the kitchenaid stand mixer has all the relevant parts, should you so desire. My grandmother used to make her own sausages. I remember it was a pretty arduous process. Maybe you can find an old fashioned butcher, or, this might sound like a strange suggestion, someone who is into hunting. They often have the equipment on hand, and might be willing able, to run their machine a little longer to make up dogs for you while they are casing their own.
Some brands of the turkey hotdogs don't have the nitrites/ nitrates either.
