Everything about Hot Dog totally explained
A
hot dog is a type of fully-cooked,
cured and/or
smoked moist
sausage of soft, even, texture and flavor. It is usually placed hot in a soft, sliced bun of approximately the same length as the sausage, and optionally garnished with
condiments and toppings.
The flavor of hot dog sausages varies widely by region and by personal preference, as do the accompaniments. The flavor of the sausage can resemble a range of similar meat products from
bologna on the bland side to the
German bockwurst in the spicier varieties.
Hot dogs are traditionally made from
beef,
pork, or a combination.
Kosher hot dogs are also available, usually all-beef. Unlike many other sausages (which may be sold cooked or uncooked), hot dogs are always cooked before being offered commercially. Unless they've spoiled, hot dogs may be eaten safely without further cooking, although they're usually warmed before serving.
Vegetarian hot dogs and sausages, made from
meat analogue, are also widely available in most areas where hot dogs are popular.
Hot dogs are also called
frankfurters, or
franks for short, named for the city of
Frankfurt,
Germany where sausages in a bun originated, similar to hot dogs, but made exclusively of pork. Another term for hot dogs is
wieners or
weenies, referring to the city of
Vienna, Austria, whose
German name is "Wien", home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef. Hot dogs are sometimes called
tube steaks. In
Australia, the term
frankfurt is used rather than
frankfurter. In the
German speaking countries, except
Austria, hot dog sausages are generally called
Wiener or
Wiener Würstchen (
Würstchen means "little sausage"). In
Swiss German, it's called
Wienerli, while in Austria the terms
Frankfurter or
Frankfurter Würstel are used.
In the
United Kingdom the term hot dog refers to the combination of sausage and bun, with the terms frankfurter or 'hot dog sausage' being more common terms for the sausage itself. As such hot dogs are sometimes made with British sausages, typically cooked by grilling or frying. When prepared using a frankfurter they may be sold and marketed as German or American-style hot dogs.
History
Claims of invention of the hot dog are difficult to assess, because various stories assert the creation of the sausage, the placing of the sausage (or another kind of sausage) on bread or a bun as finger food, the popularization of the existing dish, or the application of the name "hot dog" to a sausage and bun combination.
The city of
Vienna traces the lineage of the hot dog to the
wienerwurst or Viennese sausage, the city of
Frankfurt to the
frankfurter wurst, which it claims was invented in the 1480s; the hot dog has also been attributed to Johann Georghehner, a 17th century butcher from the
Bavarian city of
Coburg who is said to have invented the "
dachshund" or "little-dog" sausage and brought it to Frankfurt.
Around 1870, on
Coney Island, a German immigrant named Charles Feltman began selling sausages in rolls.
Others also have been acknowledged for supposedly having invented the hot dog, including Anton Ludwig Feuchtwanger, a Bavarian sausage seller who is said to have started serving sausages in rolls at the
World's Fair—either the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago or the 1904
Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis—because the white gloves he gave to customers so that they could eat his hot sausages in comfort began to disappear as souvenirs.
The association between hot dogs and baseball may have begun as early as 1893 with
Chris von der Ahe, a German immigrant who owned not only the
St. Louis Browns, but also an amusement park, beer garden and brewery near
Sportsman's Park, where he sold his beer.
In 1916, an employee of Feltman's named Nathan Handwerker was encouraged by celebrity clients
Eddie Cantor and
Jimmy Durante to go into business in competition with his former employer.
Handwerker undercut Feltman's by charging five cents for a hot dog when his former employer was charging ten.
According to a popular myth, the use of the complete phrase "
hot dog" in reference to sausage was coined by the newspaper cartoonist
Thomas Aloysius "TAD" Dorgan around 1900 in a cartoon recording the sale of hot dogs during a
New York Giants baseball game at the
Polo Grounds.
The earliest usage of "hot dog" in clear reference to sausage found by
Barry Popik appeared in the 28 September 1893 edition of
The Knoxville Journal.
Some Americans believe that a properly made hot dog should never be topped with ketchup, since it overpowers and destroys the taste of the hot dog instead of complementing it. In
Chicago, some restaurants and hot dog stands that consider themselves to be "true"
Chicago hot dog grills do not, as a rule, carry ketchup in stock, even if they serve other food items that use this condiment, such as
French fries. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, in its tongue-in-cheek recommendations for proper
Hot Dog Etiquette
capitulate only slightly to the public's general regard for ketchup, saying, "Don't use ketchup on your hot dog after the age of 18."
The
Coney Island hot dog, which is topped with a special "Coney sauce" (generally a beanless chili), also is a favorite in the
US Midwest. Several restaurants in
Michigan claim to have invented the Coney dog, which is virtually unknown in
Coney Island,
New York. It is known in parts of
Upstate New York and
Québec simply as a "
Michigan," and the name stuck to many fast-food meals (namely
poutine) that were served with the sauce (although it evolved in Québec more into a meat spaghetti sauce than a chili).
Commercial Preparation
Hot dogs are typically prepared commercially by mixing all of the ingredients (meats, spices, binders and fillers, if any) in large vats where rapidly moving blades grind and mix the ingredients in the same operation, ensuring a homogeneous product. This mixture is then forced through tubes into casings for cooking. Most hot dogs sold in the US are called "skinless" as opposed to more expensive "natural casing" hot dogs.
Natural Casing Hot Dogs
As with virtually all sausages, hot dogs must be in a casing to be cooked. Traditionally, this casing is made from the thoroughly cleaned
small intestines of
sheep, and the products are known as "natural casing" hot dogs or frankfurters. These kinds of hot dogs are preferred by some for their firmer texture and the "snap" that releases juices and flavor when the product is bitten. While hot dogs are always
cooked before
packaging, they shouldn't be eaten cold from the package. Hot dogs and their packaging fluid are sometimes contaminated with the bacterium
Listeria monocytogenes, which causes
listeriosis, a serious
foodborne illness.
Hot Dogs In The United States
7-Eleven is North America's number-one retailer of fresh-grilled hot dogs, selling approximately 100 million each year. Other chains in the U.S. that offer hot dogs include
Sonic Drive-In and
Dog n Suds, who call it a coney;
Hardee's (but not their counterpart
Carl's Jr. on the west coast of the United States, which is ironic due to founder
Carl Karcher having started the Carl's Jr. empire with a hot dog stand);
Dairy Queen;
7-Eleven;
Wienerschnitzel (originally Der Wienerschnitzel), whose menu focuses on hot dogs;
The Frankfurter in Seattle, Washington;
Woody's Chicago Style;
Nathan's Famous, which sponsors the annual
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest;
A&W; and Spike's Junkyard Dogs located in Rhode Island and Boston.
Krystal restaurants in the southeast offer a small hot dog called a Krystal Pup, and
Fatburger, located mostly on the west coast of the U.S., offers hot dogs and chili dogs. In
Cincinnati, Ohio Skyline Chili and
Gold Star Chili sell hot dogs and spaghetti with their signature
Cincinnati-style chili. .
Yocco's Hot Dogs, founded in 1922, maintains six restaurants in the
Lehigh Valley region of
Pennsylvania and is known for its long-standing specialty of hot dogs with various toppings. Given Yocco's strong global popularity, the restaurant also has a mail-order business, providing bags of frozen hot dogs to customers around the U.S. and the world. A map of the world displayed in each of the company's six restaurants marks the thousands of locations that have ordered Yocco's hot dogs.
Casual dining restaurants often have hot dogs on their children's menu, but not on the regular menu.
Hot dog stands and trucks sell hot dogs and accompaniments, as well as similar products, at street and highway locations. At convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, hot dogs are usually kept heated on rotating grills; a selection of flavors and sizes is sometimes offered.
Hot dogs sold by vendors who wander through the stands are a tradition at baseball parks. Several ballparks have signature hot dogs such as Fenway Franks at
Fenway Park in
Boston, Massachusetts and
Dodger Dogs at
Dodger Stadium in
Los Angeles, California. The Fenway signature is that the hot dog is boiled and grilled Fenway-style, and then served on a New England-style bun, covered with mustard and relish. Often during Red Sox games, vendors traverse the stadium selling the hot dogs plain, giving customers the choice of adding the condiments.
Hot dogs kinds and variations
Competitions
Hot dogs are used in many competitions, including eating competitions and attempts to create world record sized hot dogs. On
July 4,
2007,
Joey Chestnut set a new record when he ate 66 hotdogs in 12 minutes at
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2007 event at
Coney Island, breaking the previous record that he set on June 2, 2007 when he ate 59½ hotdogs in 12 minutes at a Nathan's qualifier event in Tempe, AZ. In Arizona, Chestnut had broken the record at the time of 53¾ by
Takeru Kobayashi.
The
World's Longest Hot Dog created was 60m (196.85 ft), and rested within a 60.3m bun. The hot dog was prepared by Shizuoka Meat Producers for the All-Japan Bread Association, which baked the bun and coordinated the event, including official measurement for the world record. The hot dog and bun were the center of a media event in celebration of the Association's 50th anniversary on
August 4,
2006, at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.
Festivals
The city of
Huntington,
West Virginia, hosts the annual West Virginia Hot Dog Festival.
Each year, at
Suffolk Downs in
Boston, Massachusetts, thousands of people come to the
Hot Dog Safari to contribute money to help people with
cystic fibrosis. A future festival possibility comes from a meat market owner in
DuBois, Pennsylvania, who created a
peanut butter hot dog recipe at the suggestion of the mother of a seven-year-old customer. The popularity of this invention spread via the Internet, and the town of DuBois is now discussing a "peanut butter hot dog" festival.
Further Information
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