Hot dog question

[nicholls47]

Going to try making some hot dogs today and wondering since the seasoning mix contains sodium erythorbate, do I need to hold for 12 hours? Thanks

[johnsbrewhouse]

@nicholls47I would say at least 12 hours if you use sure cure, go to the link below it refers to using the hot dog seasoning and holding for 12 hours. I always hold mine overnight.
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/180/how-to-make-homemade-hot-dogs-recipe

[Ronald Dore]

nicholls47 Here’s a quote from Jonathan answering a similar question.

The only thing I want to point out is that after you have stuffed them into the casings they need to be held in a refrigerator overnight unless you are using a Cure Accelerator such as Encapsulated Citric Acid, Sodium Erythorbate or Excalibur’s Cure Excellerator.

[mrobisr]

You can case, smoke, cook, or process immediately when sodium erythrobate is used.

[samspade]

Besides holding to alow the cure to work its magic, is there an enhancement of the flavor if held over night?

[mrobisr]

From a official taste test I cannot say, but SE utilizes the nitrite very quickly, so my guess would be no as there will not be enough nitrites left to do any more enhancing given 12 or 24 hours. We held nothing over commercially once SE was added and they were always doing taste experiments in the plant I worked at. Without SE I know that 24 hours is better than 12 hours, but the the op question was with SE, so I’ll stop here.

[mrobisr]

I prefer 24 hour hold without SE, but this last batch of Kabanosy and Polish smoked sausage I used SE because of a timing issue. There are some real advantages to using SE such as burning the red color in, helping the meat not to brown due to oxidation, and preventing fat rancidness, but I usually do not have that problem with my home products so for now I use it more for convivence, a lack of time than anything.

[nicholls47]

Thank you all for the replies! I’ll let you know how they turn out!

[craigrice]

nicholls47 please share how your processing goes

[Dr_Pain]

That is one of my next projects!!

[craigrice]

Dr_Pain I plan on making some also before summer along with seasoned burger patty’s

[nicholls47]

craigrice

Finally got around to making those hot dogs. I’d say they turned out pretty darn good for first time. I took some to work, and they were devoured in short order! Next time I’d give the meat an additional grind or even two vs grinding just twice.

The only drawback I can come up with is that the grease/fat that cooks out and is held in by the casings make it a bit messy and not great eye appeal after stripping the casing. What do you all think about giving them a quick dip in hot water to get rid of some of the fat?

[kyle]

nicholls47 there is no reason why you couldn’t. I think you should find out why you had fat out tho. Not enough protein extraction or maybe too hot too fast in the smoker? It happens to most of us at one point. In the past I have taken paper towel with hot water and wiped down meat to make it look better. Just my opinion

[GWG8541]

nicholls47 what was your cook schedule? If you had fat out, you may want to thermal process or sous vide to finish them after the smoke. There are plenty of post on here about it. It is a great way to control the finish of many smoked products, especiallyif you do not have a low temp smoker. As long as they were edible and didn’t go to waste it was a win and a starting point to make your products the way you want them.

[Deepwoodsbutcher]

Hotdogs will not fat out if properly emulsified. They should be ground a minimum of 3 times (twice through your smallest plate). For best results, finish in a food processor before stuffing.