Hotdog Question...

[ellymae]

I want to make some hotdogs and I have a recipe, but it calls for pink salt - can you make it without? I see you cook them to 150 degrees so I would think they would be fine.

 

[tlzimmerman]

No...I think doing hot dogs would be very dangerous without salt. I start smoking mine at 120 and slowly work up to 160 over a couple hours to let the casings dry and so the fat doesn't separate......keeps them in the danger zone for a long time and you run a serious risk of food poisoning if they aren't cured.

You can order cure from many places online, and its very inexpensive. I would not risk it. Also, without the cure the hot dogs will come out a completely different texture and taste, and I wouldn't think it would be that good.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Now, if you want to smoke them hot at 225...then I think you could get away with it, but once again that would completely change the texture and taste of the meat.

 

[DanMcG]

Elly I guess it depends on the recipe. but I do fresh sausage all the time that I call hot dogs. you just need to freeze them in a couple days after making them to keep them fresh.
You can also stuff them and then pouch them in 180° water till they get 152°internal. this is like a brown and serve dog/sausage.
The cure will change the color, flavor and shelf life of the recipe but there are many that are better without the cure. just don't slow smoke them, but I know you know that already :)
Share the recipe if you can. and good luck

 

[piker]

When I make hot dogs in the smoker I use cure #1, but sometimes if I am in a hurry I boil them until an i.t. of 170f which works real good no shrinkage if you use them rite away or freeze them. The boiling method onlt takes about 25 mins. Piker

 

[pops6927]

After stuffing and linking, you can parboil them to cook to 160° internal without using cure. But if you wish to smoke them then it is almost required to use cure, especially with hot dogs, as you are grinding the meat mutliple times or food processing it to get it to a finer emulsion, which can raise bacteria levels to increase dramatically both from increasing product temperature and multiple exposures to used processing surfaces and machines which is also unrefrigerated and bacteria is multiplying on like crazy. Then you put in a smoker at a low temp to dry the casings and slowly raise the temps, you're quickly raising contamination levels, and you're now making 'nuclear dogs', ready and raring to explode in peoples' bellies!

 

[sausage joe]

Pink salt (cure #1) cures the meat. Curing changes the taste of the meat and affects the color of the meat as well as the health benefits when slow smoking meats.

 

[cheech]

This recipe that you speak of what does it look like ;)