4 Levels of Hot Dogs: Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious

hi I'm Emily and I'm a level one chef I'm Julie and I'm a level two chef I'm Frank from the Institute of Culinary Education and I'm a level three chef monarchs are great you can have them for lunch dinner you know for breakfast if you really want to I like hot dogs cuz they're fun and I also like to have an argument about whether or not they're really sandwiches they're not a good hot dog to me has a nice snap to it it should be a little like garlicky it should be a little salty it should have a little bit of smokiness to it but it should have that really nice snap when you bite into it so these are my hot dogs they're just regular grocery store hot dogs I am using real authentic German bratwurst I love a hot dog I like it with the weird pork today I'm giving a making lamb hot dogs from scratch I like kind of that gay meanness of the lamb I'm going to be boiling my hot dog it's easy it's fast and it's a way to make a hot dog I am making a braising liquid for my brats I'm gonna start to make a little base so we're gonna take our butter dump that in my pan and I'm gonna dump the onions in there first thing we're gonna do is grind all the meat I have some lamb shank meat some pork fatback and a bunch of spices I'm using pork fat mainly because it's really accessible cuts down on the game Innis of the lamb just a little next thing we're gonna do is add the spices and on the spices here I have salt a little bit of curing salt some paprika some smoked paprika a little bit of Aleppo pepper it's gonna give us a little bit of a kick some onion powder some granulated garlic cumin and coriander and some black pepper ándale this in and stir it around I'm gonna take this I'm gonna put in the fridge for about 15 minutes I don't want it to be frozen I want it just a little crispy nice and cold the other thing I like to do is like just the broth a little bit with the tip of my knife just a little because you want that nice braising liquid just eat it so I've got here a pot of water gonna have to spread it to a boil and I'm just going to drop my hot dog in there and boil it for four or five minutes next up we're gonna puree this meat mixture it's gonna go from that bright red to a little bit of white that means that our fat is getting mixed up and chopped up and that's kind of the start of our emulsions just I have crushed ice here this is not only gonna make the mixture really cold it's also gonna add a little water to this helps make the emulsion so we're just gonna drop our brats in here now gonna step the braising liquid what I want to do is get it boiling sometimes I add a little bit of water just to thin out the braising liquid and we're gonna let them simmer for ten minutes or so all right and now we wait now we're gonna stuff the hotdogs into a casein we're gonna use some sheep casing which is really skimpy so we have our meat mixture and this goes directly into this stuffer I'm just gonna pack this down into my sausage too to make sure there's no air bubbles I'm gonna start cranking it down so the casing goes on next thing we want to do is make sure there's a little bit of water on this tray because the water is gonna help the sausage slide around when we actually start to fill I take the end I'm gonna tie a nice knot and then I start to crank I'm just gonna control the speed at which it comes out with my left hand and just feed it and I can just tear the casing I'm gonna tie it and then we're gonna take these and we're gonna make them into links I'm gonna squeeze about what I think a hot dog link is twist one way and then I squeeze the other one and twist the opposite way and there we have our hot dogs so just keep checking that it's a nice rolling simmer not a boil just a simmer and just keep taking your top off check well not your top but take and checking that it's not over boiling I mean probably boiling a hot dog is not as delicious as doing other more advanced methods but it's the easiest next up we're gonna poach the hot dogs a water is just below the boiler I don't want to put the hot dogs into the water and have them boil away because that will break our emulsion we're just gonna drop them in I'm not gonna mess around with them too much I'm just gonna like rotate it a little bit I don't think you have to do this but this is just for my own fanciness so the hot dogs have been poaching for about seven minutes I'm gonna kind of string those in to my ice just to preserve that flump kind of nice crisp hot dog if you don't put them in an ice bath they start to get wrinkly they look like old mad ankles after I chill these all the way I'm gonna put them in the fridge overnight all right it's been about four minutes so I think I can take this out of its boiling water bath now we've got that beautiful hot dog water perfect for a hot dog martini so now that we've braised we are going to sear so the hot dogs have been chilled overnight we're just gonna cut them into links and now we're ready to grill our hot dogs I'm gonna put just a touch of oil I'm just gonna lay them down and what I'm looking for here is a nice char and just keep turning they've been on one side for two three minutes I'm gonna give them a turn so you see how I'm getting some nice kind of little browning on that a little bit of carmelization so now I'm gonna take them off the grill these babies are well-done look at that beautiful hot dog delicious I can tell you already my mouth is watering next up buns so we're gonna be steaming our bun in the microwave cuz you don't need to be rich till they looked curiously we need a bun that will stand up to the broth so I am going to toast them my hot dog cuz I'm a chef it's a little fancier so I'm gonna use a few so it's just a skinny piece of French bread you know I get these rolls at the bodega on the corner they're beautiful they're in they're fresh every day just your regular grocery store fun I'm going to gently wrap my bun in my paper towel the towel provides the moisture to steam it and I'm just gonna cut it to about where I think is a good size for our hot dogs and then I'm just gonna cut these almost all the way through you don't eat anything other than a hot pan that you just cooked your brats in whatever residual is in there will just enhance the flavor I chose the cassell because it's a really nice shape and size I like the density of it too it gives a little bit of a crunch to it so we have a little more texture on this than a regular burger bump so I'm putting it in the microwave for 15 seconds you know the hardest part about cooking is the waiting okay so we're getting a little bit of toast there we're gonna turn them over I'll get them a little toasted on the crust side some people like a charm I just like it slightly warm now let's see yeah that'll do and here we have our toasted buns ready for the brats all right so now we're moving on to the condiments and as everyone knows you can't have a hotdog without mustard now I'm gonna make pickled red onions first thing I do is get my brine or the liquid that's gonna go with the onions a little bit of sugar some salt some red wine vinegar and water so next up chopped onions so I kill my onions gonna get rid of that skin slicing we want to go with the rings I'm just gonna dice and stuff them into this jar I'm gonna put a bay leaf in some peppercorns now that my vinegar mixtures come to a simmer shut it off and I'm gonna pour this hot mixture over the onions make sure you get it all over the place some people like moister onions I just like raw onions it reminds me baseball games put the lid on now basically just gonna let this sit in a warm place for maybe 20 minutes and then put in the fridge and by tomorrow they should be ready to go I'm gonna make my own spicy mustard right here I have about two tablespoons of Coleman's mustard powder and then you take an equal amount of white vinegar and all you really do is let's get around I'm also going to be making harissa harissa is a North African Middle Eastern condiment I have a pot I have some vegetable oil and while that warms up I'm gonna chop some onions and some garlic this is gonna go directly into the oil and then I'm gonna dice my garlic right into the oil give it a stir now I'm gonna have my tomato paste stir it around and what this is gonna do is not necessarily gonna fry the tomato paste but it's gonna take some of that raw flavor out of the tomato paste I like mustard because it's tangy and delicious it's really the number one condiment for hot dogs I'm gonna just put a drop of honey in this just to add a little sweetness you mix that up once you give it a few good stirs you're gonna say this doesn't look like mustard it's so liquidy that's why you got to let it sit for a while it will not only emulsify it will thicken smoked paprika a little regular paprika coriander seed cumin salt black pepper and for this I want a little bit of heat a little bit of chili flake I'm gonna let this cook and continually stir it so it doesn't burn for probably about 10 to 15 minutes so now this is cooked for a few minutes to get that raw tomato flavor out and for those spice its kind of combined I'm just gonna put it in a bowl for assembly so the last topping that I'm gonna use is good old-fashioned heinz 57 relish it has that taste that just takes me back now I'm gonna be using sharp cheddar easy cheese it brings a real tangy cheesy ninis - your hot dog reaching product I'm a condiment first then Brock then condiment put a little bit of mustard some of your chopped onions and then and then we're gonna take a little bit of our harissa dab it on there you'll have to go too crazy with this you want overpowering and then the next thing I'm gonna do is just sprinkle some bacon bits on I mean best-case scenario maybe even you make your own bacon but what are you made out of time and money now one little more layer and then some pickled onions this is really the perfect combination because you get your salty your creamy this is a hot dog for kings and this is my hot dog and this is my hot dog and this is my hot dog all right let's give it a taste juicy it's delicious it tastes familiar in a way of the hotdog but then you get that lamb and spice a little bit of pickled onions delicious I turned out really well nice snap - the bratwurst YUM this hotdog is delicious if you're looking for something fancy but you could also just have a hotdog with ketchup hot dogs are a classic American summertime food perfect for any picnic or baseball game Emily made a pork hotdog they're just regular grocery store hot dogs in commercial settings as pigs are butchered trimmings are saved chilled and ground and mixed together with spices such as white and black pepper paprika forming the hotdogs that we no preservatives like sodium nitrite are included in the mix sodium nitrate is a very stable compound that keeps hot dogs pink no matter how much you cook them its presence also extends shelf life by lowering pathogenic microbial load and reduces mold growth Emily boils her hot dog which cooks it just fine but left it more rubbery and less crisp than the other methods Julie used a bratwurst which is pork based highly seasoned and has a unique taste that comes from pepper sage and nutmeg it's made of links and is already fully cooked when purchased these are traditional brats her braise started with sweet caramelized onions sauteed in butter she then added beer which has the advantage of carrying volatile flavor compounds that vaporize and can develop a wonderful aroma ooh smells noise Frank made his own hot dogs out of lamb shank and pork fat lamb has a high amount of myoglobin in it which gives his hot dogs their distinctive reddish color chilling the lamb and pork made them easier to grind since animal fats are saturated and they get more firm as they're chilled nice and cold fine grinding Gabe Frank's hot dogs a homogenous quality which is something that sets hot dogs apart from sausages he ground his mixture with ice which did a few things it kept the mixture firm making it easier to fill the casings which are the natural lining of the intestine of the sheep it also kept the whole mixture very cold which slowed the growth of pathogenic bacteria Frank poached his hot dogs in order to cook the meat and finish them on a grill imparting a slight smoky flavor grilling also crisped the natural casings giving his hot dogs a nice snap when eating it's gonna give us our nice snap our nice juiciness to the hotdog Emily used a grocery store bun there we faced and usually have preservatives and dough improvers included like monoglycerides and potassium iodate these increase how quickly the buns rise during proofing and strengthen gluten bonding in the bun I don't know people like to seem fun this is one way to do it you know Emily steamed her bun in the microwave which made it even softer Juli used a larger role to fit her bratwurst I love these buns she toasted it in the pan drippings with some added oil which added a crunchy quality to her bun while layering her flavors Frank used a thin baguette called it the sell cut to fit the hotdog he dry toasted it which caused the bread to Brown and maintain a crispy texture gonna have a nice chew with that hot dog Emily used classic mustard easy cheese and bacon bits easy cheese or spray cheese is made from cheddar cheese milk whey water oil and lots of other ingredients like sodium and calcium phosphates and sodium citrate there's also a lot of salt in this product sorry what surprisingly there's no actual bacon in bacon bits they're made from textured soy protein with flavors and additives that make them look and taste like crumbled bacon Julie made her own mustard from powder vinegar and honey which allowed her to control its sweetness and acidity she also added classic pickle relish which is made from softer pickles spices and seasonings providing texture and tang it's not a broad or a hot without it prank pickled red onions during the pickling process the vinegar and sugar added a sweet and sour taste to the onions the lower pH from the vinegar affected the purple anthocyanin pigments in the red onion and gave them their bright pink color look at the beautiful color we got Frank also made a harissa which is a North African chili paste it brought some heat in the form of capsaicin which was dissolved in the oil he used in his mixture making hot dogs can be as simple or complex as you like next time you're having a cookout don't forget to try some of these tips [Music]

Channel: Epicurious

Views: 7,251,333

Rating: 4.8720269 out of 5

Keywords: hot dog, hot dogs, frankfurter, 4 levels of hot dogs, expert hot dog, professional hot dog, sausage, fancy hot dog, crazy hot dog, hot dog topping, make hot dogs, make a hot dog, hotdog, bbq hot dog, hot dog salsa, gourmet hot dog, cook hot dogs, cook hot dog, pro chef hot dog, special hot dog, gourmet frankfurter, make frankfurter, fancy frankfurter, frankfurter sauce, hot dog sauce, frankfurter toppings, pro hot dog, pro frankfurter, frankfurters, 4 levels, epicurious

Id: Kar7z_9RogY

Length: 16min 6sec (966 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 22 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Tiny_Pay]

S tiers of this channel Best lvl 1 chef: Emily Best lvl 2 chef: Lorenzo Best lvl 3 chef: Frank Fight me.

[u/Thiscord]

Personally, I laugh hysterically during the heating process.

[u/Massive-Gas]

Level 10: sonoran hotdogs

[u/OCLMusic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI46PGe1SUg

[u/barsoap]

The only true hot-dog is the danish hotdog, but not with pølser (those are more food colouring than meat) but sausage.

Ketchup, remoulade (make sure to make at least an Austrian, if not Danish, flag), fried onions, and pickled cucumber slices. Dill ones.

And never mind the bun, it doesn't take a genius to transsubstantiate it: Just put any satisfactory ingredient in there, done. Though if you haven't reached enlightenment yet, pedestrian shenanigans such as baguette are permissible. And none of that means that you're suddenly allowed to eat bread sandwiches, much less when snubbed.

[u/Ytumith]

Börek for sausage. A square piece of pizza for a bun.