The Great Hot Dog Experiment
Most people here where I live will tell you, “If you’re not in New Jersey or New York, your pizza sucks!” Having lived here some 20 years now, I’d certainly agree.
I was reading a piece on the web the other day about hot dogs. I’d never given hot dogs much thought before. Growing up in Texas, my family didn’t really eat that many hot dogs. We had enough German places around that we’d usually get a bratwurst or some other type of sausage made of unknown, delicious “mystery meat.”
Even as a young kid in Texas, I could tell that Oscar Mayer hot dogs were as tasteless and as terrible as their bologna and I wanted no part of them. So, we didn’t eat many hot dogs in our house.
The article I was reading went into great detail about hot dogs made in factories in New York and New Jersey. It made a similar claim about hot dogs as pizza. That is, if you’re not eating a hot dog made at a factory in New York or New Jersey, you’re probably eating a fairly pedestrian and tasteless dog.
Evidently, our hot dogs tend to have more spices and a smokier flavor that hot dogs made elsewhere.
I consulted with the oracle (Jersey Shore Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring) and we decided to do an unscientific hot dog experiment.
Aggie Ring and I visited Wenning (Jersey Shore wholesale meat market, est. 1922), the Restaurant Depot (major restaurant supplier) and a few other locations to procure the hot dogs and a few other supplies. Note: You can buy fresh hot dogs at some of the local Polish butcher shops, but we decided to go with just mass marketed hot dogs.
While there are quite a number of NY/NJ dogs, we simply went with the brands: Nathan’s Coney Island, Best’s, WindMill (a Jersey Shore tradition and Aggie Ring be all about tradition because that what he do), and Sabrett. If you’ve ever had a “dirty water” dog in NYC or a number of other places, it was probably a Sabrett. All of the hot dogs were 100% beef as the beef/pork dogs tend to be of lower quality and dry out when they are cooked. Each company makes a variety of hot dogs (length, beef/fat content, etc.) We attempted to buy the version that most of the food trucks or dirty water carts use. We picked both natural casing and skinless.
Turkey and chicken hot dogs weren’t even considered as turkey and chicken are no more hot dogs than vegetable protein is ground beef.
Aggie Ring and I also procured a pound of dried habanero peppers, hot dog potato buns, a bag of onions, kraut, and a half gallon of Cholula Hot Sauce (very popular hot sauce in NY/NJ).
There’s really only one proper way to cook a hot dog (or sausage for that manner). You boil it for 5 or 6 minutes and then you put it on the BBQ or hot skillet and crisp/blacken the outside. Otherwise, you’ll wind up with a dried out, sad, unhappy dog.
We consumed one of each type of dog in a typical Jersey Shore style. Potato roll, kraut, chili, and mustard. Garnish was chopped white onion.
One can pretty much use any brand of mustard. Aggie Ring had me pick out Nathan’s Coney Island Deli Style Mustard. First, because Nathan’s is as American as one can get and secondly, because Coney Island is the origin of Aggie Ring’s song. “What song?” you gentle readers might ask. Well, apparently there’s this song called, “The Aggie War Hymn.” Perhaps some of you reading this might have heard it before. Seems that while the lyrics to the “Aggie War Hymn” were written at A&M College of Texas, the music is from a song called “Coney Island Baby” or a title similar to that.
When Aggie Ring and I learned the history of the Coney Island song music, Aggie Ring told me, “Well… that explains why so many high schools around the United States have what we thought was the “Aggie War Hymn” as their fight song.”
As for the chili, it was chili with beans. Yes, we know that is redundant. If it doesn’t have beans, it can’t be called chili. It’s Sloppy Joe filling, not chili. Even the good folks in the Great State of Texas know that it’s not chili without beans. Well, the educated sophisticated ones do, at least.
One at a time, we boiled then pan grilled each type of dog. What can we say? They were all delicious. Aggie Ring noticed that the skinless dogs did crisp/blacken up easier than the ones in the natural casing. Not really an issue though. Just a minute or two longer on the pan.
I realized that I’d have way over 20 times the number of hot dogs that I could possibly eat in a week or two. Back when I was 16 and in high school in Bellaire, Texas (Houston) my band buddies and I started hitting the bars. Several of my high school band buddies were Czech speaking so we’d head up to Czech towns in Texas where they had family farms. Almost any little bar or country store in Texas back into the 80s had big ass jars of snacks. Usually, pickled eggs, pickled pigs’ feet, and pickled hot dogs.
Aggie Ring say, “We can keep these dogs for a year if we pickle them.” That what Aggie Ring do.
We boiled up a brine using white vinegar, hot sauce, dried habanero peppers, and pickling spice. We made the great mistake of standing over it while it was at the boil and accidentally inhaled it. “This is what the British soldiers in World War I must have felt like when the Germans used gas on them.” said Aggie Ring. It was painful and there were tears.
While the brine was cooling, Aggie Ring and I cut the dogs into thirds, sliced up a big ass bunch of sweet yellow onions, peeled four heads of fresh garlic and crushed it. We placed a layer of onion/garlic/ and sliced fresh habanero at the bottom of each of the dozen quart jars.
“Pack the hell of them dogs into the jars.” said Aggie Ring. “I don’t want any left over or we’ll have to eat them tomorrow and you are so close to getting back to your A&M waist size.”
We poured the cooled brine into each jar and sealed them. We’ll probably be giving most away to friends and to the local, Jersey Shore college musicians we know who live in the band house. Seems that when you smoke the “Texas Tea or Devil’s Lettuce,” one gets the munchies.
And thus, ends the short tail of the Texas Aggie Ring Jersey Shore Hot Dog Experiment.
After Action Review: I really need to buy a box of disposable gloves. I’ve taken a shower and washed my hands at least half a dozen times in hot soapy water and I can still smell garlic and onion on them.
The Great Hot Dog Experiment
Most people here where I live will tell you, “If you’re not in New Jersey or New York, your pizza sucks!” Having lived here some 20 years now, I’d certainly agree.
I was reading a piece on the web the other day about hot dogs. I’d never given hot dogs much thought before. Growing up in Texas, my family didn’t really eat that many hot dogs. We had enough German places around that we’d usually get a bratwurst or some other type of sausage made of unknown, delicious “mystery meat.”
Even as a young kid in Texas, I could tell that Oscar Mayer hot dogs were as tasteless and as terrible as their bologna and I wanted no part of them. So, we didn’t eat many hot dogs in our house.
The article I was reading went into great detail about hot dogs made in factories in New York and New Jersey. It made a similar claim about hot dogs as pizza. That is, if you’re not eating a hot dog made at a factory in New York or New Jersey, you’re probably eating a fairly pedestrian and tasteless dog.
Evidently, our hot dogs tend to have more spices and a smokier flavor that hot dogs made elsewhere.
I consulted with the oracle (Jersey Shore Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring) and we decided to do an unscientific hot dog experiment.
Aggie Ring and I visited Wenning (Jersey Shore wholesale meat market, est. 1922), the Restaurant Depot (major restaurant supplier) and a few other locations to procure the hot dogs and a few other supplies. Note: You can buy fresh hot dogs at some of the local Polish butcher shops, but we decided to go with just mass marketed hot dogs.
While there are quite a number of NY/NJ dogs, we simply went with the brands: Nathan’s Coney Island, Best’s, WindMill (a Jersey Shore tradition and Aggie Ring be all about tradition because that what he do), and Sabrett. If you’ve ever had a “dirty water” dog in NYC or a number of other places, it was probably a Sabrett. All of the hot dogs were 100% beef as the beef/pork dogs tend to be of lower quality and dry out when they are cooked. Each company makes a variety of hot dogs (length, beef/fat content, etc.) We attempted to buy the version that most of the food trucks or dirty water carts use. We picked both natural casing and skinless.
Turkey and chicken hot dogs weren’t even considered as turkey and chicken are no more hot dogs than vegetable protein is ground beef.
Aggie Ring and I also procured a pound of dried habanero peppers, hot dog potato buns, a bag of onions, kraut, and a half gallon of Cholula Hot Sauce (very popular hot sauce in NY/NJ).
There’s really only one proper way to cook a hot dog (or sausage for that manner). You boil it for 5 or 6 minutes and then you put it on the BBQ or hot skillet and crisp/blacken the outside. Otherwise, you’ll wind up with a dried out, sad, unhappy dog.
We consumed one of each type of dog in a typical Jersey Shore style. Potato roll, kraut, chili, and mustard. Garnish was chopped white onion.
One can pretty much use any brand of mustard. Aggie Ring had me pick out Nathan’s Coney Island Deli Style Mustard. First, because Nathan’s is as American as one can get and secondly, because Coney Island is the origin of Aggie Ring’s song. “What song?” you gentle readers might ask. Well, apparently there’s this song called, “The Aggie War Hymn.” Perhaps some of you reading this might have heard it before. Seems that while the lyrics to the “Aggie War Hymn” were written at A&M College of Texas, the music is from a song called “Coney Island Baby” or a title similar to that.
When Aggie Ring and I learned the history of the Coney Island song music, Aggie Ring told me, “Well… that explains why so many high schools around the United States have what we thought was the “Aggie War Hymn” as their fight song.”
As for the chili, it was chili with beans. Yes, we know that is redundant. If it doesn’t have beans, it can’t be called chili. It’s Sloppy Joe filling, not chili. Even the good folks in the Great State of Texas know that it’s not chili without beans. Well, the educated sophisticated ones do, at least.
One at a time, we boiled then pan grilled each type of dog. What can we say? They were all delicious. Aggie Ring noticed that the skinless dogs did crisp/blacken up easier than the ones in the natural casing. Not really an issue though. Just a minute or two longer on the pan.
I realized that I’d have way over 20 times the number of hot dogs that I could possibly eat in a week or two. Back when I was 16 and in high school in Bellaire, Texas (Houston) my band buddies and I started hitting the bars. Several of my high school band buddies were Czech speaking so we’d head up to Czech towns in Texas where they had family farms. Almost any little bar or country store in Texas back into the 80s had big ass jars of snacks. Usually, pickled eggs, pickled pigs’ feet, and pickled hot dogs.
Aggie Ring say, “We can keep these dogs for a year if we pickle them.” That what Aggie Ring do.
We boiled up a brine using white vinegar, hot sauce, dried habanero peppers, and pickling spice. We made the great mistake of standing over it while it was at the boil and accidentally inhaled it. “This is what the British soldiers in World War I must have felt like when the Germans used gas on them.” said Aggie Ring. It was painful and there were tears.
While the brine was cooling, Aggie Ring and I cut the dogs into thirds, sliced up a big ass bunch of sweet yellow onions, peeled four heads of fresh garlic and crushed it. We placed a layer of onion/garlic/ and sliced fresh habanero at the bottom of each of the dozen quart jars.
“Pack the hell of them dogs into the jars.” said Aggie Ring. “I don’t want any left over or we’ll have to eat them tomorrow and you are so close to getting back to your A&M waist size.”
We poured the cooled brine into each jar and sealed them. We’ll probably be giving most away to friends and to the local, Jersey Shore college musicians we know who live in the band house. Seems that when you smoke the “Texas Tea or Devil’s Lettuce,” one gets the munchies.
And thus, ends the short tail of the Texas Aggie Ring Jersey Shore Hot Dog Experiment.
After Action Review: I really need to buy a box of disposable gloves. I’ve taken a shower and washed my hands at least half a dozen times in hot soapy water and I can still smell garlic and onion on them.