Frankfurters 🌭

Have you ever wondered why hot dogs became popular?? Why they’re a classic??

Well, come to find out, hotdogs are technically frankfurters. And frankfurters can be made at home just like a bratwurst! Like any other sausage, they’re seasoned and ground and stuffed into casings. Because we want a smother texture, we grind the meat twice. For a traditional frankfurter size, we use sheep casings to stuff the meat into. Then they’re traditionally hot smoked until cooked through. They can also be grilled. (And they’re DELICIOUS!!)

We’ve done Franks several times before and while I LOVE the flavor and size, there was a couple things that were a pain. (Mostly equipment and time).

Stuffing—until Alan bought a sausage stuffer, stuffing lamb casings (snack sticks, breakfast links, frankfurters) was so slow!! Like an hour to stuff 10lbs!! With an actual sausage stuffer, stuffing is a breeze!

Casings—initially our sheep casings came from Bass Pro and it was like untangling Angel Hair to get the sorted out! Not fun! Buying tubed casings was a game changer!!

Cooking—I think bratwurst, frankfurters, and other ground pork products should be cooked closer to well done than medium rare. It’s been difficult to gauge doneness in the past using a charcoal grill. Recently we acquired a small Sous Vide. The last batch of Franks, I vacuum sealed raw, cooked done using the Sous Vide, and tossed into the freezer. Look 👀—I have precooked, prepackaged “Hot Dogs” in the freezer ready to use!!!

Wow! So easy! Alan grilled some tonight and they were perfect and beautiful. And now I know what I’ll do with our extra hogs 😁😍