Hot dog
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A hot dog<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun.<ref name="binghamton">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="latimes1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="zwilling">Template:Cite news</ref> The term hot dog can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter (Frankfurter Würstchen, also just called frank). The names of these sausages commonly refer to their assembled dish.<ref name="lavin">Template:Cite news</ref> Hot dog preparation and condiments vary worldwide. Common condiments include mustard, ketchup, relish, onions in tomato sauce, and cheese sauce. Other toppings include sauerkraut, diced onions, jalapeños, chili, grated cheese, coleslaw, bacon and olives. Hot dog variants include the corn dog and pigs in a blanket. The hot dog's cultural traditions include the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
These types of sausages were culturally imported from Germany and became popular in the United States. It became a working-class street food in the U.S., sold at stands and carts. The hot dog has become closely associated with baseball and American culture. Although particularly connected with New York City and its cuisine, the hot dog eventually became ubiquitous throughout the US during the 20th century. Its preparation varies regionally in the country, emerging as an important part of other regional cuisines, including Chicago street cuisine.<ref name="hauck">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="mercuri">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="kraig">Template:Cite book</ref>
History
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The word frankfurter comes from Frankfurt, Germany, where pork sausages similar to hot dogs originated.<ref>Template:OEtymD</ref> These sausages, Frankfurter Würstchen, were known since the 13th century and given to the people on the event of imperial coronations, starting with the coronation of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, as King. "Wiener" refers to Vienna, Austria (Template:Langx), home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef.<ref>Template:OEtymD</ref> Johann Georg Lahner, an 18th/19th century butcher from the Franconian city of Coburg, is said to have brought the Frankfurter Würstchen to Vienna, where he added beef to the mixture and simply called it Frankfurter.<ref>Template:Harvcolnb</ref> Nowadays, in German-speaking countries, except Austria, hot dog sausages are called Wiener or Wiener Würstchen (Würstchen means "little sausage"), to differentiate them from the original pork-only mixture from Frankfurt. In Swiss German, it is called Wienerli, while in Austria the terms Frankfurter or Frankfurter Würstel are used.Template:Citation needed
It is not definitively known who started the practice of serving the sausage in the bun. One of the strongest claims comes from Harry M. Stevens who was a food concessionaire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The claim is that, while working at the New York Polo Grounds in 1901, he came upon the idea of using small French rolls to hold the sausages when the waxed paper they were using ran out.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A German immigrant named Feuchtwanger, from Frankfurt, in Hesse, allegedly pioneered the practice in the American Midwest; there are several versions of the story with varying details. According to one account, Feuchtwanger's wife proposed the use of a bun in 1880: Feuchtwanger sold hot dogs on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, and provided gloves to his customers so that they could handle the sausages without burning their hands. Losing money when customers did not return the gloves, Feuchtwanger's wife suggested serving the sausages in a roll instead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In another version, Antoine Feuchtwanger, or Anton Ludwig Feuchtwanger, served sausages in rolls at the World's Fair – either at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis,<ref>Allen, Beth; Westmoreland, Susan (ed.) (2004). Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook Template:Webarchive. New York: Hearst Books. p. 49.</ref><ref>Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004). Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 968.</ref> or, earlier, at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, in Chicago<ref>Template:Harvcolnb</ref> – again, allegedly because the white gloves provided to customers to protect their hands were being kept as souvenirs.<ref name="js">Template:Harvcolnb</ref>
Another possible origin for serving the sausages in rolls is the pieman Charles Feltman, at Coney Island in New York City. In 1867 he had a cart made with a stove on which to boil sausages, and a compartment to keep buns in which they were served fresh. In 1871 he leased land to build a permanent restaurant, and the business grew, selling far more than just the "Coney Island Red Hots" as they were known.<ref>Template:Harvcolnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Etymology
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The term dog has been used as a synonym for sausage since the 1800s, possibly from accusations that sausage makers used dog meat in their sausages.<ref name=wilton>Template:Harvcolnb</ref>
In Germany the consumption of dog meat was common in Saxony, Silesia, Anhalt, and Bavaria during the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="Geppert">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Hot dogs occasionally contained it.<ref>"Hot Dog" Template:Webarchive at Online Etymology Dictionary</ref>
An early use of the term hot dog in reference to the sausage-meat appears in the Evansville (Indiana) Daily Courier (September 14, 1884):
even the innocent 'wienerworst' man will be barred from dispensing hot dog on the street corner.<ref name="oedhotdog">Template:Cite OED</ref>
It was used to mean a sausage in casing in the Paterson (New Jersey) Daily Press (31 December 1892):
the 'hot dog' was quickly inserted in a gash in a roll.<ref name="oedhotdog" />
Subsequent uses include the New Brunswick Daily Times (New Jersey; May 20, 1893), the New York World (May 26, 1893), and the Knoxville Journal (September 28, 1893).<ref name="popik" />
According to one story, the use of the complete phrase hot dog (in reference to sausage) was coined by the newspaper cartoonist Thomas Aloysius "Tad" Dorgan around 1900 in a cartoon recording the sale of hot dogs during a New York Giants baseball game at the Polo Grounds.<ref name="popik" /> He may have used the term because he did not know how to spell "dachshund".<ref name="wilton" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> No copy of the apocryphal cartoon has ever been found.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dorgan did use the term at other times; the earliest known example was in connection with a bicycle race at Madison Square Garden, appearing in The New York Evening Journal of December 12, 1906.<ref name="wilton" /><ref name="popik">"Hot Dog (Polo Grounds myth & original monograph) barrypopik.com Template:Webarchive"</ref>
General description
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Ingredients
Common hot dog sausage ingredients include:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Meat trimmings and fat
- Flavorings, such as salt, garlic, and paprika
- Preservatives (cure) – typically sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite
Pork and beef are the traditional meats used in hot dogs. Less expensive hot dogs are often made from chicken or turkey, using low-cost mechanically separated poultry. Changes in meat technology and dietary preferences have led manufacturers to lower the salt content and use turkey, chicken, and vegetarian meat substitutes.
Commercial preparation
File:This Is Hormel (1964) hot dog segment.webm Hot dogs are prepared commercially by mixing the ingredients (meats, spices, binders and fillers) in vats where rapidly moving blades grind and mix the ingredients in the same operation. This mixture is forced through tubes into casings for cooking. Most hot dogs sold in the US are "skinless" rather than "natural casing" sausages.
Natural casing
As with most sausages, hot dogs must be in a casing to be cooked. Traditional casing is made from the small intestines of sheep. The products are known as "natural casing" hot dogs or frankfurters.<ref name=levine>Template:Harvcolnb:It's All in How the Dog Is Served Template:Webarchive</ref> These hot dogs have firmer texture and a "snap" that releases juices and flavor when the product is bitten.<ref name=levine/>
Kosher casings are expensive in commercial quantities in the US, so kosher hot dogs are usually skinless or made with reconstituted collagen casings.<ref name=levine/>
Skinless
"Skinless" hot dogs use a casing for cooking, but the casing may be a long tube of thin cellulose that is removed between cooking and packaging, a process invented in Chicago in 1925<ref name="zeldes">Template:Cite web</ref> by Erwin O. Freund, founder of Visking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The first skinless hot dog casings were produced by Freund's new company under the name "Nojax", short for "no jackets" and sold to local Chicago sausage makers.
Skinless hot dogs vary in surface texture, but have a softer "bite" than with natural casing. Skinless hot dogs are more uniform in shape and size and cheaper to make than natural casing hot dogs.
Home consumption
Hot dogs may be prepared and served in various ways.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They can be grilled, steamed, boiled, broiled, pan-fried, or cooked in an air fryer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some home cooks cut their hot dogs into spirals before grilling or pan frying to increase the surface area, which allows for a better maillard reaction, and also creates pockets to retain filling and lengthens the hot dog, which better fills a commercial bun.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Typically it is served in a hot dog bun with various condiments and toppings. The sausage itself may be sliced and added to other dishes such as beanie weinie or filipino spaghetti.
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Spiral-sliced hot dogs -
Hot dog garnished with ketchup and onions -
Hot dogs being grilled outside -
Toaster for hot dog buns that grills hot dogs at the same time
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Sandwich debate
There is an ongoing debate about whether a hot dog, fully assembled in its bun with condiments, fits the description of a sandwich.<ref name="atlanticsandwich">Template:Cite web</ref> Merriam-Webster has stated that a hot dog is indeed a sandwich.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC), on the other hand, declared that a hot dog is not a sandwich.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BHG">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hot dog eating champions Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi agree with the NHDSC,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as does Nathan's Famous, the host of a significant hot dog eating contest.<ref name="BHG" />
United States Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also weighed in on the matter, stating that a hot dog might be categorized as a sandwich, but ultimately it comes down to the definition of a sandwich.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She went on to acknowledge that a hot dog bun is a single roll that is not sliced all the way through, and in that way is similar to a submarine sandwich.<ref>"Stephen Works Out With Ruth Bader Ginsburg" Template:Webarchive, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2018).</ref>
Health risks
File:A Mark of Wholesome Meat (1964).ogv Although hot dogs are cooked during manufacture, it is still recommended that packaged hot dogs are heated to an internal temperature of at least 165 °F (75 °C) prior to consumption.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Hot dogs are a form of processed meat. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), processed meat causes cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Most hot dogs contain nitrite and/or nitrate preservatives, which react with amines in meat to form carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Hot dogs are also high in fat and salt.
An American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) report found that consuming one daily 50-gram serving of processed meat—about one hot dog—increases long-term risk of colorectal cancer by 20 percent.<ref name=AICR>AICR Statement: Hot Dogs and Cancer Risk Template:Webarchive, American Institute for Cancer Research, July 22, 2009.</ref> Thus, eating a hot dog every day would increase the probability of contracting colorectal cancer from 5.8 percent to 7 percent. The AICR's warning campaign has been criticized as being "attack ads".<ref name="Fox">New Attack Ad Targets Hot Dogs, Citing Dubious Cancer Risk, Fox News, August 26, 2008.</ref><ref name=CBC>Attack ad targets hot dogs as cancer risk, Canadian Broadcasting Company, August 27, 2008.</ref> The Cancer Project group filed a class-action lawsuit demanding warning labels on packages and at sporting events.<ref name=Cleveland>Hot dog cancer-warning labels sought in lawsuit: Healthy Cleveland Template:Webarchive, The Plain Dealer, August 29, 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-06.</ref>
Like many foods, hot dogs can cause illness if not cooked properly to kill pathogens. Listeria monocytogenes, a type of bacteria sometimes found in hot dogs, can cause serious infections in infants and pregnant women, and can be transmitted to an infant in utero or after birth. Adults with suppressed immune systems can also be harmed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Due to their size, shape, and ubiquitous consumption, hot dogs present a significant choking risk, especially for children. A study in the US found that 17% of food-related asphyxiations among children younger than 10 years of age were caused by hot dogs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The risk of choking on a hot dog is greatly reduced by slicing it. It has been suggested that redesign of the size, shape and texture of hot dogs would reduce the choking risk.<ref name="USAToday-choke">Template:Cite news</ref>
In the United States
Hot dogs are a traditional element of American food culture, having obtained significant cultural and patriotic status from their association with public events and sports since the 1920s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the US, the term hot dog refers to both the sausage by itself and the combination of sausage and bun. Many nicknames applying to either have emerged over the years, including frankfurter, frank, wiener, weenie, coney, and red hot. Annually, Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Restaurants
Stands and trucks sell boiled hot dogs at street and highway locations. Wandering hot dog vendors sell their product in baseball parks. At convenience stores, hot dogs are kept heated on rotating grills. Hot dogs are also common on restaurants' children's menus. Costco, a big-box retail chain, sells a yearly average of 135 million hot dogs at its food courts, at a notably low price.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fast-food restaurant chains typically do not carry hot dogs because of its shorter shelf-life, more complex toppings and cooking, and mismatched consumer expectations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There are also restaurants where hot dogs are a specialty.
Condiments
Hot dogs are commonly served with one or more condiments. In 2005, the US-based National Hot Dog & Sausage Council (part of the American Meat Institute) found mustard to be the most popular, preferred by 32% of respondents; 23% favored ketchup; 17% chili; 9% pickle relish, and 7% onions. Other toppings include sauerkraut, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and chili peppers.
Condiment preferences vary across the U.S. Southerners showed the strongest preference for chili, while Midwesterners showed the greatest affinity for ketchup.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Variations
American hot dog variations often have misleading names; they are commonly named for the geographical regions that allegedly inspired them instead of the regions in which they are most popular. For example, Michigan hot dogs and white hots are popular in upstate New York, whereas Coney Island hot dogs are popular in Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sauteed bell peppers, onions, and potatoes find their way into New Jersey's deep-fried Italian hot dog. Hot wieners, or weenies, are a staple in Rhode Island where they are sold at restaurants under the misleading name "New York System."<ref name="nyt">Lukas, Paul. "The Big Flavors Of Little Rhode Island." Template:Webarchive The New York Times. November 13, 2002.</ref> Texas hot dogs are spicy variants found in upstate New York and Pennsylvania (and as "all the way dogs" in New Jersey), but not Texas. In the Philadelphia metro area, Texas Tommy refers to a hot dog variant in which the frank is topped with melted cheese (often cheddar) and wrapped in bacon. In the Midwest, the Chicago-style hot dog is served on a poppy seed bun and topped with mustard, fresh tomatoes, onions, "sport peppers", bright green relish, dill pickles, and celery salt.
The "New York dog" or "New York style" hot dog is a natural-casing all-beef frank topped with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard, onions optional, invented and popularized in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Some baseball parks have signature hot dogs, such as Dodger Dogs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and Fenway Franks at Fenway Park in Boston.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Wood, Bob., Wood, Robert. Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks: The Ultimate Guide to America's Top Baseball Parks. United States: McGraw-Hill, 1989.</ref>
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Washington, D.C. is home to the half-smoke, a half beef, half pork sausage that is both grilled and smoked. A half-smoke is often placed into a hot dog-style bun and topped with chili, cheese, onions, and mustard, similar to a chili dog. Among the famous half-smoke restaurants in the Washington area include Ben's Chili Bowl, which is a cultural landmark, and Weenie Beenie in Arlington County, Virginia.
In Canada
Skinner's Restaurant, in Lockport, Manitoba, is reputed to be Canada's oldest hot dog outlet in continuous operation, founded in 1929 by Jim Skinner Sr.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hot dogs served at Skinner's are European style foot-long (30.5 cm) hot dogs with natural casings, manufactured by Winnipeg Old Country Sausage in Winnipeg, Manitoba.Template:Citation needed
Outside North America
Template:For In most of the world, a "hot dog" is recognized as a sausage in a bun, but the type varies considerably. The name is often applied to something that would not be described as a hot dog in North America. For example, in New Zealand a "hot dog" is a battered sausage, often on a stick, which is known as a corn dog in North America; an "American hot dog" is the version in a bun.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Gallery
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An Austrian "hot dog" can use a hollowed-out baguette as the bread. -
Grilled sausages on sticks for sale in Thailand -
Hot dog sushi -
Thai khanom Tokiao being prepared, a Thai style crêpe with a hot dog sausage, at a night market -
Miniature hot dogs in Japan -
Hot dog from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur in Iceland -
In Brazil, a cachorro-quente is served on a bread roll with a tomato-based broth, corn, and potato sticks. -
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German Hot Dog version served here in Berlin, Germany. In Germany, such sausages are heated in a kettle of hot broth, but are also often grilled, then served in a crunchy bun. The German term for this grilled street food is "Bockwurst" or "Bratwurst im Brötchen."
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Records
The world's longest hot dog had been Template:Convert long and rested within a Template:Convert bun. The hot dog was prepared by Shizuoka Meat Producers for the All-Japan Bread Association, which baked the bun and coordinated the event, including official measurement for the world record. The hot dog and bun were the center of a media event in celebration of the Association's 50th anniversary on August 4, 2006, at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On May 31, 2012, Guinness World Records certified the world record for the most expensive hot dog at USD$145.49. The "California Capitol City Dawg", served at Capitol Dawg in Sacramento, California, features a grilled Template:Convert all-beef, natural-casing frank from Chicago, served on a fresh-baked herb-and-oil focaccia roll, spread with white truffle butter, then grilled. It is topped with whole-grain mustard from France, garlic and herb mayonnaise, sauteed chopped shallots, organic mixed baby greens, maple syrup-marinated and fruitwood-smoked uncured bacon from New Hampshire, chopped tomato, moose cheese from Sweden, sweetened dried cranberries, basil olive oil and pear-cranberry-coconut balsamic vinaigrette, and ground peppercorn. Proceeds from the sale of each Template:Convert super dog were donated to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Hot dogs are a popular food for eating competitions. The record for hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes is 83 by Joey Chestnut at the "Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef" event on September 2, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The last person to hold the record before Chestnut was Takeru Kobayashi. Competitive eater Miki Sudo holds the record for most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes by a female at 48.5 hot dogs, also setting this record on July 4, 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The last person to hold the record before Sudo was Sonya Thomas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
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Further reading
External links
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