Hot dogs: you either love them or hate them. You've heard they include pig snouts and chicken feet. You won't touch them. You'll never give them up. But have you actually seen how they're made?
This video — from an episode of the Science Channel show How It's Made — takes a close look at how hot dogs are manufactured, from the transformation of "trimmings" into a smooth puree that is stuffed into casings, showered in liquid smoke, baked and packaged.
In this factory, every shift produces almost 2.5 million hot dogs and every 35 seconds, the stuffing machine spits out enough links to span a soccer field twice. As terrifying as some of the images are in this video, the whole process is still oddly fascinating. Luckily, you have several months to get over the image of churning meat puree before you have to face another hot dog on the grill.
What do you think? Fascinating? Terrifying? Both?
Via Kottke.org
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(Image: Eric Fleming Photography/Shutterstock)
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OMG
It doesn't bother me. It looks a bit like liver mousse before it solidifies.
It's not that dissimilar from how you'd make any other kind of sausage. It's just that the puree is more liquid meat (I know, it sounds disgusting) than the bits of meat you would find in real sausages.
I still love hot dogs. And if you're really averse to them, there are a lot of alternatives, like real sausages :) Bratwurst and knockwurst are delicious on a hot dog bun.
Utterly revolting! That pic is seriously turning my stomach.
But I have enjoyed many a hot dog in the past --- especially Chicago style!
I'm so conflicted . . .
Not. Food.
I almost didn't click on this link, I was terrified. And am now STILL terrified. Blech.
Completely gross....and delicious!
I guess the old saying about it is better not to know how franks are made is true. I couldn't watch it.....
The process doesn't bother me, but the quality of the meat and some of the additives do. I made something like that meat goop as I worked my way through the half beeve I bought. As I made beef stock, I took all the bits that fell off the bones (gristle, soggy marrow, tendons, fatty meat, etc) and pureed them and froze them in blocks. I mix them with her kibble for a special treat.
I did not add salt, cornsyrup, or modified food starch though...
There are people who don't know how those are made?
Nothing can deter me from my love of a good chili dog.
Yeah, the weirdest part for me was not the ground meat but seeing the corn syrup just being poured in there...ugh...
Hot dogs make haggis seem like filet mignon.
Whats the big deal? Its almost like making pâté but on a larger scale.
Yeah, I object to the corn syrup, but other than that it is pretty similar to making sausage or pate. It's kind of funny that so many people are squeamish about this, at the same time that nose-to-tail cooking has become a trend in many high-end restaurants.
Actually seeing the gross meat mixture with water and corn syrup squirting in was really gross. But then by the time they finished making them, I really wanted a Costco Polish dog, so... Conflicted for sure.
I saw this on TV a while ago, I still eat hot dogs on a regular basis. Commercial food processing can seem to be very gross, but as MCB put it, nose to tail cooking has become somewhat nouveau, or chic, but it has been going on throughout history. In many cultures, the low cost of ground or pureed meat is the only way most folks can have some kind of meat on the table.
Just a guess...but I bet those employees at the hot dog factory don't eat them.
I am fascinated by all the machinery and the speed at which they produce the hot dogs. It is more terrifying to see how chickens and pigs are raised and treated (have you seen Food.Inc?)
Not sure what people have against using every part of the animal? And I would say a good portion of the food I eat looked utterly unappetizing at one point or another before/during preparation. But godDAMN hotdogs are delicious, and the process they use to make them doesn't bother me one bit, so keep 'em coming. Mmmmmmm!!
The process doesn't bother me at all. I'll still keep eating Carolina style hotdogs!
The stuff that comes from the pig or cow doesn't disgust me nearly as much as the stuff from a lab.
that was good video, I like to see things being made. The only downside is now I really want a hot dog, And I am stuck at work!