What are beef hot dogs made of?

After the steaks, chops, breasts, ribs, thighs, hams, tenderloins and briskets are removed, there's a fair amount of gristle, fat and offal remaining on a butchered animal, and early on, people realized this could be put to good use. One of these products is the hot dog, a classic of pre-cooked, processed meat. read more

How Shrunken Heads Were Made; Bonus Hot Dog Facts. The name "frankfurter" comes from the fact that a popular hot dog-like sausage was originally made in Frankfurt Germany (Frankfurter meaning "of Frankfurt"). The name was brought over to America sometime in the late 19th century from German immigrants who were familiar with the Frankfurter sausage. In U.S. grocery stores alone, about $1.7 billion per year are spent on hot dogs. read more

For a better beef dog, check out Applegate’s Organic Uncured Beef Dogs, which skips out on fillers and mystery meats in favor of grass-fed beef and genuine spices. Trader Joe’s also has a line of organic, nitrate-free franks — from turkey to beef — for a price similar to the more processed stuff. read more

Higher quality products are made from top quality meats and no chemicals. Examples include kosher, all beef hot dogs that have no by-products, fillers or artificial colors or flavors. read more

Less expensive types of hot dogs will have chemicals, fats and water binding agents added, and for many of these, the production process is simple: First pork and/or beef trimmings are ground up in a machine and then extruded through a metal sieve-like device so they resemble ground hamburger meat. read more