Low Sodium Hotdog?
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Hello,
First timer here… I recently got diagnosed with Heart failure and have to really watch my sodium intake… It stinks, but I’ve managed to make due, I’ve worked as a chef for the last 15 years and love to cook. So I have no problem making whatever I want to eat with little to no sodium. I have 2 questions, if anybody would be so kind to help me.
#1. Does anyone have a really solid hot dog recipe they wouldn’t mind sharing?
#2. Is it even possible/worth the effort to make a hot dog with very little sodium?
Thank you in advance. Have a great day!
-Jason -
this is a subject that I should pay attention to as I have problems in that area also ,wantons has hotdog & bologna seasoning not sure what the end levels of the sodium are Johnothan may be able to give you an answer or info for the process
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thinking about this more hot dogs are a cured smoked fully cooked product therefor the sodium level should be able to be adjusted to taste/ needs
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Hey Craig… Thanks for responding… Most of the DIY recipes I have seen use sheep casings… Which are packed in salt… I was happy to see the cellulose casings from Watsons, which led me here… I’m just curious if you would have to cure the meat… Which would lead to less sodium… I would definitely smoke them… I wouldn’t make a lot at one time, just maybe a dozen or two, and individually freeze them to use as needed. And of course, substitute the “No Salt” blend for the salt in a recipe… Im sure it would take some tweaking to get a good product, but I can’t imagine going without a good hotdog the rest of my life and not feeling guilty about it…

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Hey Craig… Thanks for responding… Most of the DIY recipes I have seen use sheep casings… Which are packed in salt… I was happy to see the cellulose casings from Watsons, which led me here… I’m just curious if you would have to cure the meat… Which would lead to less sodium… I would definitely smoke them… I wouldn’t make a lot at one time, just maybe a dozen or two, and individually freeze them to use as needed. And of course, substitute the “No Salt” blend for the salt in a recipe… Im sure it would take some tweaking to get a good product, but I can’t imagine going without a good hotdog the rest of my life and not feeling guilty about it…

Turbo26 use sheep casings or the skinless cellulose that is up to you, you wash and soak the salt out of the sheep casings you don’t eat them as is, so that won’t be a problem. As far as the cure you only add one teaspoon per 5 lbs meat, so i don’t see how that would get you too much sodium. Since hotdogs are ground into a emulsified meat paste I would never make one without a cure nor recommend it. The process of grinding meat that fine introduces too much bacteria not to have a cure, doing it without the salt is risky enough. You will have to smoke at a higher than desired temperature to get out of the danger zone quickly and that will not yield a good product. With that being said you really will want to add liquid smoke and boil the dogs in a water bath instead of naturally smoking them and freezing soon afterwards.
In the end the real problem with ground meat and low sodium comes down to food safety. There are many homemade recipes online just start with one and add and delete spices and salt as you like. Keep the meat as cold as possible work quickly and freeze the product as quickly as possible and you should be able to make yourself a decent dog with a little experimentation.
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Hey Craig… Thanks for responding… Most of the DIY recipes I have seen use sheep casings… Which are packed in salt… I was happy to see the cellulose casings from Watsons, which led me here… I’m just curious if you would have to cure the meat… Which would lead to less sodium… I would definitely smoke them… I wouldn’t make a lot at one time, just maybe a dozen or two, and individually freeze them to use as needed. And of course, substitute the “No Salt” blend for the salt in a recipe… Im sure it would take some tweaking to get a good product, but I can’t imagine going without a good hotdog the rest of my life and not feeling guilty about it…

Turbo26 i forgot to mention that using a sanitizer solution such as IO Star or Star San on every piece of your equipment would help to insure that no additional
bacteria is introduced. -
Hey mrobisr… Thanks for the response… Thats what I was looking for… It makes sense to use a cure with the hot dogs, I agree… As far as Star San, I’m very familiar. I also homebrew beer… I’ll be giving it a shot soon and will maybe post some results… Thank you guys for the info… Have a great day!
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Hey Turbo26
I’ve got a great frankfurter recipe that I can share with you and it has a salt content of 1.46% by weight. What I would recommend is to make a few batches and continue reducing the salt content until your happy with it
2000g meat + 400g water and 35g of salt+cure => 1.46% Salt
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