This Is How Hot Dogs Are Really Made
Hot dogs are not the healthiest food, but many Americans love to eat it - from Memorial Day to Labor Day. According to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, about seven billion hot dogs or 818 hot dogs are consumed every second.
An "John Morrell Factory" episode on Discovery Channel visited the John Morrell Factory to show exactly what goes into one of their "dogs." We will take a closer look at how hot dogs are made - from simple mixture of ground meat to transformation of "trimmings" into a smooth puree that is stuffed into casings, showered in liquid smoke, baked and packaged, until manufactured.
As what you can see in the video, hot dogs are made from trimmings of meat left over after cutting steaks and pork chips. Ingredients will be added like the salt, starch and flavorings. Water is sprayed into that vat to resemble an ice cream or mud look. Corn syrup is added for a touch of sweetness. About 300,000 hot dogs an hour or 2.5 million hot dogs will be produced in one shift.
Crazy, right?
