The video below explains how hot dogs are made. These gastronomic delights begin their life as meat trimmings – leftovers from steaks and pork chops.
The trimmings are ground thoroughly and mixed in a large vat with processed chicken trimmings and seasoned with food starch, salt, and flavorings, like powdered mustard.
Water is sprayed into the mix, transforming the mixture into a finely blended, mouthwatering slurry. Because people demand sweet-tasting meat, corn syrup is added to the mix.
The mixture is then thoroughly blended into a final batter that has the consistency of a McDonald's shake. The resultant meat puree gets pumped into long cellulose tubes, forming the familiar hot dog shape we all love.
These tubes are then loaded into a machine that showers them with "liquid smoke," followed by a trip through multiple cooking zones. Emerging hot from the oven, they're subsequently doused in cold, salty water to prepare them for packaging. The next stop is the neighborhood supermarket, where the hotdogs await insertion into the gullets of domesticated primates across North America.
