Nick and Dustin give a report on their lack of ice situation for ice fishing, and their hikes they call squirrel hunts.  So in the meantime they unpack unwritten rules about a couple home favorites, Chili and Hot Dogs. Nick recently found himself in an online debate about beans or no beans in chili.  The guys did some digging to figure out what this was all about. Nick also lays out a recipe for Venison Hot Dogs that quickly is becoming a favorite in his house. So sit back and enjoy.

Show Notes

The Great Chili Debate:  

A Texas saying “if you know beans about chili, than you know chili has no beans”

This is held by many chili cookers not just in the state of Texas.  According to an article written by the “the daily meal”, chili has a history of coming to the new world around the 1700’s.  Adopted by the colonies and even Mexico, the term chili is shorthand for “chilie con carne”. A rough translation calling the dish meat and chilies (touché, Lone Star)

It wasn’t till the 1920’s, at the Chicago World’s Fair, that Chili was introduced to the Midwest.  That is when beans and even tomatoes were added, Making the chili that we know today, at least here in Michigan.

https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/there-are-no-beans-real-chili-just-ask-texan

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2015/02/05/the-great-chili-debate/

Hot Dogs:

Nick constructed the American Favorite, the hot dog out of America’s favorite wild game, Whitetail Deer.  These links came out great, but this is no beginner sausage. Some extra technique is needed to recreate the classic hotdog.

First is the casing.  Hot dogs are made with both collagen and natural casing.  Pork or lamb casings are used. If you can get whitetail casing, more power to ya.

Second is the consistency.  This offers the tricky part to making hotdogs.  During the grinding and emulsifying, temp should be below 40 degrees.  If it gets over that temp, it doesn’t ruin the dog, but gives a gritty, softer texture than expected.  So batch grinding and keeping ground in the freezer is a smart move.

Third is the emulsifying.  Taking already fine ground meat and running through a food processor will really mix in the fat and make the ground into more of a meat mousse (sounds gross, but it isn’t that bad).  This is where I skimped on the ice water and just added ice. The ice water would have helped in the emulsifying and kept more of the meat cooler.

After that i learned that after smoking the links to an internal of 145-150 degrees to quench in some ice water to set the casing and stop the cooking.  Making a snappy dog.

The guys also uncover an official hot dog etiquette council.  They list out the do’s and don’ts about hot dogs. No where does it say no wild game.  So if your up to the challenge, give it a go.

https://www.hot-dog.org/culture/hot-dog-etiquette

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