Goodbye nitrate death dog...hello healthy?!
I have been reading a lot of Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle recently, and have started to really become aware for the first time in my life how much crap I actually eat. That being said, I have no problem eating healthy simply prepared food except for when it comes to the all American favorite...The Hot Dog.
I started searching for an "All Natural" hot dog that tastes good. To say the least my search has been somewhat fruitless if not somewhat disappointing. I'm not looking for a tofu dog or a turkey or chicken dog... just one made from grass fed beef and having nothing else but "Beef, Fat, Ice and spices" your standard 5-4-3 forcemeat emulsion.
If I only ate one a month or so I would honestly just stick with my old standby brands, but I eat probably 6-8 a month and don't see a slowdown in sight. Has anyone else looked for an "All Natural" hot dog? If you have found a good one, what is it and where can you buy them?
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18 Comments:
Is grinding your own an option? You could make a big batch once every two months and freeze. It's not rocket science. And I bet that after a couple batches you'll find that you make a better one than anything you could buy anywhere.
simon at 2:03PM on 12/08/08
You don't see a slowdown even though you can't find any that meet your standards? I understand wanting to find a healthy, good version of something you like to eat. That makes complete sense. But, if you can't find that healthy, good version....why would you keep eating something you think is so bad?
That is, why wouldn't you change what you eat if you want to change what you eat?
Fortunately, in this case, there's help:
http://www.applegatefarms.com/Products/Details.aspx?ProductID=205
And they have an online store, so you can have them shipped if they're not sold near you.
ccbweb at 2:04PM on 12/08/08
Reality check. Natural dogs contain more nitrates than any commercial dog, if they contain celery juice or celery juice concentrate. this ingredient is added to the hot dog to deliver un labeled sodium nitrate, an item that has not been allowed in hot dogs for 30 years. USDA allows it not to be labeled as it occurs naturally in celery. The process requires fermentation to reduce the naturally occurring and further conentrated nitrates to usable sodium nitrite and nitrous oxide to cure the hot dog. Users of natural dogs may notice that packages of the same brand of natural hot dogs are not always the same color at the store, and that the color changes during cooking at home, a sign the curing reaction wasn't completed at the plant.
Hot dogs currently are cured only with sodium nitrite, which breaks down more fully in the curing process. If the hot dog isn't frozen, the use of nitrites is the best preventative there is for botulism. It ties up iron in red meat so it is not available for botulism to grow, but it is fully usable by humans.
Meat guy at 3:02PM on 12/08/08
So, Meat guy, are you saying that hot dogs aren't as bad as we think?
juliebugsmama at 3:11PM on 12/08/08
@juliebugsmama~I'm wondering the same thing! I think I'm afraid of the natural ones now.
Hey Meeeaat Guuuy!!!!!!
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 3:41PM on 12/08/08
Pav, eat hot dogs at a BBQ a few times a summer or a few times a year at Costco. Instead get a nice fresh chicken sausage and grill it with some peppers and onions. Fresh Market, Wegmans and most upscale grocery stores have nice freshly made turkey and chicken sausages, they are not cured meat but fresh. Season and grill, throw some good mustard on. You will dig it.
JerzeeTomato at 3:44PM on 12/08/08
@ meat guy, I see what you are saying about celery juice. However, I'm afraid the jury is still out on sodium nitrite being OK to use, as there are studies showing links to certain types of cancers. The food police say it's ok... keep in mind these are the same folks who gave a thumbs up to Trans-Fat. I was personally more wigged out by the High Fructose Corn Syrup, but bringing up the sodium nitrite just gives me more cause for thought. BTW Meat Guy.... are you new to the community, what other meat topics do you have to bring to the table?
I'm thinking more and more that I may be going the way of Jerzee and doing some fresh sausages and foregoing the nitrites and HFCS... Thanks for yet another Wegmans Commercial Jerzee! ;-)
Pavlov at 4:01PM on 12/08/08
Yet another example of where food labels don't necessarily mean what you think they do. "Natural" evokes frolicking lambs in a field of flowers on a sunny day, but the real definition, when it comes to food, doesn't always equate to it being healthier (or less bad).
I have no idea if the meat guy's facts are correct or not, but it's a good reminder. There are a lot of natural things that aren't good for you, and there are plenty more that you probably don't want to eat.
Nitrates are what makes hot dogs (and corned beef for that matter) turn that interesting pink color. I guess the other way to color them would be with a food dye, which also isn't too appealing. Or get used to beige-gray meat.
And of course, there are naturally occurring nitrates.
Eeeenteresting. So, Pav, I guess the question would be why you've decided that the nitrates in hot dogs are what you need to eliminate from your diet? Maybe if you cut out all the other occurrences, you can chow down on dogs with mad abandon.
dbcurrie at 4:15PM on 12/08/08
I have been involved in the meat industry for over half my life, and good brands, USDA inspected, not 79 cent a pound bargain dogs, are in my experience a better value, better flavor, and safe in moderation product.
I work with the makers of several regional and national labels, whos products I feel safer with than the "all Natural" brands.
Buy quality, natural casing and you won't be upset with the product.
Cheap wieners are just that, cheap.
Meat guy at 4:17PM on 12/08/08
Thanks for the good info Meat Guy... It sounded like you may be involved somewhere along the line. Everything in moderation...pretty much goes for anything in life I guess. I have never eaten what I consider to be crap hot dogs. Always with real casings and always premium brands. It's Just the reading I have been doing is making me think a lot about foods I eat more of.
Pavlov at 5:03PM on 12/08/08
cheap weiners*giggle*
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 1:02AM on 12/09/08
My favorites are the niman ranch hot dogs, uncured which are nitrate free. I usually get them at Trader Joe's but you can buy them at their online store.
http://www.mysteak.com/MyCart/ProductListing/74/Uncured_All-Beef_Fearless_Franks.aspx
I also occasionally like the Snake River Farms hot dogs that use American style Kobe beef. They also sell them online:
http://secure.abfoodsusa.com/ABCommerce/?wicket:interface=:6::::
I also love the Boar's Head Franks, they are also fairly natural, just not without nitrates.
tricia_m at 3:01PM on 12/09/08
Moderatation.
pjracz10 at 6:04PM on 12/09/08
So I'm progressively ill, and one of my lovely disorders is cyclic vomiting syndrome, aka abdominal migraines. (sorry to be gross, it's my life) My stomach decides to make perfectly tasty foods turn on me at a moments notice and make me quite ill about 3 days at a time, whenever it feels like it.
I have been made ill by hot dogs. just last week it happened again. Sometimes I am fine to eat them, sometimes they turn on me. I appreciate this post because I also try to find hot dogs that won't turn on me, and for those who think it's just so easy as to avoid the foods that make you sick, than I can easily say at one time or another all foods made me ill and I was on a liquid diet at 78 lbs. and 5'8" and there is often no reason that foods make me sick, it just happens.
I've been there and done that with elimination diets (and doctors, tests, facilities) that I finally have medications that make me hungry, and help control nausea, so I combat the illnesses as best I can, but they are always there and I'd rather risk a few days of severe illness than to give up thousands of foods I love because they "might" make me sick.
However, I know you didn't want to "hear this" I have had luck with turkey dogs. I find the taste pretty close to beef (at least with the toppings I use) and don't think one has made me sick yet. Might try to check out those kinds from tricia_m--thanks for that.
Good luck on your hot dog quest.
bobcatsteph3 at 10:52PM on 12/10/08
@bobcatsteph3 So sorry to hear you ill, hope you feel better soon.
pjracz10 at 9:23AM on 12/11/08
@bobcatsteph3 ~ Sending you all the healing vibes I can muster. It sounds like you've been dealing with this illness for a very long time. Chronic illness can really beat you down, but it sounds like you refuse to let that happen. You go girl!!!!
PerkyMac at 10:12AM on 12/11/08
Don't want to hijack this, just wanted to say it's very generous of people to offer kind thoughts to me. I have been sick 10 years, very sick the last 4, (I am 30 and was born with everything wrong with me, it just didn't progress this fast until a few years ago). I have degenerative disorders no one ever hears of like mitochondrial myopathy--the engines of my cells don't work properly and it affects my whole body in very bad ways, Marfan's syndrome (though they are pretty sure Abe Lincoln had this so I feel in good company), and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, say that 5 times fast! Plus the puking thing I mentioned and a million other side effects.
I don't really like talking about being sick (though am always glad to educate someone on what chronic illness is like), or being a debbie downer, but I do like to talk about food and cooking because with the right medications I've been able to become a really great cook, gain over 40 desperately needed pounds, and *meet* some really great people online.
When the reality of my life is pretty cruel (not just because of my health, but mostly due to my own government and prescription companies!), sites like SE are such a fantastic release. Aside from my parents and family who take as good of care of me as they can, it's great to know strangers do their best to empathize.
Thanks! Happy Holidays--and good hot dogs to all! :-)
-Steph
bobcatsteph3 at 8:07PM on 12/11/08
@bobcatsteph--my prayers and good vibes are with you. I'm in health care and see many folks with chronic illnesses, and it never fails to amaze me how cheerful people can be in spite of it all, while perfectly healthy folks can be so depressing. It makes me want to take some of those negative people to work with me, shake them by the collar and tell them to appreciate how good they've got it.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, hot dogs :)
TJ's makes some really good chicken sausages. I especially love the chicken and apple. I also really like vegetarian dogs *waits for collective gasp of horror* like the Big Franks made by Loma Linda Foods. Give me a break, people--I grew up on the stuff!!
buffy at 1:22PM on 12/12/08