I did some research, there’s no real difference between “red snapper” hot dogs and regular natural casing hot dogs…

by MacTechG4

12 Comments

  1. MacTechG4

    Grill; Weber Go anywhere

    Fuel; Walmart Expert Grill mesquite briquettes

    Starter; a mix of stump chunks and a RO tumbleweed

    Meat; Kayem “Old Tyme Reds” natural casing hot dogs

    Bun; country Kitchen New England style top split

    Condiments; Flo’s of Maine relish, spicy brown mustard

    I was too lazy to get the chimney starter, so I put a handful of briquettes into a pyramid over a handful of Stump Chunks, it took much longer than expected to catch and took another handful to keep the flames going, I got fed up and dropped in a tumbleweed starter and eventually got usable coals, next time I’ll use the chimney again.

    On to the …meat… of the matter, even though I grew up in Maine, I never really got into the red hot dogs, preferring the normal natural casing, as I saw the red dye as a way to hide imperfections, like it’s used on pistachios, but my local Wally only sells the regular natural casing dogs in the big boxes, and I’m only one guy, a standard 6 pack holds me fine for my average hot dog consumption (low amount…) I’d have to freeze the big box.

    I’ve recently discovered that Market Basket sells their store brand natural casing dogs in sixers too, and they’re not red dyed, so bonus.

    Anyway, to sum up, there’s no difference in taste or snap between ‘Red Snappahs” and regular natural casing dogs, it’s purely cosmetic. Either works well, and yes the reds do look a little better in the bun, for my purposes, either works.

  2. KobeHoppa

    Pro tip, they taste better when they’re not raw

  3. TritanisAqua

    Red dogs in Texas are pickled in a red vinegar that give that color. I had no clue they made vinegar dogs fake.

  4. TooManyDraculas

    Between red dogs and non-red dogs from the region/same brand, no difference besides red 40.

    There’s a different recipe for either than hotdogs, natural casing or not, in other regions.

    They’re a beef an pork dog, and flavored with more black pepper, nutmeg and marjoram than other styles. Proportionally less garlic, onion and paprika. Also tend to contain a small amount of sugar.

    They’re rather similar to the beef and pork dogs you find in Upstate New York.

    Kayems aren’t particularly good examples of the style, and I don’t think they’re meant to be. But the company did buy and bring back one of the OG brands out of Maine. Jordan’s.

  5. KnucklesMacKellough

    Shut your dirty heretic mouth!!!
    (Mainer here, just kidding)

  6. CantaloupeHour5973

    I got diarrhea just from looking at this pic

  7. MassCasualty

    I believe at one time they were colored red to disguise off colored portions of meat that were ground up into the hotdogs.
    Nowadays with modern health codes, they aren’t doing that anymore..now they are just red for nostalgia

  8. Karate-Schnitzel

    Saugy Natural Casing from Rhode Island

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