Broke-Ass Recipes: Beer Dogs

by James Conrad.

Legend has it that the phrase “hot dog,” referring to the sausage usually made of beef and/or pork and commonly served on an oblong roll, was coined by newspaper cartoonist Thomas Aloysius “Tad” Dorgan around 1900. As the story goes, he observed this delicacy being sold during New York Giants baseball games at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan, and drew an illustration of a dachshund being served on a bun, as he was amused by how dachshunds bear a resemblance to sausages.

However, the actual cartoon has not yet been found, and it is probably closer to the truth that the nomenclature in question came about because some butchers actually did mix dog meat into some of their sausages, as was commonly the case during the 19th and early 20th centuries in central and eastern Germany and what is now Poland.

As the old saying goes, it is better to simply eat hot dogs than to learn how they are made.

It is also believed that the practice of serving hot dogs on buns originated with Charles Feltman, a German-born restaurateur who got his start in 1867 selling them from a pushcart in Coney Island.

In the Martin Scorsese gangster film The Irishman, mob enforcer Frank Sheeran, played by Robert DeNiro, recounts how he and then Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, ordered hotdogs steamed in beer from the famous Lum’s chain during a visit to Florida, declaring, “There ain’t a better hot dog in America!”

My curiosity was piqued. I knew I had to try this out, and easiness of it all took away my last excuse not to do it.

Makin’ beer dogs:

In general, I like to use a whole package of hot dogs with one 12-ounce can of a simple, garden-variety lager, such as Budweiser, Heineken, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or Hamm’s – cheaply bought, but no doubt effective. I recommend against using reduced-calorie or light beers, as these are so short on flavor that you might as well use plain old tap water if you want to go that route.

I use a freshly washed and rinsed wide saucepan, set it atop the burner with a very thin film of water on the inside, and turn on the stove. As I preheat the pan, I poke holes in the hot dogs with a fork or a small knife so that the casings don’t split during the cooking.

Once the pan is sufficiently hot, I gently set the hot dogs inside and give each of them a couple turns to sear the outside a little. This step is totally optional, but I particularly like the aesthetics of the appearance and the resulting texture. As soon as they are seared to preference, I pop open the can of beer and empty it into the saucepan. Because the saucepan is shallower than a pot, and because a liquid in the saucepan is given a wider surface area, the beer will come to a nice rolling boil in a few short minutes.

Platin’ beer dogs:

Though a plump beer dog means a fully-cooked beer dog, I like to let the dogs sit in the boiling beer until it has evaporated as much as possible. This way, the concentrated flavor from the beer complements and enhances the flavor of the meat while giving the beer dog an appealing glaze.

As soon as the beer dogs are finished cooking, put one on a bun, dress it up however you like, chow down, enjoy and put the rest in a Tupperware for later. Just don’t use ketchup if you can avoid it – the sugar will overpower the flavor of the meat rather than enhancing it, and moreover, you might upset Clint Eastwood.

Also, life hack – the French-style baguettes from Trader Joe’s, cut to size, are a better deal price-wise and quality-wise than your conventional hot dog bun, but you’d do well to stick the piece of baguette in the microwave for about thirty seconds to soften it up a little.

The bill:

And now to tally the cost. In this instance, I went to Trader Joe’s and spent about five dollars on a packet of six hot dogs, about two dollars on a baguette, and about two dollars on a jar of Dijon mustard. From the Sonoma Market on 6th Street, kitty-corner from my spot, I got a can of Pabst for a buck, fifty, bringing the grand total to about ten dollars and fifty cents. If you were to divide the cost by the number of hot dogs, you’d end up paying about $1.75 per hot dog – a better deal than any promotion 7-Eleven could dream of offering if you don’t mind putting in the work.