What is a hot dog? During our last class meeting, Ninja inspired me to ponder this question. Is a hot dog a dog that is on fire? Is a hot dog someone that is showing off? Is a hot dog another term for processed meat and whatever else formed into a cylinder-type shape and wedged between a piece of bread? It can mean all of these things, and maybe even more. However, I am going to define the food product version of hot dog. I once saw an episode of “How It’s Made” that covered how hot dogs are created. My best recollection of the show is that the shape of the hot dog is formed by squeezing the meat product into a gelatin-type mold. Anyways, it is time to define “hot dog.” My research first leads me to wikipedia’s definition of hot dog. I am in amazement as to how expanse the definition and explanation of “hot dog” is. These are some of the major descriptions of hot dog that will later help me form a more concise definition of the object:

-fully-cooked, cured, and sometimes smoked sausage of even texture and flavor that is softer and moister than most other sausages

-the sausage most readily eaten as finger food, especially in the U.S.

-usually placed hot in a soft, sliced bun of the same shape as the sausage, and optionally includes condiments and toppings”

-no fixed specification for hot dog meat, with pork and beef being the most popular”

-inexpensive hot dogs typically contain chicken, due to the low cost and availability of mechanically separated chicken, and some pork

-generally regarded as unhealthy insofar as most have high sodium, fat and nitrate content.

-contents can be questionable, with cheaper types of hot dogs having been known to contain snouts, ears, and blended organs.”

-due to changing dietary preferences in the U.S., manufacturers have turned to turkey, chicken, or vegetarian meat substitutes as well as lowering the salt content.”

-“wieners" tend to contain pork, and to be the blander of the two, while "franks" tend to be all-beef, and more strongly seasoned

According to dictionary.com’s primary definition of hot dog, it is a “a sandwich consisting of a frankfurter in a split roll, usually eaten with mustard, sauerkraut, or relish.”

But how is it made? According to madehow.com, this is how they are typically made: “Hot dogs are a processed meat product made by mixing chopped meat with various curing ingredients, flavorants, and colorants. The meat is then stuffed in casings, cooked, removed from the casing, and put in the final package.” I am now looking over the information I have gathered, and I need to put all of these findings into once statement about what a hot dog is. It is time to do some remixing, cutting, and editing to come up with a comprehensive definition of hot dog, the food product. Here it goes… “A hot dog is a fully-cooked, cured, and sometimes smoked sausage of even texture and flavor delivered in a split roll, usually eaten with mustard, sauerkraut, or relish. Although its contents and health impacts have been questionable in the past, changing dietary preferences have caused manufacturers to utilize turkey, chicken, and vegetarian meat substitutes, in addition to lowering salt content. It is made by stuffing processed, chopped meat products into a casing, which is cooked, removed from the casing, and then placed in the final package.”