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.
1 The production of hot dogs begins with the preparation of meat. After it passes inspection, the incoming meat is cut into small pieces and placed in a stainless steel mixing container.
The container is equipped with high-speed choppers, which can reduce the size of the meat pieces even further.
The other raw materials including the curing ingredients, flavorings and ice chips are blended in this container until a fine emulsion, or batter, is produced. Once stuffed, the hot dogs are cooked. Their casings are removed and the hot dogs are vacuum-packed to preserve their flavor.
linking 2 After the batter passes quality control checks, it is pumped into an automatic stuffer/linker machine. In this machine, batter is put into tube-shaped, cellulose casings. These casing are then twisted at precise points to produce a long linked strand of equally sized hot dogs.
4 When the cooking is done, the hot dog links are moved via a conveyor to an automatic peeler. During their trip, they are showered with water to help equalize their internal temperature
5 From the peeler, the individual hot dogs are transported to the packaging machinery. Here, they are lined up and placed on a plastic film. The films are folded and vacuum-sealed to preserve the hot dog's flavor and increase shelf life.