Food - Drink
The Best Type Of Hot Dog To Buy For That Classic Snap
By KAREN GRECO
The origin of hot dogs can be traced back to the Roman empire. Eventually, the sausage traveled across Europe to Germany, and German immigrants brought it to New York, but it was Nathan Handwerker, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, that transformed this ethnic edible into an iconic American food.
Part of that iconography is the dog’s trademark snap: the firmness of the outer casing when bit into. To ensure the dog has plenty of bite, snap lovers should turn to ones with natural casings, which are made from either lamb or pig intestines. All hot dogs are pre-cooked in casings, but some (labeled skinless) are removed after cooking.
Casings can also be made of edible collagen, which is made from collagen extracted from other animal parts. Whatever your preference, enjoy your dog, keeping in mind that boiling hot dogs in their natural casings helps preserve the snap while grilling can make the dogs tough to chew.