Spicey Pickled dogs or homemade Bahama Mama's

This all started because of a talk with a friend about pickled bologna, which I had never heard of but was apparently well known where he comes from. How did I get to hotdogs and bahama mama's you ask? Well the bologna is supposed to be cut into 1/2" chunks and thats a LOT of bologna (no pun intended) then I noticed my local grocery had all beef hotdogs on sale and I thought about those jars of pickled sausage I like and the Bahama Mama's sold at convience stores, of course those are seldom really spicey so if I made my own... hmmm, 1+1+1+1 somehow equaled 2 and here we are !

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Step 1: Simple Ingredients

Your going to need a clean wide mouth jar
1 or 2 packs of hotdogs depending on size, I used 1 1/2 packs
2 teaspoons of pickling spice (could have probably used 1)
2 teaspoons of hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of italian seasonings
1 teasppon of minched garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cups of vinager
1/2 cup water

OPTIONAL
fresh hot peppers

cloudifornia says: Jun 27, 2011. 2:34 PM

I bet these taste great on the grill. Good job.

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l8nite (author) in reply to cloudiforniaJul 11, 2011. 11:35 AM

Well I didn't grill the dog but the idea haunted me, yesterday I heated some bacon drippings in a frying pan and cooked one, it was very tasty.

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l8nite (author) in reply to cloudiforniaJun 27, 2011. 3:10 PM

WOW ! I never thought about grilling them, they probably would be great ! I intended them to be eaten like a packaged redhot or other pickled sausage, straight from the jar but now Im going to have to try them grilled or maybe fried .... Thank you for the thought invoking feedback !

cloudifornia in reply to l8niteJun 28, 2011. 5:19 PM

Welcome! The pickling should make it taste similar to a kraut dog. These dogs are definitely grill worthy.

branonls says: Jul 7, 2011. 9:24 AM

Yes, yes I think I'll try this tonight.

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l8nite (author) in reply to branonlsJul 7, 2011. 11:58 AM

please let us know what you think of the results. Mine have been "pickling" for about 2 weeks, they have a good taste but still aren't really hot, but then I use a habanero hot sauce on just about everything. The hotdogs are still very firm, I'm seriously considering simmering the weiners in the brine for the next batch, so they can absorb more of the brine and be a little softer. Thank you for leaving a comment...

branonls in reply to l8niteJul 11, 2011. 10:08 AM

I didn't have pickling spice handy so I went with more of a Caribbean theme by adding curry, allspice berries, a bay leaf and turmeric along with onions, black pepper corns, garlic and hot peppers. I'll find out this weekend it I ruined $1.76 worth of hot dogs. I plan on making some pickled sausage next. Thanks for the inspiration.

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l8nite (author) in reply to branonlsJul 11, 2011. 11:27 AM

That sounds like a great seasoning combo ! When I made these I didn't have pickling spices either, I was kind of surprised at how small the jar was when I bought it, in retrospect it may not have been needed at all. Now into about week3 of the soaking/pickling and the weiners have picked up a bit of spice, taking my asbestos coated tastebuds in to consideration they may actually be hot to some, so don't allow the 1st or 2nd taste test discourage you. Please check my 2nd comment to cloudofornis as well.. and please come back and post your results

bajablue says: Jul 5, 2011. 7:40 AM

Gotcha! Good Luck!!!!

nikon20 says: Jun 28, 2011. 6:06 PM

These look great cant wait to try them. I eat Bahama Mama's a few time a week but these look way better. I am in agreement with cloudifornia i bet these are awesome on the grill or try stuffing one in a potato bomb.

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l8nite (author) in reply to nikon20Jun 28, 2011. 7:19 PM

WOW are you a mind reader? I was just thinking about stuffing them in a potato a little while ago ! I'm still thinking these are a snack food but all these ideas have me reconsidering.

atombomb1945 says: Jun 28, 2011. 9:22 AM

you might get some better saturation by slicing the ends off the dogs in addition to piercing the sides.

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l8nite (author) in reply to atombomb1945Jun 28, 2011. 1:19 PM

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I had considered cutting the hotdogs into 2 or 3 pieces but they fit so well in the jar whole that I decided not to, it probably would speed up the pickling process though. I also thought about cooking the hotdogs in the simmering brine but again they fit so well in the jar, I decided not to. I may try each of those options in the future.

Kaptain Kool says: Jun 26, 2011. 6:58 AM

THis looks incredibly awesome sauce!

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l8nite (author) in reply to Kaptain KoolJun 26, 2011. 4:20 PM

thank you, I think... if you delete the pickling spices and italian seasoning, it is a lot like the NE arkansas hot sauce they used in my friends families BBQ shack but in my opinion would be to vinagery for most applications

poofrabbit says: Jun 25, 2011. 7:38 PM

This sounds so good! I really want to give this a try. Super 'able

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l8nite (author) in reply to poofrabbitJun 25, 2011. 8:07 PM

Thank you for the comment, it really takes longer to read this "ible" than to make the hotdogs...except for the waiting for them to pickle of course...

PATSY001 says: Jun 25, 2011. 4:59 PM

How long ago did you make these? Have you sampled them yet?

Please follow up and let us know how they turned out!
Great idea, and good instructable.

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l8nite (author) in reply to PATSY001Jun 25, 2011. 5:28 PM

Thank you for the comment ! I made these last night and by this afternoon , I couldn't wait any longer! I tried 2, they were good and definately spicey but like I said in the "ible" next time I'd only use half the pickling spice