The Official Coney Dog Thread

[Frozen Smoke]

Sorry I missed your post somehow. I have had it as the guy made some for a work get together we had. I loved it. He claimed it was from a guy he knew who ran a coney dog cart in Philly.

[Elton's BBQ]

haha

[Elton's BBQ]

This was an excellent thread.. Here in Norway we have no tradition on making Coney Dogs.. This will will change, atleast for my part.. :-)
So thanks JeffJ , Nate and Frozen Smoke for sharing recipes..
Found this on wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island_hot_dog

[Nate]

JeffJ , I was just "dogging" (pun intended) a bit. I honestly don't think there is much of anything that is truly authentic anymore... As technology changes, time passes etc... things just naturally evolve... Heck they say that the food we grow today tastes nothing like it did 50 years ago...

I LOVE Coney dogs though... not Chili Dogs though.... When I was growing up I went to a lot of auctions because my father is an auctioneer. I always loved it when the food vendor had Coneys... We would have a charge account for the auction staff and I always managed to sneak a few coneys in while running sheets from the auctioneers to the checkout trailer.

My wife and I also still go to a local drive in and get their Coneys... We usually get a little sauce cup of it too to dip our fries in... and of course we have to get the homemade root beer... Usually before winter I will buy a 32oz thing of coney sauce and take home and freeze it so on those lazy nights we can have some if we want.

I'm going to try to use some of the tips you have in your posts and from some of the others to modify my "recipe", if you can call it that, to see if I can get a more traditional consistency.

Country Bobs is a steak sauce that is fairly popular around where I'm at in Indiana... WalMart and all the grocery stores carry it here... kind of a sweeter sauce...

[JeffJ]

Nate That is a cool recipe. Like any culinary item, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. On this thread my goal was to point out the origin of the Coney Dog is actually Michigan and not Coney Island, New York.

The recipe I created is no more authoritative than a New York thin-crust pizza is to a Chicago thick-crust, or a rack of Eastern Carolina spare ribs is to a Texas dry-rub rack of ribs. They are ALL good. They are ALL different. And that's a good thing. Chicago is known for "Chicago Dogs" and they have pickle relish and sauerkraut, among other things.

When I was researching for my recipe I discovered that in certain places (New York and DC) that some restaurants serve a Coney Dog as I have tried to create here and call it a "Michigan Dog".

If you want to sample a regional staple, try my recipe and make sure everything else is in balance - you need to be able to pick it up and eat it with your hands. My oldest puts the coney sauce and onions underneath the frank to prevent spillage.

PS - I really like the inclusion of horseradish in your recipe. That is a cool touch.

PPS - What is Country Bobs?

[Nate]

Makes a thread, gets pretentious, and preaches about Real Coneys... calls it the Official Coney Thread.... then Doesn’t make or eat Real Coneys....

Seriously I mean there was a lot of typing defining what a real coney was then it was like... but I don’t like this about a real coney or that about a real coney so I’m going to do a different process, use or not use required ingredients for a real coney, and still call it a real coney and have this turned into an official coney thread.

So if we are going off script here I prefer a sweet style coney with big chunks of burger and isn’t as soupy...

1lb Hamburger
Onion
Ketchup (not a lot)
Brown Sugar
BBQ Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Country Bobs
Salt & Pepper
Water
Mustard
Horseradish

As you will notice there are no set measurements really. That was the way it was told to me by someone who made this Sloppy Joe recipe that also doubled well as a Hot Dog topper or "Coney Sauce". Heck maybe this should be called a Sloppy Dog.

Make it to taste and add some other stuff like pepper flakes or garlic if you want.

And if you go out and use it or sell some version of this then just make sure to send me my fair share of the check.

[JeffJ]

OK - I took a stab at creating the perfect coney sauce recipe today. I also christened the meat grinder I just got for my birthday in the process. My attempt at creating the perfect coney sauce was met with mixed results. First, the positive - the technique and proportion of thickener+liquid produced a perfect texture and consistency which is something that has always eluded my past attempts at coney sauce. The combination of ingredients was mostly spot-on and the only detractions can be fixed by the process of addition by subtraction. I used some apple cider vinegar and ketchup in the sauce that is pictured below. I was pressed for time and test-tasted the sauce before everything had melded and felt it needed to be amped up a bit. When it was done simmering it was a bit over-amped and the ketchup and cider vinegar were the culprits.

This is a very zesty sauce and the recipe will follow the pics (I'll also create a separate thread with just the recipe):




The meat browning in the water:



The finished sauce:



Dinner time!



My Mother-in-law building her Coney Dog:



My plate - I don't like raw onions:



Here is the recipe:

Coney Sauce

• 1 lb. ground chuck
• 1/2 t kosher salt*
• 1/2 t Lawry’s seasoned salt
• 1 C water
• 3 T tomato paste
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 T cumin powder
• 1/4 t celery seed
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/4 t sugar
• 1 T Worchestershire
• 1 T hot sauce**
• 1 T Masa Harina***
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t onion powder

*If grinding your own meat use this to dry brine 1 pound of chuck roast prior to grinding.




**I use my homemade sauce. The best approximation in terms of heat is 1/2 T of Frank’s and 1/2 T of Tabasco.




***Masa Harina is corn flour and is highly recommended over all-purpose flour for this dish.




Directions:

• In a medium sauce pot add the ground chuck and water. Do not brown the meat first. The goal here is to chop the meat up into really small pieces and cooking it this way achieves that. Stir and chop at meat constantly until it browns.
• After the meat browns add the remaining ingredients.
• Bring to a boil and stir constantly to fully integrate the tomato paste and empower the corn flour to thicken the sauce.
• Reduce to a gentle simmer and let all of the components meld, uncovered, over the course of a half hour.

Notes:

• For a classic Coney use a natural casing frank, top with coney sauce, yellow mustard and then chopped white onionserved on a warmed bun.
• Proper balance is the key. Even with the coney sauce this is a dog that should be able to be eaten with your hands. Have a fork handy to mop up a bit of coney sauce that oozes out, but if a fork and knife is needed you have too much coney sauce on your Coney dog.

[fzxdoc]

Yum!

Kathryn

[texastweeter]

first post, and I already like his/her style!!!! BRing it on!!!!

[Mr. Bones]

Welcome to Th Pit!
Glad to have ya here!

[Huskee]

Welcome!

[Marsha]

Another idea for your coney sauce might be to grind up a tamale or two in sauce. It’s quite good

[sparetime]

I grew up in Warren and now live in Fenton - I'll have to agree that Koegel's makes the best dogs!!

[texastweeter]

I think the sauce is for a dog called a Texas Hot Weiner, it apparently originates in Western NY... Everyone wants to claim Texan... @ Comfortably Numb Troutman

[ComfortablyNumb]

texastweeter Nah. let's do it with style. We'll tie him to the bumper of my '56 and drag him down Main St. ;-)