Turkey Hot Dogs?
Can you believe the grilling season is almost upon us? We find ourselves with another reason to keep our grills burning for three days. I’m excited! In an attempt to get a jump start on the festivities, I headed out to the grocery store yesterday. After I cleaned out the meat department, I still needed to pick up some hot dogs. I always try to keep some on hand. The kids love them and it’s been alleged that I occasionally sneak away with a few for myself. While in the hot dog section, I happened to notice turkey hot dogs. Turkey hot dogs? I’m not even sure I was aware that they existed. I grabbed a few packages of Ball Parks and went on my way.
So what’s the deal with turkey hot dogs? Have any of you ever had them? After a bit of investigation, there’s more. I was aware of turkey burgers, but did you know there’s also turkey sausage, turkey bratwurst and even…turkey bacon? I have to admit that except for my Thanksgiving bird, I don’t know jack about turkey products.
Such ignorance is unacceptable. If one is to excel at the grill they must be aware of any and all ingredients. At minimum, they should at least know all the meat groups! I’m off for some more schooling. Although the eating part will be fun, I’m sure there will be some homework involved.
Stop back tomorrow. I’m going to take an in depth look at all that is turkey and how it fits into the overall scheme of grilling. Until then, I have to run. I don’t want to be late for my first day of class.
Whoa, there’s a lot that turkey can do on the grill! I smoked a breast and made quite the pulled turkey sandwich. It was phenomenal. I’m eying the Italian turkey sausage. I wonder what I can do with that. I took a look at all the various products turkey offers. I think you may be surprised. I published my findings at my Examiner column. If you want to read more, you can find it here.
Tomorrow I’m going to learn about this turkey hot dog thing. I’m not holding out much hope that it will dethrone my beloved Vienna Chicago hot dog as king, yet we’ll see how Tom Turkey competes on a hot dog bun. See you then.
Now you know I love my hot dogs. It’s almost a religious experience with me. You just can’t beat a good dog, but a turkey hot dog? That’s heresy! Yet, as I try to age gracefully I find myself reading nutritional labels more than ever before. Let me tell you, the labels on hot dogs aren’t a comforting read. Since I’m on this turkey kick, it was a great opportunity to see whether a turkey dog can compete with my favorite hot dog.
I have no problem with the turkey hot dog. My fingers almost refused to type that out, yet I must report truthfully. The turkey dog competed quite well with traditional hot dogs and actually grilled up better than most. I’m ecstatic! This discovery will allow me to eat more hot dogs. If you’d like to see exactly how I judged the turkey dog and my initial thoughts, I published my review here.
I’m on a roll now! I’m learning a lot about turkey. After eating all those hot dogs, I’m ready for a burger. I’m fussy about my burgers, too. The turkey has been hanging in this competition exceptionally well, yet I refuse to believe he can compete against Angus beef. Tomorrow is turkey burger class. I’m excited! See you after school.
It’s burger day! It came in the nick of time, too. I’ve been craving a burger ever since I first brought it up, but knew I’d be eating my fair share of them soon. Learning about turkey burgers wasn’t as easy as I thought. It comes in several varieties. There’s different fat to lean ratios, frozen, fresh, frozen patties, well…just go read the results and save some time. I think you’ll find it interesting. You can read it here.
Tomorrow I’m off to Turkey Burgers 201. Armed with a general knowledge of turkey burgers, we go into the lab and learn how to grill them. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I love hands on training, especially when we’re talking food and the grill. See you then!
That wasn’t bad. If you are good at grilling beef burgers, you’ll have no problem with turkey burgers. Turkey burgers are actually easier to grill due to less fat. Flare ups are almost non existent. There were some pros and cons to the turkey burger, but tasty nonetheless. We even made one with turkey bacon…a turkey bacon burger. Learn how to grill a turkey burger here.Tomorrow is my last day! If all goes well I should get my diploma! First tho, I have to pass the final exam. We have to create a special recipe. I’m nervous, but think I can handle it. Stop back, I’ll show you what I created. Then we’ll go out and celebrate my graduation.
Day 5 of Class: Finals!
After all that hard work, judgement day has arrived! It’s time to create something and see if I learned anything! I decided to go with hamburgers…or to be precise, hamburguesas .Yep, I’m going Tex-Mex on this one.
I based this recipe on the bean burger.The bean burger was a created in Texas by residents to honor their Mexican heritage. Although, there are many variations of the bean burger, the San Antonio Bean Burger is most known. Basically, a San Antonio Bean Burger consists of a hamburger patty with refried beans, Cheese Whiz, diced onions and Frito brand corn chips. Don’t look at me like that…it’s actually quite tasty. It’s one of my lunch favorites.
I passed! The Grilled Turkey Bean Burger was a success. The flavors were excellent and no one could believe it was a turkey burger. From now on, I see no reason to not use turkey for this hamburger. As far as an old fashioned hamburger is concerned, I think I’m still going to crave the beef version now and again.
You’d never know it was turkey if I hadn’t told you.
Give the recipe a try. You can find it here.
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My sincere thanks to The Jennie-O Turkey Store for their insight. For more on turkey, give them a visit. It’s a great site!
Hey Gary, I am a huge fan of Turkey wieners. in our house we have been eating chicken wieners for years to the point where the taste of an all beef dog was not appealing anymore. Then one day I saw Butterball Turkey wieners in the supermarket and gave them a shot.
When I am in a rush to make something to eat I will whip up a box of KD and I slice up a wiener to go with it, to me the Turkey wiener is the best option for it, love the taste!
I’m starting to see what I’ve been missing