Hot Dogs at Old Town Social

Consider the hot dog. While most of us are weaned on the iconic Vienna Beef here, very few (if any) chefs would dare attempt to make their own. But Jared Van Camp decided he would not only take a stab at it, he would do so in a research-and-development mode only a cooking drone for “America’s Test Kitchen” could appreciate. Van Camp has been working with ratios of fat to beef, emulsifying times and smoking technique, to produce his own batch of homemade hot dogs at Old Town Social, which he not only dresses up “Chicago style” (mustard, neon green relish, onions, tomatoes, sport peppers, celery salt and a pickle), but also in a chili dog with mustard and even a corn dog. With baseball season officially here, it’s a great time to take one of America’s favorite snacks, and turn it up-market with a bit of culinary ingenuity. If you’re interested in how he produced his own hot dog, check out this blog post from last year, in which he goes into great detail.