Corn Dog Catastrophe

One of my guilty pleasures is eating a corndog.  I love the coating, I think it’s the perfect cover for a hotdog.  My P.S. snickers when he buys me boxes of corndogs and places them in the freezer.  I’m not sure why, I’m simply embracing my inner child.  I remember the county and state fairs as a kid when I couldn’t wait to have a corndog.  They were something my mother never served us for meals.

As an adult eating a corndog, it seems odd to be indoors when it’s eaten.  I always ate them out in the hot sun, on the fairway, with people all around.  Sitting in front of my television watching a cooking show or movie seems just wrong, somehow. But it doesn’t stop me from indulging from time to time.  When I found this simple recipe I knew I had to try to make them myself.

Whisk dry ingredients in a tall container.

I whisked the dry ingredients together in a tall measuring pitcher that seemed perfect for dipping a hot dog on a stick.

Dry off hot dogs with paper toweling and cut in half. Skewer with bamboo skewers

I stirred in the milk and melted bacon grease, adjust the amount of milk until I had a batter that stuck to the hot dog nicely.  I had wiped the hot dog off so it was dry and cut them in half.

Dip hot dogs into batter and let excess drip off.

I kept sticking the skewered hot dog in the batter until it clung and didn’t all run off.

Heat deep fryer to 350°F

I had set up my small deep fryer filled with oil and set the temp to 350°F.  I carefully held the coated hot dog in the oil so it was evenly cooking.  Poof!  The batter rose up and around and ballooned and I stared in horror as the batter went everywhere but onto the hot dog.  Oh. My. Goodness.  The batter eventually settled down but it wasn’t nicely coated around the hot dog.  What did I do wrong?  My inner child was screaming.

The batter whirled in the hot oil and didn’t stick well to the hot dogs.

I tried a second hot dog, dipping it in the batter and letting the excess drip off.  I lowered it into the deep fryer and again I got the poof where the batter swirled all over like it was in a hot oil Jacuzzi.  Why in the world was my batter flying off and on in a weird dance?  I had a short temper that night and promptly dumped the pitcher of cornmeal batter down the sink drain and started over with a different recipe.

The second recipe had an egg, but no buttermilk.  It also didn’t have bacon drippings or baking soda.  It was a totally different recipe and I was going to try again.  I still had plenty of hot dogs.  I took a deep breath and dipped again when the second batter was ready.

The second batter stuck well but had very little flavor.

This time the batter stayed put on the hot dog.  It browned on one side and refused to stay under the oil on the second side, but I kept turning it so it browned fairly evenly.  I had to do that with each corn dog and it was a long and tedious process to get 8 halves battered and browned.  By the time I had them done, I had decided to resume putting frozen corn dogs on my shopping list for my P.S.  They’re just too much work to make.

Neither of the recipes was a winner, so I’m not posting them today.  If I ever get the wild idea to try again, and actually find a good tasting and adhering recipe, I’ll let you know!

Corn Dog Catastrophe

I will say the flavor of the first cornmeal batter was excellent.  The second batter was rather bland.  I think the bacon drippings added to the flavor of the cornmeal.  If nothing else, I learned the next time I make cornmeal muffins or cornbread I want to try adding some bacon drippings!  The time was not totally wasted.  And with a deep fryer full of fairly clean oil, I was ready to make something else.  Maybe doughnuts?