I used to be a home brewer so I was glad to see this recipe show up in Google when I got the urge to make some pickled sausages of my own. My dad introduced me to these things when I was young and they still call out to me, even now in my 40's.
So far I've made your recipe twice, with a couple variations, mainly due to what I had on hand.
I ended up using Nathans skinless hot dogs for a couple reasons. First is that I really like the texture of what has come to replace the old Penrose sausages- stuff like Tijuana Mama and Firecracker sausages. They are much more like a hot dog than a coarse sausage like Penrose was. Second, is just the fact that they are skinless. I figured that would allow faster penetration of the flavor. They worked perfectly.
The first time I made it I split the recipe between a regular jar and a vacuum container (used with my vacuum sealer) which let me sample them the next night. I let the regular jar sit for a week and there was no notable difference between them. So for the second time I made it (and from now on) I used the vacuum container.
The first time I made it I calculated the split volume of total ingredients since each one was different in size. I'll just include some eyeball totals since I varied things a bit as I went.
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Total liquid volume: 3.25 cups. (original recipe calls for 2.5 cups).
I didn't have enough white vinegar so I used:
1 cup white vinegar.
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar.
1.25 cups red wine vinegar (don't do either of the last two- plain white is better unless you want to sweeten things up a little bit.)
The following were added dry directly to each container:
2/3 of a white onion chopped and divided unevenly by eye. I didn't check the volume.
6 cloves of garlic, divided unevenly (I scoff at recipes that skimp on garlic. I always add more.)
1/8th a teaspoon of ghost pepper powder per container. This stuff is the nuclear option and its too easy to melt your own face off so I took it easy this time.
1 tsp (plus a bit more because I like heat) of crushed red pepper per container.
1 tsp paprika per container.
2.5 tsp salt (I only had kosher on hand so I added more to make up for the coarseness.
1 bay leaf per.
I had a little smoked black pepper that I just threw in until it was gone. No idea the amount.
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The cooking:
Microwaved the Nathans dogs for 4 minutes and then split them lengthwise with a knife.
I knew these weren't going to be around long enough to worry about going crazy with sterilization so I just brought the vinegar to a simmer. The reason I didn't cook everything together is that I didn't know how bad and or painful the smell of hot pepper being turned into vinegarized pepper spray was going to be.
I filled each container with a whole pack of cooked hot dogs each and the appropriate amount of ingredients. I had to split some of the dogs in half to fit them all in the low round vacuum container.
After I put the hot vinegar mixture into the containers filled with ingredients I let them sit for a bit to let them steam. I wasn't overly concerned with sterilization, but hey, a little bit of caution can't hurt. I would be more careful if I thought these were going to be around for any length of time. Plus vinegar is pretty good at keeping nasty stuff at bay.
After they cooled I pulled a vacuum in one and then stuck them in the fridge
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And then I waited.
My first impression was that they were really good and surprisingly close to the Penrose flavor. Unfortunately, since I used Cider and red wine vinegar the result seemed a bit too sweet and fruity.
And they weren't nearly hot enough for my tastes.
All those problems are addressed in the next post I make after I taste them a little later tonight. (Maybe tomorrow if I have too many beers
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