--- title: How Hot Dogs Get Made description: It's pretty gross. canonical: https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/ author: Bijan Stephen article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-06T15:47:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:24.176Z og:title: How Hot Dogs Get Made og:description: It's pretty gross. og:url: https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Hot Dogs Get Made twitter:description: It's pretty gross. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Exactly What's in Those Hot Dogs You Ate This Weekend by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jul 6, 2014 3:47 PM UTC by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jul 6, 2014 3:47 PM UTC Happy Independence Day weekend! Did you happen to catch the most important event? No, not fireworks. [Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan's%5FHot%5FDog%5FEating%5FContest). Begun in 1972 and held in the same Coney Island, N.Y. location since then, the contest pits approximately 20 competitive eaters against each other, for glory (and processed meats). The contest itself has garnered around 1 – 1.5 million [viewers on ESPN](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan's%5FHot%5FDog%5FEating%5FContest#Media%5Fcoverage) since 2004, and the media furor around the event itself is nothing short of magnificent. But in all the excitement, it’s easy to forget that the contest itself revolves around the hot dog, that humble, All-American treat. Have you ever wondered how the sausage gets made? (Pun entirely intended.) If you have, don’t fret! [Gizmodo](http://gizmodo.com/how-hot-dogs-are-made-and-whats-actually-inside-1599811171?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fcampaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29) has an impressively comprehensive article on the process behind the processed meat. --- > “” --- Yum indeed! The rest of the steps—pre-cooking, meat emulsifying, batter extrusion, and casing—are similarly…gory. Bon appétit! ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/"},"headline":"Here's Exactly What's in Those Hot Dogs You Ate This Weekend","datePublished":"2014-07-06T15:47:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:24.176Z","description":"You celebrated America's independence by eating a fleshy tube filled with \"lower-grade muscle trimmings,\" and worse","url":"https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/","keywords":["Newsfeed","hot dogs","food and drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bijan Stephen","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2958854/hot-dog-july-4-nathans/","name":"Here's Exactly What's in Those Hot Dogs You Ate This Weekend"}}]}] ```