White Hots (from Rochester, NY)

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   "Red hots" of a different color.  I don't know what the next volume of DARE will have.  It was/is a specialty of Rochester, New York.


(PROQUEST NEWSPAPERS)
      Hold the Homogeneity. Hot Dogs Stay Local.
       Glenn Collins.       New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)).       New York, N.Y.: Jul 15, 2001.                   p. 3.6
Like Usinger and Thumann, many other hot dog manufacturers are family businesses, rich in history. Usinger dates to 1880, Thumann to 1949. Among their many cousins, in spirit at least, count the Cloverdale Foods Company of Mandan, N.D.; Farmer John Hot Dogs from the Clougherty Packing Company of Los Angeles; Sahlen's Smokehouse Hot Dogs from the Sahlen Packing Company of Buffalo; Vienna Beef frankfurters from the Vienna Sausage Manufacturing Company of Chicago; and Zweigle's White Hots from Zweigle's Inc. of Rochester.
(...)
Besides taste preferences, the large companies must contend with localized variation in cooking hot dogs. They can be steamed, boiled, broiled, grilled, fried and microwaved. Color differs, too: Red hot dogs in some areas of the South and Midwest are tinted with red dye, while Rochester has its legendary ''white hots,'' pork franks that are decidedly pale.

      LOW-FAT HOT DOGS HELP AMERICANS CONTINUE A LOVE AFFAIR
       Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel..       Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Chicago, Ill.: Jun 12, 1996.                   p. 3.A :
Tube steaks. Foot longs. Wieners. Red hots. White hots.

      Red hots No consensus dog at home, but Japan can taste a winner
       Nancy Ryan..       Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Chicago, Ill.: Oct 7, 1991.                   p. 1:
GRAPHIC (color): Hot dogs: A regional taste The popular sausage-on-a-bun has many names: hot dogs, frankfurters, wieners, franks, red hots, white hots. Here are a few of the many regional variations.

      COUNTER OFFER DINER CHIC
       Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff.       Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Boston, Mass.: Oct 7, 1990.                   p. 41:
     There are better franks on the market now than there used to be. One brand, called White Hots -- all-beef franks made in Rochester, New York -- is spicier and lighter in color than ordinary hot dogs and delicious with homemade beans.

      Go Ahead, Make My Grill...; Ordering the Best Ethnic Sausages by Mail
       Margaret Engel.       The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Washington, D.C.: Aug 24, 1988.                   p. e.01:
Grilling expert, Donald Zabkar, of Zab's Backyard Hots, outside Rochester, N.Y., explains that cooks should never just put a hot dog or sausage directly over the red coals. (It goes without saying that the meats should never be put on the grill frozen, but should have been defrosted overnight in the refrigerator.)

     "Let them temper on the edge {of the grill}," Zabkar related. When they've cooked through, "then you can move them over the heat. It's very important to cook the inside and not just have the outside grilled."

     With Zabkar's white and red Rochester hotdogs, cooking the dogs until they burst is "coup de grace for fine wienering," as he puts it.

     Grilled red and white hots were a Rochester specialty that was in danger of culinary extinction until Zabkar and his two older brothers, Michael and David, rescued the hometown food by hiring a local packer to once again turn out the specialty.

     Zab's mild white "tube steak" contains veal, ham and beef, plus paprika, mustard, milk powder and spices. The red dog has some food coloring and preservatives, but is thinner, longer and much better-tasting than America's usual hot dog. The casing is extremely thin and the meat a combination of beef and pork.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS--NEW YORK TIMES)
      On Upstate Menus, Grape Pies and White Hots
       By JANE PERLEZ.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Oct 16, 1985.                   p. B2 (1 page):
   White barbecue sauce?  Flower for eating?  Grape pie?  Smoked cheese in a breakfast dish?
(...)
   In Naples, for instance, a town wreathed by vineyards an hour's drive south of Rochester, grape pie makes a fleeting but intense appearance this time of year.
(...)
   Originally manufactured in the 1920's as a poor man's hot dog made of the less desirable meat parts, the white hot dog later evolved into a top of the line sausage, according to J. Michael Zabkar Jr., the president of Zab's. (...) A white hot dog contains less fat, is not smoked and is cooked with "natural sodium rather than salt," he said.
(...)
   Smoked New York State cheese provides a vital ingredient to the "stradas" served by Barbara Johnson, the proprietor with her husband, Bruce, of the William Seward Inn in Westfield, 60 miles south of Buffalo.  A strada, a concoction of cheese, egg, bread and milk baked in the oven, arrives at the table resembling a puffy, cheese-laden pancake.


      Hot Dog Nostalgia
       EVELYN F. ELKODSI.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Apr 27, 1983.                   p. C10 (1 page) :
   I enjoyed the article about Rochester White Hots ["Rochester's Own, a Hot Dog With Zing," April 20].  However, no mention was made that White Hots have been known in Rochester for years.  I recall with nostalgia enjoying a grilled White Hot on the short of Lake Ontario in the 40's and 50's.  Ask any older native of the city.  They were manufactured by a local sausage company (name forgotten) and distributed locally.

      Letter to the Editor 1 -- No Title
       CAROLYN H. DOWNING.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Apr 27, 1983.                   p. C10 (1 page):
   I enjoyed greatly your piece about the native cuisine of Rochester and the growing popularity of the White Hot.  I must take issue, however, with Mr. Zabkar's claim to the invention of the Rochester White Hot.  White Hots were a very popular item in Rochester long before Mr. Zabkar was born.  I was introduced to them more than 30 years ago while visiting my sister and her husband in Rochester.  It was a case of love at first bite.  They are absolutely the best of the wurst.
   There is a sister product, the Red Hot, which is also delicious, but not for the faint of heart.

      Rochester's Own: A Hot Dog With Zing
       By RICHARD D. LYONS.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Apr 20, 1983.                   p. C3 (1 page):
   The Rochester White Hot is a frankfurter made with veal, pork, mustard, paprika and other spices, then charcoal broiled to order over a fire of hickory chips, and served with a sauce that blends onions, peppers, relish, vinegar and molasses.  The effect ranges from a blowtorch to a forest fire, depending on the aggressiveness of the other garnishes selected.
   White Hots and the larger versions called the Big White and the White Foot are the inspirations of Donad Zabkar, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who runs Zab's Hot to Trot, a rapidly expanding company, with his four brothers and their sister.
   "Before we opened there wasn't anywhere in Rochester where you could buy a charcoil-broiled hot dog, or even a place that specialized in different varieties of hot dogs," Mr. Zabkar explained the other day.