Coney Sauces straight from Childhood

[Kathleen]

Tonight, my sister and I were on the phone and she said, "I'm taking Dad to Dogs-n-Suds for a coney dog and root beer." Now all I want is this for dinner! In the town where I grew up, there were two notable root beer stands. The first was Dogs-n-Suds A&W root beer and then Pop's Root Beer Stand. I am doubly blessed to have recipes for both! Does anyone have a coney sauce that reminds them of summertime back when your only wheels was on a Schwinn?


Dog-n-Suds Coney Sauce

1 pound of ground beef
2 tablespoons of prepared mustard
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon tabasco sauce
1 small onion chopped

2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
ketchup as needed



Brown ground beef with onion over medium heat breaking up the meat to a fine crumble. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients, except ketchup. Mix well and then add enough ketchup to keep the mixture loose. Simmer partially covered for 1 hour adding ketchup as needed. (I use Heinz, but Dogs-n-Suds supposedly used Hunts ketchup.)


Pop's Root Beer "Spanish" Hot Dog Sauce
2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup of water
2 cups Hunts ketchup
4 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 teaspoon "plain Morton's salt"


Do not cook ground beef first. Mix raw ground meat with everything together in a pot. Simmer for 1 hour. Spoon over hotdogs.



Spanish Dogs and root beer were the things to get. Pop's was the place to see and be seen and the park was around the corner. Get your dog, then go to the park and then off to Frozen Custard! All three places were drive up and order. Ah, Summertime!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Those sound great! Never had a coney dog, will have to try it.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Oh man, now I want one. Or two. Or three...

 

[Kayelle]

Kathleen, this is interesting to me as I've never had anything like you describe. I was raised out here in California, and we grew up on Chili Dogs, but that's nothing more than chili on top of dogs.

I really want to try both of those recipes as I'm really not fond of Chili as I know it.
Do you put chopped onions on top, like with Chili Dogs?

 

[RCJoe]

A friend of mine likes to make this hotdog sauce she calls "Greek Sauce".

She tells a story about Greek immigrants who worked with the Circus when they came to America long ago. They would make this simple sauce for the hotdogs and their vendors would work the audience selling the hotdogs they made.

Here is a link to a recipe:

https://www.food.com/recipe/original-greek-coney-sauce-97031

For myself I like to take a can of Hormel chili without beans and heat it a bit, and then begin to add Cattleman's Kansas City Classic BBQ sauce to it. I take dry onion flakes 1/4 Cup in a bowl and add 1/2 Cup of boiling water to reconstitute them. After a couple minutes I pour the water off
to drain them before stirring these onions into the chili sauce.

This is pretty much a stand alone hotdog sauce for me, but I've added yellow mustard and sweet pickle relish to the dogs for my guest.

I've experimented with this by adding 1 TB of apple butter which wasn't bad. Then another time by adding 1 TB of Concord Grape Jelly which was also good. But I experiment like that.

 

[msmofet]

Tonight, my sister and I were on the phone and she said, "I'm taking Dad to Dogs-n-Suds for a coney dog and root beer." Now all I want is this for dinner! In the town where I grew up, there were two notable root beer stands. The first was Dogs-n-Suds A&W root beer and then Pop's Root Beer Stand. I am doubly blessed to have recipes for both! Does anyone have a coney sauce that reminds them of summertime back when your only wheels was on a Schwinn?


Dog-n-Suds Coney Sauce

1 pound of ground beef
2 tablespoons of prepared mustard
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon tabasco sauce
1 small onion chopped

2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
ketchup as needed



Brown ground beef with onion over medium heat breaking up the meat to a fine crumble. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients, except ketchup. Mix well and then add enough ketchup to keep the mixture loose. Simmer partially covered for 1 hour adding ketchup as needed. (I use Heinz, but Dogs-n-Suds supposedly used Hunts ketchup.)


Pop's Root Beer "Spanish" Hot Dog Sauce
2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup of water
2 cups Hunts ketchup
4 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 teaspoon "plain Morton's salt"


Do not cook ground beef first. Mix raw ground meat with everything together in a pot. Simmer for 1 hour. Spoon over hotdogs.



Spanish Dogs and root beer were the things to get. Pop's was the place to see and be seen and the park was around the corner. Get your dog, then go to the park and then off to Frozen Custard! All three places were drive up and order. Ah, Summertime!

Thank you for the recipes.


I grew up with Rascal's (especially good after bar hopping when I was older) and Hot grill dogs or burgers. Usually one of each because they were both great. I like mine "all the way" - dog or burger, mustard, sauce, raw onion (cheese is an option).

A&W was for a frosty glass mug root beer floats.


The other good hot places were Callahan's and Hiram's.

 

[Kathleen]

Kathleen, this is interesting to me as I've never had anything like you describe. I was raised out here in California, and we grew up on Chili Dogs, but that's nothing more than chili on top of dogs.

I really want to try both of those recipes as I'm really not fond of Chili as I know it.
Do you put chopped onions on top, like with Chili Dogs?

For the Dogs-n-Suds dog, I put chopped onions and mustard on it. For Pop's, I ate them just with the sauce. Rootbeer in frosty mugs with both.

A friend of mine likes to make this hotdog sauce she calls "Greek Sauce".

She tells a story about Greek immigrants who worked with the Circus when they came to America long ago. They would make this simple sauce for the hotdogs and their vendors would work the audience selling the hotdogs they made.

Here is a link to a recipe:

https://www.food.com/recipe/original-greek-coney-sauce-97031

For myself I like to take a can of Hormel chili without beans and heat it a bit, and then begin to add Cattleman's Kansas City Classic BBQ sauce to it. I take dry onion flakes 1/4 Cup in a bowl and add 1/2 Cup of boiling water to reconstitute them. After a couple minutes I pour the water off
to drain them before stirring these onions into the chili sauce.

This is pretty much a stand alone hotdog sauce for me, but I've added yellow mustard and sweet pickle relish to the dogs for my guest.

I've experimented with this by adding 1 TB of apple butter which wasn't bad. Then another time by adding 1 TB of Concord Grape Jelly which was also good. But I experiment like that.

I like your experiments. The Greek sauce sounds good too.



MsMofet - I am glad you don't put ketchup on it. I like mine much the same way for chili dogs.



PF - Be sure to let us know what you think!


Vinylhanger, ME TOO or THREE....or.....

 

[DaveSoMD]

I have got to try these!! Looks like I'll be firing up the grill this weekend!

Tonight, my sister and I were on the phone and she said, "I'm taking Dad to Dogs-n-Suds for a coney dog and root beer." Now all I want is this for dinner! In the town where I grew up, there were two notable root beer stands. The first was Dogs-n-Suds A&W root beer and then Pop's Root Beer Stand. I am doubly blessed to have recipes for both! Does anyone have a coney sauce that reminds them of summertime back when your only wheels was on a Schwinn?


Dog-n-Suds Coney Sauce

1 pound of ground beef
2 tablespoons of prepared mustard
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon tabasco sauce
1 small onion chopped

2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
ketchup as needed



Brown ground beef with onion over medium heat breaking up the meat to a fine crumble. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients, except ketchup. Mix well and then add enough ketchup to keep the mixture loose. Simmer partially covered for 1 hour adding ketchup as needed. (I use Heinz, but Dogs-n-Suds supposedly used Hunts ketchup.)


Pop's Root Beer "Spanish" Hot Dog Sauce
2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup of water
2 cups Hunts ketchup
4 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 teaspoon "plain Morton's salt"


Do not cook ground beef first. Mix raw ground meat with everything together in a pot. Simmer for 1 hour. Spoon over hotdogs.



Spanish Dogs and root beer were the things to get. Pop's was the place to see and be seen and the park was around the corner. Get your dog, then go to the park and then off to Frozen Custard! All three places were drive up and order. Ah, Summertime!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

It's supposed to rain, I guess I could get a small grill for on the deck. My Char-Broil can't be used on the deck or the roof gets too hot.

 

[Kathleen]

I have got to try these!! Looks like I'll be firing up the grill this weekend!

It's supposed to rain, I guess I could get a small grill for on the deck. My Char-Broil can't be used on the deck or the roof gets too hot.

Or steam them!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

In western New York there is a small chain of hot dog places called Ted's Charcoal Hots. They have a special sort of chili sauce they developed for their hot dogs and it is beyond belief. The difference between Ted's sauce and cony sauces is there is no meat in it. You just slather it on the hot dog along with the other condiments you desire. Now they bottle it and sell it on line, but the shipping will kill you because they're thick glass bottles. In fact, shipping doubles the price. Even Amazon wants $13.99 for a $5.99 bottle of Ted's sauce, with free delivery of course.

So, before they started bottling it, being the inventive person that I am, I bought a styrafoam cup of sauce from the hot dog stand and went about making a copycat sauce of my own. After much disappointing trial and error, I finally hit upon the recipe that comes as close as anyone will ever get to the real thing. Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try it, or reminisces, like I do, about no longer having it.

Hot Dog Sauce​

Ingredients:

• 1½ tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 cups water
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 tsp corn syrup
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 1 10-oz jar sweet pickle relish

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers. Sauté the diced onion and bell pepper in the oil for 5 minutes, until the onions are soft but not brown.

Add the water, tomato paste, corn syrup, cornstarch, salt, and red pepper flakes, and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the vinegar and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the sauce is rich and thick. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the relish. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

 

[RCJoe]

As a kid I was with my family on a trip to Niagara Falls, NY. This is the first time I've heard a reference to "Charcoal Hots" since. Dad bought one but it seems like he got it at a "Food Trailer" type of stand. It also runs in my memory that the dog was in a bright red casing. (these are around still today and usually labeled, "HOT")

I intend to try your Ted's knock off recipe. But can you tell me what type of dog they use. As I've traveled thru the New England area I've noticed that there are many different kinds of hotdogs. The last I had was a Saugy Dog
in Rhode Island where I had relatives.

Do they use hotdogs like these:

 

[GotGarlic]

Or steam them!

Wet dogs?! Ew! If I can't grill them, I broil them in the toaster oven

 

[GotGarlic]

Kathleen, this is interesting to me as I've never had anything like you describe. I was raised out here in California, and we grew up on Chili Dogs, but that's nothing more than chili on top of dogs.

I really want to try both of those recipes as I'm really not fond of Chili as I know it.
Do you put chopped onions on top, like with Chili Dogs?

These are more like barbecue sauce with ground beef.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Wet dogs?! Ew! If I can't grill them, I broil them in the toaster oven

I know you don't like beer, but hot dogs steamed in beer are delicious! They really aren't wet, more like juicy. Lum's was a very popular restaurant chain for decades when I was growing up and during my young adulthood in Ohio and Florida, and other places; they were known for their hot dogs steamed in beer.

 

[GotGarlic]

I know you don't like beer, but hot dogs steamed in beer are delicious! They really aren't wet, more like juicy. Lum's was a very popular restaurant chain for decades when I was growing up and during my young adulthood in Ohio and Florida, and other places; they were known for their hot dogs steamed in beer.

My dad used to like his that way when I was growing up. I love the crispy caramelization you get on grilled or broiled hot dogs.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That way is good, too. When we have Brats on the grill, I steam them for a bit in beer before Himself puts them on the grill. Sometimes do that with 'dogs, too. Best of both worlds!

 

[CraigC]

Or steam them!

I know you don't like beer, but hot dogs steamed in beer are delicious! They really aren't wet, more like juicy. Lum's was a very popular restaurant chain for decades when I was growing up and during my young adulthood in Ohio and Florida, and other places; they were known for their hot dogs steamed in beer.

I always like hotdogs steamed in beer, hotdogs on steamer basket, beer below basket. Here is my version of Coney Sauce:

This is based on a preparation I use for pan seared and sauteed hotdog that are served over mashed potatoes. The sauce by itself makes a good topping for hotdogs. I usually add mustard on top of the sauce and chopped sweet onion. It is a recipe my Oma used to make.

Ingredients
1 Can 14.5 oz stewed tomatoes
1 Medium onion thinly sliced
1 to 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp EVOO
Crystal or other hot sauce to taste
Chicken stock or water as needed

Directions
(1) In a sauce pan, over med-high add the olive oil.
(2) Add onions and saute until soft. Adding stock if needed to keep from drying out.
(3) Add garlic until fragrant.
(4) Add stewed tomatoes and hot sauce, simmer till thickened.
Serve immediately!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

As child, l loved hot dogs heated in a pot with good baked beans. A grat sauce is to use the ingrediants that are used to make you favorite baked beans. Use plenty of minced onion in the sauce, along with tomato puree. When your sauce has the flavor you love, kick it up with some Tabasco, or Sriracha.

When I grill my dogs, i cook the with the indirect method so that they are perfe tly browned, with no burnt skin. If pan frying, it's in an almost dry CI pan over mediun heat, rolling them constatly ontil evenly browned.

Of couse, a great topping is a beanless chili, with swiss chees, or you favorite cheese sauce on top. Use high quality hot dogs. If you are going to be eating these less than wholesome treats, make it worth it.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

As a kid I was with my family on a trip to Niagara Falls, NY. This is the first time I've heard a reference to "Charcoal Hots" since. Dad bought one but it seems like he got it at a "Food Trailer" type of stand. It also runs in my memory that the dog was in a bright red casing. (these are around still today and usually labeled, "HOT")

I intend to try your Ted's knock off recipe. But can you tell me what type of dog they use. As I've traveled thru the New England area I've noticed that there are many different kinds of hotdogs. The last I had was a Saugy Dog
in Rhode Island where I had relatives.

Do they use hotdogs like these:

Ted's uses Sahlen's Natural Casing hot dogs exclusively. It's a Buffalo product, but you can order them on line from https://www.citymade.com/ or https://buffalofoodproducts.com/ Be sure to pick up a bottle of Weber's horseradish mustard too!