gagger, you could be right. I plan to spoon as much of the salt that I can off. It's mostly very crusty and easy to see! I have tasted the liquid at the edges, and it's YES! VERY SALTY! Underneath, there is no salt, so I'm hoping it will equal out. I will definitely update this thread when it happens, but it sure is fun to watch the ferment. I'm thinking 2 or 3 weeks, and then hit it with vinegar and bottle. If it is too salty, lucky me, I've got a bunch of frozen jalapenos in the freezer, so I may have to ferment those without salt, and add them to the salty batch. I could probably kick up the ferment with a little sugar and some wine yeast. Tobasco ferments in oak for 3 years! I don't think I could do that! Waaay too long. I even have an oak barrel, but that is for wine! Most of the joy of doing this is anticipating the flavors that happen, and sharing it with family and friends, with them knowing they can't BUY this stuff! They have to come for a visit to get a taste!! My family likes heat! We are California natives, and have lived close to Mexico forever, so we do like it Spicy HOT!! tracydr, So you added vinegar after 10 days, right? Good luck with your canning! I prefer freezing, fermenting, brining, stuff like that. I fear the lid of the pressure cooker flying off and hitting me! LOL!! Nice to see you post, so i know the garlic in your ferment did not kill you! The sour dough starter gave me a lot of comfort with fermenting. half flour/half water, the bubbles come, and over the years, it just gets better! I don't have a dog or a cat or a fish. Just my Yeasties! And I only have to feed them now and then! Suzi

There is a Carolina Cayenne listed above(developed in the U.S.A. 100,000-125,000)that gets in the range the add says. When I grew it ,it was hotter than regular Cayenne but I only grew it once. There are probably tons of hybrids/developed cayenne types out there that are in all different heat ranges. I was refering to Cayenne in general. Maybe it was my growing conditions but in general , I don't think Cayenne peppers pack that much heat. I haven't grown them in a while. I use mostly C.Chinense,Baccatums and Pubescens for my powders and rubs heat. Annuums I use mostly for flavor.Especially Chile Negro , Poblano and Cascabel. For short intense bursts of heat a lot of the Frutescens do the trick. I grow a lot of Pubescens too. They'll fool you though. They have all 3 kinds of Caspaicin in them so they feel hotter than they are. They hit up all the receptors in your mouth. I'm more into using several types of peppers to blend together to get the taste and heat i want. I'm growing several strains of 7 Pot,Trinidad Scorpion ,Nagas and Bhuts this year with a couple seasoning type peppers to mellow them out. I guess if the growers are using a similar strain to the Carolina Cayenne type for their powder it could reach up to 125,000 units. I've just never had a Cayenne that I thaught was anything to write home about as far as heat goes. I did like yellow Cayenne better than the other ones for taste when I grew them a few years back. I've grown several different ones.Regular assorted Cayennes,Long Slim,Long red,Yellow,Carolina,Thomas Jefferson,African,Purple,Super,Orange,Golden,Turkish,Picante,Portugal,Processing and sweet.

bulldinkie- I'm not sure I would take the advise of a "nutritionalist" (aka nutritionist) who uses mindless generalities based on cost, instead of actual facts - like the nutrition facts found on the labels on the packages of hot dogs. When I teach nutrition classes we focus on the actual nutrition of foods. FYI: Boar's Head Lite Beef Frankfurters are higher in protein (which probably means less fillers), lower in sodium, carbs and fat than most hot dogs out there. Plus they are gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free. But then, the original poster was asking us to recommend a "very good hot dog" without stipulation of cost, nutritional profile, or other factors. As we all know, taste is subjective. -Grainlady

This is has been my favorite hot dog chili for several years now. You could make it sweeter by adding more sugar or substituting brown sugar for the regular sugar. * Exported from MasterCook * Hot Dog Chili from Aiken Pool Hall, Aiken, SC Recipe By : Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 lb. hamburger meat 4 med onions -- diced/chopped 4 Tbsp mustard -- yellow 3 tsp sugar 2 tsp vinegar -- apple cider 2 tsp chili powder 1 cup catsup salt -- to season Break up the hamburger meat and put into a 4-qt. pan. Add enough hot water to make a thick mix. Stir until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook slowly for 1 hour. Can be thinned as needed with water or beer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : The Aiken Pool Hall, Aiken, SC, is famous for having the best chili dogs in the area. Source: recipesource.com