I wrote a bit about Usinger’s the other day. Here’s the rest of the story, as I prepare to dig into their natural casing “Old World Recipe” wieners. Pretty straightforward ingredients with these pups, beef and pork, water, spices, sugar, salt, paprika, and a couple of the sodiums as a preservative, in a natural lamb casing. My kind of dog. Mrs. Burgerdogboy will be sorry she missed out on these, she loves a good hot dog.
Back to the story.
Immigrant Fred Usinger Sr. arrived in Milwaukee from Frankfurt (!) in 1880, took over a little butcher shop in downtown, and eventually married a niece of the former owner. Four generations later, family members are still running the company, which has grown to become a Milwaukee institution with a national reputation, in fact, Usinger’s hot dogs were the official supplier to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake. That’s recognition!
Usinger’s makes a wide variety of smoked and fresh sausages, in addition to deli meats. Their hot dogs are described by many as “the best in the nation”, and received that accolade also in a 1984 book called “The Book of Bests“.
If you can’t get to the Upper Midwest, then just type in the URL, press click, and enjoy these great products at home.