Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
See how Sahlen's iconic smokehouse hot dogs are made in the Buffalo plant that has been in the family for five generations.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
A truck leaves the shipping facility with a load of products headed for the market at the Sahlen Packing Co., which has operated on Howard Street in Buffalo since 1869.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Don Becker hangs up a rack of all-beef hot dogs as they are produced on the hot dog line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
The process of making all-beef hot dogs begins with workers loading cuts of beef to be ground and mixed in the hot dog production area.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Fresh beef is ground and blended with spices at the beginning of the process for making all-beef hot dogs.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Don Becker hangs all-beef hot dogs as they are produced.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Bill Gworek pushes a cart of turkey breasts into one of 10 giant smokehouses.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
A worker moves a rack of freshly smoked hams to the packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Trish Myers keeps an eye on the equipment as hot dogs are loaded into the packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
After being broken up into individual hot dogs by the first phase of the machine, the smokehouse hot dogs are fed into the packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Kathy Starr sets up the packaging on the hot dog packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Workers load skinless hot dogs into a machine that strips the artificial casing off the hot dogs on the packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Workers carefully measure skinless hot dogs by hand and load them into 5-pound packages on the packaging line.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
After passing the packages through the high-pressure pasteurization machine, workers load them onto a conveyor to other workers who will box them for market.
Made in WNY: Sahlen Packing Co.
Joseph L. Sahlen is the fifth generation of the Sahlen family to run the Sahlen Packing Co. as it heads into its 150th anniversary year.