Vienna sausage

A small, thin, precooked sausage associated with Vienna and commonly sold canned in the United States. Its name covers different sausage styles in European and American usage.

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Wiener: A slender, smoked sausage associated with Vienna and known in English as a Vienna sausage or frankfurter. This European sausage style is the closest counterpart to the name’s original Viennese association.
Vienna: The capital of Austria, historically known in English as a center of sausage-making traditions. The sausage’s name invokes this city, though its American canned form differs from local Viennese styles.
Shelf-stable food: Food that can be stored safely at room temperature for an extended period without refrigeration. Canned Vienna sausages are sold as a shelf-stable convenience food.
Hot dog: A cooked sausage, usually served in a split roll, especially at casual meals and sporting events. Hot dogs are typically larger and served differently from the small canned sausages.
Frankfurter Würstchen: A protected German sausage traditionally made from pork, lightly smoked, and served heated in hot water. It helps distinguish the European smoked sausage tradition from the American canned product.
Johann Georg Lahner: A butcher credited with developing the frankfurter-style sausage known as the Wiener in Vienna in the early nineteenth century. Lahner’s sausage is part of the history behind the Viennese association.
Retort processing: The heat treatment of sealed food packages to make their contents commercially sterile. Retort processing allows canned sausages to remain safe without refrigeration before opening.
Cocktail sausage: A small sausage served as an appetizer, often with other finger foods. Cocktail sausages resemble Vienna sausages in size but are commonly sold for party serving.
Emulsion sausage: A sausage made from finely ground meat and fat dispersed into a uniform paste. The smooth texture of many canned Vienna sausages comes from finely emulsified meat.
Frankfurt sausage: A traditional German sausage associated with Frankfurt, commonly called a frankfurter in English. The Wiener and Frankfurt sausage traditions are often linked but have distinct regional histories.