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Aug 10, 2023

White Eagle hot dogs are Fourth of July tradition

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Schenectady

The business has been handed from father to son and father to son again, but the White Eagle Packing Company's special hot dog recipe has not changed in 95 years.

On Monday, the company made 45,000 skinless frankfurters in its rush to prepare orders for the Fourth of July.

The beef and pork are chopped, put into a large holder, pass through a stuffing machine, and are made into links at up to 300 pounds a minute before being smoked.

If there are technical names for the machines, George Markiewicz doesn't use them; chopper, bucket, stuffer and smoker suffice.

Markiewicz, 65, owns the company with his wife, Christine, and said preparing for the business's two biggest holidays, July 4 and Memorial Day, has never been easy. Orders nearly triple during the week preceding those holidays compared to average summer weeks. Markiewicz and his wife expect to put in about 55 hours at the plant this week.

What drives them?

"It's the pride in it," Markiewicz said. "People come up to us and say, 'I love your hot dogs.' I never got tired of that — the pride of owning a business that people seem to appreciate."

"But, it's a lot of hard work," he added, especially when the machines break down, which seems to happen every other day.

Markiewicz's father, Adolph, who owned the company for more than two decades beginning in 1952, used to enjoy repairing the machines. A former General Electric toolmaker and race car driver, Adolph worked at the business until he was 80.

Markiewicz doesn't remember the company under its founder and his grandfather, Peter, who died when he was a one-year-old, but he does remember washing trucks, folding boxes and pulling ivy off the walls of the growing business with his brother when they were in their teens.

White Eagle is a genuine family affair.

Markiewicz's brother was a co-owner and their mother helped with finances until both died. Now, Christine handles many of the duties and sets up deliveries to dozens of stores including major markets like Price Chopper, Hannaford and Wal-Mart.

The plant on Congress Street also sells meat at a counter just a few feet from where the products are made.

A pound of skinless franks goes for $4.59, about a dollar less than at the supermarkets. Markiewicz and his wife do not have children, but he said a niece or nephew may eventually decide to work at the business.

Being the owner of a family business that has thrived for nearly 100 years in Schenectady means Markiewicz is recognized throughout the region — if not by face, then by name.

"If I run into someone I don't know and I tell them what I do, they feel like they know me, and that's a neat feeling," he said. "I feel like a celebrity sometimes. I never take it for granted."

About once a month, a customer who is leaving the Capital Region calls Markiewicz and asks if he can ship meats long distance. The dry ice and overnight shipping that would be necessary make the process too costly, but Markiewicz appreciates that customers don't want to give up White Eagle hot dogs.

On Friday, employees wearing black rubber boots and jeans guided meat through machines, tying the ends of sausages and hanging them on labeled racks. Not including the Markiewiczs, there are about 10 employees, mostly Schenectady residents.

Customers regularly ask the Markiewiczs for recipes, but they enjoy simple preparation and the taste of a well-made hot dog, rarely experimenting.

"It'd be nice to be at that end of it, but I'm just so busy," Markiewicz said.

Christine likes to put onions and salsa on her hot dogs or cover them in chili. Markiewicz said he used to line one hot dog with mustard and one with ketchup and alternate bites. Now, he usually just adds onions.

As people around the Capital Region and beyond grab up White Eagle hot dogs for cookouts and parties this weekend the couple will be getting away from the company, boating and relaxing in the Adirondacks.

"We close at 3 on Friday," Markiewicz said. "By 3:10, we'll be on our way up."

[email protected] • 518-454-5012 • @Nickatnews