Authentic Flint Coney Sauce in Angelo's Style
While this is not how Abbott’s made their sauce, it was definitely a fun experiment.
For years now I’ve been making my own version of the Flint-style coney sauce. During the summer of 2008 over a period of three months the kids and I sold hot dogs with this sauce, making 72 five-quart batches of my own version of the recipe. But while we all enjoy this sauce, both then and now, I’ve always had the urge to create my own version of the original sauce as served at Angelo’s in Flint.
One morning, we finally got the chance.
The results? The boys loved it. Caleb, who ran the beachhouse with me in 2008, said it was better than what we’d made there. Adam just called it “excellent”. Briahna liked it … but said it was still “creepy” because of the organ meats. Mary said it was good but not as good as the beachhouse version. She also said we probably shouldn’t tell people what’s in it until after they try it.
Authentic Flint Coney Sauce in Angelo’s Style
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb Beef Heart
- 1/2 lb Beef kidney
- 2 lb 80/20 ground chuck
- 4 Tbsp Shortening or lard
- 4 Tbsp Butter not margarine
- 2 tsp Garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp Mustard, ground
- 3 – 5 Tbsp Cumin, ground to taste
- 5 Tbsp Chili powder, mild
- Kosher salt
- Pepper, black, ground
Instructions
- Freeze the beef heart, kidney, and ground beef (or thaw, if they're already frozen) to about 32°F, but to no cooler than that.
- Trim the harder fat from the frozen beef heart.
- Cut the frozen heart into 1” slices.
- Grind the beef heart, kidney, and ground beef together, before they thaw too much.
- Put the ground meats into a freezer bag and distribute in the bag to an even thickness.
- Refreeze the ground meats, again to about 32°F.
- Grind the refrozen meats a second time.
- Set the pot over low heat and melt the lard and butter in the saucepan. When the fats are melted, add the ground heart, kidney, chuck, the garlic and ground mustard and stir well.
- Let the sauce simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t allow the meat to dry out; add a tablespoon each of butter and lard if necessary and lower the heat when necessary. At the end of the 45 minutes, add the chili powder, and add the ground cumin to taste. Also add salt and pepper to taste, then simmer the sauce another 5 minutes before serving.
- For best results, serve on grilled Koegel Viennas that have been cooked over low heat (250F) so the natural casing snaps when bitten.
Notes
Don’t use garlic powder instead of minced garlic. Throw that powdered stuff away … it’s not the same. However, granulated garlic is an excellent substitute for minced garlic.
My family has always enjoyed Angelo’s Coney’s. It has been a tradition for as long as I can remember and I am 63 Going to try this for after Christmas dinner. Thank You.
I remember going to Angelo’s many years ago. Best Coney I have ever had. I have always wanted to make my own, since I now live so far from Angelo’s.
My wife and I are giving this a try today after finding this.
to bad that angelos had to close we traveled from saginaw to flint for a coney on special occasions- always angelos and then saginaw had tonys steak sandwich- that was always a treat and when dad got his income tax money he would take all 10 of us kids to tonys for dinner- steak sandwich-ff-and bananna split
Hi Carol… Before shutting down, the last owner of the original Angelo’s had opened a few satelite locations. There’s one still left, on Grand Blanc Rd. just off US23. New owners have kept it open, here’s their web site:
https://www.aplusangelosconeyisland.com
The location in Grand Blanc is now closed. It’s too bad, because I LOVED ordering their hamburger deluxe with a side of French fries and brown gravy. 🤤
Where is the Cumin? I know it’s in there I could smell it while making a batch. Of course, The two “Tom’s” (owners at the time) premixed the spices. I worked at Angelo’s while in high school in the late 70’s. Tony. Hi Danny and Angie!
Hi Tony… That’s a really good question. Thanks for catching that!! I know it was in there, it must have gotten lost in the transition. I’ve added it as “3 – 5 Tbsp Cumin, ground” so people can add it to taste.
Wow, Gus kept this recipe under lock & key. My family is in Florida and we make Coney sauce at the holidays (to go with Koegel viennas of course!!). The first time I walked in to mom’s kitchen when she made it, it took me right back to Franklin & Hamilton. I sure do miss this pklace. Glad to see the authentic recipe being shared.
Question! How coarse do you grind your meats each time? And thank you for compiling all these recipes.
Hi Mike … Grind it almost as fine as you can.