Hot Dog Poll and Query

[Fido]

I was just listening to someone who's supposedly qualified to do so give an endorsement of Nathan's Hot Dogs as the best hot dogs anywhere, or something like that. How can that be? Aside from the fact that some are made from beef and some from pork, what the hell is the difference? Aren't hot dogs a relatively undifferentiated product? Or am I all wrong?

I'm not qualified to answer, because I've never really liked hot dogs that much. I have to be pretty hungry to eat them.

Bratwurst is another story, especially if grilled. Italian sausage or kielbasa or other variants I like a lot too.

What are everyone's thoughts about hot dogs or sausages? Are there aficionadoes of either out there?

Also, I thought we needed another pointless poll about nothing, a la cake vs. pie. Too much serious stuff going on in the world right now.

[Emily]

Never had one in my entire life!

[Beth]

Never had one in my entire life!

Me neither!

[break]

The Applegate Farms ones are really good, they use grass fed beef and are relatively low fat for how tasty they are. 

[JonFromMaplewood]

Smart dogs taste like carpet lining, but they keep me away from the Hebrew National hot dogs that I crave.

But my favorite back when I used to eat meat was the salami with spicy pepper casing.  Droooool.



How much you want to wager I am not a vegetarian this time next year?

[A.M. Thomas]

The Applegate Farms ones are really good, they use grass fed beef and are relatively low fat for how tasty they are. 

Woah, I have to try these.

I like hot dogs all right, but they can't compare to a nice bratwurst mit Käse.

[break]

Aside from the fact that some are made from beef and some from pork, what the hell is the difference? Aren't hot dogs a relatively undifferentiated product? Or am I all wrong?

Some differences include the spices used, quality/fat content of the meat, and the casing.  I think if you ate the cheapest hot dog you could find in the supermarket and then had a Hebrew National for comparison you would notice a difference.

I'm always bummed I can rarely find this midwest staple in new york grocery stores.

[yesno]

Hot dog scientist.

[Gilly]

Nathan's hot dogs are really good and a lot different than the standard grocery store brand. They're pretty expensive for hot dogs though, usually around 5 dollars a pack. Uncured hot dogs are always good too and I also like Hormel Wranglers.

[Regular Joe]

[Sarah]

The Applegate Farms ones are really good, they use grass fed beef and are relatively low fat for how tasty they are. 

Ha!  Just yesterday, I put in an order for those at the local co-op.

[Andy]

I have a hard time believing anyone has not eaten a hot dog before.  Even if you had the hippiest parents around, it seems like at some point when you were a kid you would have been fed one at a school field trip or at a picnic or something.

And it's like anything.  you can get shitty hotdogs (which still taste ok) or good hot dogs (which taste great) and you can definitely tell a difference between the two.

[todd]

Nathans Hot Dogs are super greasy (and thus, super delicious). I buy them, but I can only handle like one a month.

[snogrog]

If ever in Maine, you all should try out some of our infamous red hot dogs. They are natural casing hot dogs that are colored bright red. You can only get them in Maine I believe. So good. So unnatural, but so good.

[Sarah]

Not a fan.  Although I wouldn't turn one down in the proper circumstances (town barbecues, state fairs, etc.).  In fact, I'd be disappointed to get anything else.

The best hot dogs I ever ate were from Jo Goldenberg's deli in Paris in 1977.*  I had been sans dogs for a year, and finally getting to eat a couple was a joyous event.  For all I know, they weren't even anything special; novelty may have been entirely responsible for their savor.  Still, a happy memory.

*Fun fact:  Goldenberg's was bombed five years later.  It was rebuilt, though.