best hot dogs?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
41

These are really good:

42

Mike,

Next time you’re up this way in the summer, we have to take you to this place:

http://pirateslakesidegrill.com

It’s owned by friends of ours. It’s BYOB. And they serve:

  • Nathan’s All Beef Dog
    Route 66 Smokehouse Wynantskill Smoked Weiner (locally made and my favorite)
    Usinger’s Milwaukee Wiener
    Zwiegle’s German Red Frank (Natural Casing)
    Zwiegle’s White – Natural Casing Veal & Pork, Nitrate Free
    Local Grass-Fed, Nitrate-Free; made just for the PLG by Tilldale Farm of Hoosick , NY

And you can get a sampler with one of each!

They also serve:

  • Usinger’s Course Ground Bratwurst
    Usinger’s 1/4 lb. Milwaukee Knackwurst

Anybody coming up to the Berkshires or the Capital District during the summer should check this place out.

43

Sounds great, Ken. Hopefully we can do that soon.
Cheers!

44

Bump
8 years without arguing about hot dogs?
[stirthepothal.gif] [berserker.gif]

45

Costco is still $1.50

46

Still gross. My wife buys them for dog training.

47

We used to be able to get Nathan’s natural casing hot dogs at supermarkets here in “the OC” but they seem to have disappeared over the past year or so. The natural casing gives it that ‘snap’.

48

Ok, since my last post there is a new top player in the field, and while I do not eat them often, Pat La Freida’s are awesome when I indulge.

49

How does everyone prepare theirs and why do you think steaming is the right method?

50

Can’t argue that. You must hate your dog

51

Nathan’s Natural Casing were always my “go to” but I haven’t been able to find them for the last few years.

Since Hot Dogs are a guilty pleasure, for me, the natural casing is a must or it isn’t worth it.

I’ve cycled through a few natural casing alternatives but none have hit the mark so far. Next candidate: Feltman’s Coney Island.

52

Hummels were the go to brand growing up in CT. It looks like they still only sell in CT. Not sure I’d go through the trouble of having hot dogs shipped to me.

53

we like these dogs

54

I like these:

A pork/veal blend with natural casing from a Polish butcher in NJ.

55

I’ll leave the discussion of which brand of hot dog is best to the others as I, candidly, just toss whatever we have on-hand on the grill and it seems that what we have on-hand is generally different each time I look. I guess I’ll have to start paying closer attention to which brands I like most/least.

Having said the above, in the last two years or so we started prepping our hot dogs differently by either spiral-cutting or doing a criss-cross scoring pattern that has made a world of difference when tossed on the grill. Doing so gives amazing results with lots of texture and crunch on the charred bits that develop over an open fire (my preferred cooking method) and make for a noteworthy presentation.

56

Love their rye bread
Never tried their dogs
Will have to do a side by side with my fave
Swiss Pork Store
Fair Lawn, NJ

57

I love both hot dogs and brats.
Big fan of the KC Cattle Company.
Both the dogs and brats.
Delicious.

58

Figured I’d post a pic of the cross-hatch cut hot dogs we cooked for lunch today as a reference:

2 Likes
59

I buy Miller’s Colossal Beef Franks. Good size, good flavor. I’ve tried all kinds including Wagyu but when it comes down to it we want a hot dog not a steak. Something to go on a bun with some brown mustard and a ball game.

60

Those look fantastic with their mustard-catching trenches. Do you score both sides?