What puzzles me most about Cecils explanation is the assumption that it’s usual standard to buy both hot dogs and buns in (sealed in plastic) packs, instead of fresh at the meat and baker counter respectivly.
Do neither the mega-supermarkets like Wal-mart nor the “normal” supermarkets in the US have a counter for fresh meat and bread (and cheese), and these foods are only sold ready-made in sealed packages?
Or are hot dog sausages and buns for them so unusual that the counters don’t carry them?
Because over here if people feel inclined to make hot dogs themselves (As opposed to just buying them on the street), they would buy Wiener sausages (as they’re called) at the meat counter or even the butcher, and the buns separately at the baker (counter).
Although the buns are of different (tastier) quality from the baker than those wrapped sponges, and thus can be eaten alone; similarly, left-over Wieners can be eaten just with mustard.
You have to keep in mind we eat a lot of hot dogs over here. According to hot-dog.org:
With an appetite of this scale, supermarket shelves need to be topped up with prepackaged hot-dog supplies 24x7, in addition to all those purchased fresh at the butcher and from street vendors. But your point is mentioned in this similar theory about the 10 vs. 8 packaging situation - it didn’t become an issue until people bought mass-produced packaged hot dogs.
Yes it is possible to get hot dogs at the meat counter but the prevalent way to buy them is prepackaged in the lunchmeat aisle, and to also get the buns prepackaged. We in the US suffer from a lack of butcher shops and bakeries. We have a few scattered around, but the nearest actual no shit butchers shop is some 40 miles away from home. Never been there but there is a bakery about 15 miles away [I prefer to bake my own bread] but I am not sure of they make hot dog rolls offhand.
In Germany you have 10 companies making 100 flavors of canned soup, in the US you have 100 companies making 10 flavors of canned soup … corporations and stores stock for the lowest common denominator, the most generic and people go along with it I really miss shopping for food in Europe. sigh
Street carts are something found in downtowns of American cities. Which is where most Americans don’t live. Most Americans live in suburbs, or in the large rings of residences around downtowns, and so never see a street cart at all.
In addition, hot dogs are generally considered childrens’ foods so parents need to have them on hand for immediate use. Our hot dogs generally come 12 to a pound, so they aren’t giant sized sausages that young kids would have trouble with. They also have more preservatives and last longer. There is no tradition of buying food fresh daily. We buy in bulk and freeze.
One last note. Cecil’s column is from 1987. The question would never get asked today. I haven’t seen a package of 10 rolls in decades.
Most Americans may not live downtown, but many of them work there, or have occasion to go downtown for various errands. I’d imagine that most Americans have seen hot dog carts, even if they haven’t necessarily ordered from them.
I don’t think ANY of the hot dog buns the grocery store I work at sells are 10-packs - it’s all either 8 or 10. Oscar Meyer is the only brand that still makes a 10-count package of dogs as far as I know - otherwise 8 is the standard, except for Hebrew National which does 6 and Nathan’s which has a jumbo size that comes in a 5-count.
But Mittenthal basically quotes the hot-dog.org article linked above nearly verbatim. Actually, so does the article in a couple of places, like when it talks about hit dog packages first showing up in the 40s.
The answer to the original question is ridiculously simple: It is so that the person grilling the dogs can nibble from the grill and still have enough to cover the bun count.
Sausages can be had at butcher counters. Hot dogs, not so much. We’re not far from a deli/restaurant owned by a Ukrainian immigrant who arrived here some 60 years ago. Their deli counter has every kind of smoked and fresh sausage you can imagine.
Hebrew National went from 8 to 7 and is now at 6. I checked several other brands and they were all at 6 for standard dogs. Oscar Meyer still has ten, 8 for “bun-length”. Didn’t all hot dogs used to be “bun-length”? Wouldn’t you have felt cheated as a kid if your dog didn’t meet up with the end of a bun?
I felt cheated that anybody who has gone to a store in the last decade can ask this buggy whip of a question and get taken seriously. Though I wonder whether the expert gave his answer back in 2005 or thereabouts.
Mittenthal reveals: “It’s possible that we might see equal-sized portions in the future, as there have been some efforts in recent years from hot dog companies to match the number of dogs to the number of buns.”
Efforts? We’ve seen “some efforts”? We should put as much effort into ending homelessness. We’d see some real progress if we had.
Double-checked at work today. Bar S, Foster Farms, and Ball Park, which are the “non-premium” brands we carry, are all 8-counts. Aside from Hebrew National, 6-count packages are strictly bratwursts and “smoked sausages” and the like, like Hilshire Farm and Johnsonville.
In my experience, “bun-length” just means the dog is the same weight as the standard frank, but longer and skinnier.
Personally, these days I go for the Nathan’s quarter-pounders most of the time. It’s pricey ($10 for an 8-count) but well worth it, and I only need one dog to fill me up whereas I’d usually eat two standard-sized dogs.
I am not sure how relevent my memories might be, but as a child in the 50s the buns seemed to “fit” the hot dogs. I do recall, some time in the late 60s or early 70s that some times we got skinnier hot dogs that were longer; my Dad always bought Oscar Mayer but I think he did occassionally branch out to more specialized items. His dad had a smoke house on the property so Dad was a bit of a connoisseur
Here in Chicago, our main local hot dog brand is Vienna Beef: they have 10:1, 8:10, 6:1, and 4:1 hot dogs, as far as I remember. (The number means how many to the pound). For retail, these days, they are almost exclusively sold skinless, but at the factory store you can get at least the 8:1s as natural casing dogs. (Looking online, they sell the 6:1 as natural casing, as well. 10:1 and 4:1 seem exclusively skinless.)There are also a number of hot dog stands that offer a natural casing product, but these are becoming more and more rare (to my chagrin.) So they do come in all sorts of sizes and the length varies slightly between products. The natural casing 8:1s tend to be longer and thinner than the skinless 8:1s.
I really miss shopping for food in Europe. sigh