I saw this in a tweet and I am honestly not sure what I think about it and I was curious what others think:
“A 10/10 burger beats a 10/10 hot dog but a 5/10 hot dog beats a 5/10 burger”
Assuming they both have whatever toppings you prefer and are cooked the way you like them, do you agree? I am not sure what I think. My instinct is I think I would always prefer the burger but maybe not? What do you think?
Sorry, I have to fight the hypothetical. A hot dog or a hamburger is a simple thing that can be made to be a 10/10. I might accept a 9/10 for either (slightly stale bun).
But a 5/10 burger or dog? No thank you, I’m not hungry.
Yeah, gotta agree here. 5/10 for either and I’m ordering pizza. Stale bun? I’d opt for the dog.
I agree that a top burger beats a top hotdog.
I think it’s not so much that a lousy dog is better than a lousy burger, it’s that screwing up a hot dog is a lot harder than screwing up a burger.
If you purchase a decent quality hot dog, you can just simmer it in hot water and it comes out fine. Burgers require active cooking to get right. They also have a wider variety of toppings, particularly fresh toppings, that can be lousy. Hot dogs are more reliant on commercially prepared toppings that are consistent.
A lot, and I mean a lot depends on whether you allow toppings (I’ll leave bun as a given for the construction of what is considered a hamburger as opposed to a hamburger patty).
If I consider toppings, a moderate hot dog may benefit more because it’s pretty easy to drown out meh flavors with ingredients, which can be harder on a burger with a wider surface. Pretty close though.
I also find that if we’re sticking to hot-dogs as opposed to “sausage onna bun” that burgers come out ahead. A LOT can be done with high end meat, while sausages defined as Hot Dogs (rather than brats, keilbasa, etc) tend to top out pretty low in comparison.
So IMHO given equal mediocre quality, I’ll take a burger over a hot dog given no other choice, and the same at the high end, but if you loosen the definition of “hot dog”, it becomes a lot more likely to take the top spot. I’ve had some amazing smoked duck and duroc pork sausages and would take those over almost any (probably any) burger I’ve ever been served, even my beloved green chili cheeseburger from NM.
If it helps, 10/10 means the best version and 5/10 is average not crap. No one wants a bad hot dog or hamburger.
Hamburgers, or rather cheeseburgers, taste better than hotdogs. However, hamburgers cannot compete with hot dogs for a pure emotional punch.
I feel nostalgic over hot dogs, but not over burgers. I’m not sure why that should be.
Hot dogs and hamburgers should never have been lumped together as similar foods. The only thing they have in common is that both might be served at outdoor barbecues, but they’re completely different things. A hot dog is a simple and mundane thing that can be quite tasty but can only be dressed up to a limited extent. A hamburger has almost unlimited potential to be a thing of beauty! I guess in that sense a bad burger might be more repulsive than a bad hot dog, but I wouldn’t eat an inferior version of either.
In that case, if it’s 5/10 I’ll take the hot dog. If it’s 10/10, no question, a great burger is a thing of beauty! I assume 10/10 means done the way I like it, with all the right ingredients! 
Okay, but if you were forced to eat one which would you choose:
Hamburger formed into the shape of a hotdog eaten on a hotdog bun, or a hotdog formed into the shape of a patty eaten on a hamburger bun?
Is that because of the variations allowed on a burger? My dogs are mustard and onion - end of discussion. My burger may be (depending on my mood)
Classic: dill pickles or dill relish, onion, ketchup. mustard, American cheese
BBQ: Sauce, grilled onions, bacon
Famous Star Style
In n Out Double Double style (I found the recipe for the sauce)
Patty melt with swiss
I prefer a high-quality natural casing hot dog to a high-quality burger. But, even here in Chicago, I find it difficult enough to find a 10/10 hot dog that fits my tastes perfectly. I’ve never gotten what I think of as a “food high” from a hamburger, but I’ve had great hot dogs that have sent me to nirvana. I know I am unusual in this regard.
For the average of the two food stuffs, I will take the burger over the hot dog though. A subquality hot dog is just disappointment to me. Or just eaten for the sake of caloric need.
I’ve done both before. If all I have is hamburger buns, you split the dog lengthways and dress as you normally would. I’ve also formed/sliced a burger patty to fit a brat roll. The former was more distinct and tasty, probably because of the additional char on the dog after splitting.
I think an average burger is still better than an average hot dog. A bad burger is worse than a bad hot dog though.
The ceiling for a hamburger is far higher. But a super hot dog is much easier to find and probably cheaper to acquire.
Oh, I’d agree with that. My scale is weird at the ends – at the ends I’ll take a hot dog, towards the middle I’ll take a burger.
I guess part of it for me is that burgers all end up tasting fairly same-y after awhile. There is a lot more variety in the meat composition part of hot dogs. All pork, all beef, pork-beef blends, veal, natural vs collagen casing vs skinless, spicing, etc. Grilled vs boiled/steamed vs fried vs deep fried. My favorite hot dogs in the world are the Sahlen dogs as served at Ted’s hot dogs in Buffalo, and Vienna beef as served at Gene and Jude’s/Jimmy’s/Rand Red Hots in Chicago for steamed or Wiener Circle for charred. Rochester has some interesting ones with their white hots, as well. I had a dog – can’t remember where – in Syracuse that gave me that “high” feeling I described before. I understand the love for hamburgers, but I feel hot dogs are way underrated in pop culture.
I’m also not much of a toppings guy, which is where hamburgers are more interesting. I tend to only want mustard, ketchup, onions, and pickles on my hamburgers. I will try other hamburgers, but I always gravitate to those. I’ll sometimes do tomatoes and lettuce.
I’ll interpret 5/10 as low in flavor, but not bad tasting in a way that I wouldn’t eat it at all. So a 5/10 dog might be less disappointing than a 5/10 burger. I prefer burgers in general but still like dogs, don’t really want a 5/10 for either, but with nothing else to eat I might pick the lame dog over the lame burger. I think it would be easier to eat the dog and ignore the lack of satisfaction with it more easily than with a lame burger.
When we have friends with kids over and I fire up the grill, the adults all want hamburgers and the kids all want hotdogs. Is that normal?
I grill the dogs all the same. The burgers I cook to order by sous vide cooking the burgers to rare, then finishing them on the grill to the diner’s choice of doneness.
And they’re always all 10/10s.
ETA: for friends I always use ground steak for my burgers and make them close to 1/2 pounders. And you can get cheese or whatever.
Hmm, nah. I’d always pick the average cheeseburger over the average dog. No cheese? I’d probably pick the dog in both cases.
ive never been a hot dog fan so ill always pick a burger over a hotdog but to me, the only way to screw up either is to burn them so bad they’re charcoal or use the turkey versions of …turkey hotdogs sucked in the 80s. They still suck now …and turkey burgers are an abomination from the darkest level of hell …
A post about Wienerschnitzel in the local chains thread crystalized my take on the hot dogs versus hamburgers.
It seems very weird to me to go someplace specifically to get a hot dog. It always seems like the kind of food you get because there are limited options, and that’s what’s available. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, just that it’s lunch time and I happen to be in Costco.
Hamburgers, though, are something I would specifically go someplace to get.
I do agree with the OP though, and it relates to my thoughts above. A bad hot dog is probably a some skinny pink thing on a white bread bun, but even with only mustard, it is probably fine, and totally what I expected for $5 at the PTA picnic.
A bad burger can be much worse. A thin, overcooked patty, on a white bread bun with only mustard does not sound great, and is totally why I’m ordering the hot dog until the PTA votes in a new grill master.
If 5/10 means average, or middle of the road, then I’m probably getting the burger.