Tasteless wiener - how to improve the flavor?

I didn’t want to sidetrack the other thread full of weenie lovers, but I have a serious wiener problem.

The hotdogs here have absolutely no flavor at all. It seems like their only purpose is to make the bun heavier. What is worse, the casings here are plastic and you have to remove them prior to cooking.

Is there anything I can do to a hotdog that will give it a bit of flavor? Perhaps soak it in something? The only thing I’ve come up with is searing it in a hot skillet with some butter to give it a bit of a buttery smoky flavor. But it’s superficial at best. The inside is still bland.

Are they the really wet type? That’s the kind where you’re paying by the pound for water. I’ve been forced into that situation before. My solution is to slash the sides and let it dry out while cooking. Sauteing in butter or olive oil will add some flavor. You might want to try the burning it in a flame method used in the other thread also. If all else fails, wrap it in bacon.

The best way to make bland hot dogs taste better is to buy the ones labeled ‘Italian Sausage’.

I routinely slash the sides and ends of hot dogs, then simmer them in something for added flavor, before roasting in the oven or over coals. I simmer hot dogs and bratwursts in Guinness stout, or in a typical US beer, if I’m serving grownups. For kids, who don’t care much for that bitter-sour beery taste (generally, your children may vary,) I use either chicken or beef broth. Everyone raves about my hot dogs. Which face it, is a pretty weird thing to rave about.

Its been a long time since I’ve seen dogs with plastic casings. Do they hold their shape if you peel off the casing before cooking? You can’t grill in plastic, I’d guess, so a re they simmering only hotdogs?

I cook mine on a charcoal grill with hickory and/or mesquite chips that produce a bunch of tasty smoke.

I don’t think there’s much you can do to the inside of the dog, other than butterflying them and frying them or grilling them. That way, you’ll get a little more char on them for flavor.

For bland sausages, I like doing something akin to a German currywurst. Cook the sausage as you want, and then smother it in curry ketchup and roll in curry powder. Yes, I said ketchup. Please don’t tell anyone. But if you have really bad hot dogs, that’s one possible way of salvaging them.

Also, a sprinkle of celery salt helps give it a little kick (but not on the curry dogs.)

Oh, I gotta another one. Coney dogs. I’m not a chili-cheese hot dog guy, but when it comes to bland hot dogs like the kind they have at Skyline in Cincinnati, chili and cheese is the perfect compliment to take them from meh to “hey, this is pretty darned good!” I love Skyline’s chili dogs. Here’s a reasonable Cincy-style chili recipe. The chili should be much more watery than what is in the picture, though, and the cheese should be shredded into fine strands. Here is a better picture.

Eat some pineapple? No, wait…

Use a flavored condom.

Fry them, make a slit down the center and stuff with thin wedges of sharp cheddar. Cooked bacon helps, too. (A lot - a LOT of people we know have all blown town to move down south, for retirement or the chance of finding work, and every single one of them bemoans the lack of good hot dogs and plead with their relatives to ship them some snappy grillers and coonies on dry ice. They also complain about the lack of good pizza, but thats another story.)

It’s like they refuse to even try if it’s not southern food. I heard about restaurant in Florida that put up a big sign that said YANKEE FOOD. It was supposed to be packed even though the food wasn’t that good.

:rolleyes: What it is, is overwhelmingly the men, who’ve eaten the same thing over and over their entire lives, and it’s a culture shock to have to adjust. Like the guys who go to Europe and absolutely refuse to eat anywhere but McDonalds or KFC. :smack:

You’ve heard of red velvet cake? Well, here in South Georgia they also have red velvet hot dogs (well, I call 'em that). These things are fluorescent day-glow red! I swear I couldn’t find a real meat-colored dog anywhere until the early nineties.

Good pizza came to town with Domino’s. There was (is) a local pizza joint, but Cici’s quality is a magnitude better!

Oh yeah- Huy Fong Sriracha makes any bland dog better.