# "The average American eats 60 hot dogs a year..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210 "2006-07-04T22:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/1 "2006-07-04T22:24:17Z")
…which I guess means some iron-stomached schmuck out there eats somewhere between 110 and 115. Yeah, I know that’s not how averages work. It was a _joke_. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/2 "2006-07-04T22:28:23Z")
Someone is eating my share, too. I don’t think I eat 6 hot dogs a year… ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/3 "2006-07-04T22:35:29Z")
We eat a lot more hot dogs than we did in earlier times when we had a higher income. We like to grill our food, and tube steaks are better than nothin’. At least there is the illusion of meat. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/4 "2006-07-04T22:40:55Z")
I average probably one a day (some days a pack, some weeks none), so I’m picking up the slack for at least a few of you. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/5 "2006-07-04T23:18:29Z")
Scarcely more than a sausage a week? No big deal. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/6 "2006-07-04T23:26:39Z")
☹ Shoot I just ate my 120th hotdog so far this year. I guess I can’t eat anymore until 2008! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/7 "2006-07-04T23:28:15Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > I guess I can’t eat anymore until 2008! > :mad: You can have mine - and my husband’s! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/8 "2006-07-04T23:31:04Z")
I generally only eat hot dogs if I’m at the ballpark. Unfortunately, I won’t be for a while as I’m still paying off the loan on the nachos I got at the last baseball game. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/9 "2006-07-04T23:42:11Z")
I listened to the stuff on\*\* All Things Considered\*\*(I think) this evening as I fixed dinner. I was amused–and a little shocked by that figure. I eat maybe six a year, and only if they are so covered in chili or other stuff that I can’t tell that it’s a hot dog. Although, I had a bratwurst for dinner, so I’m not sure how much moral superiority I get. I mean it is shaped kind-of like a hot dog, was served with ketchup (for my companion) and mustard (for me) and can be served with potato salad, potato chips, and other picnic food. And they are sometimes served at ballparks–where I usually am not. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/10 "2006-07-04T23:55:22Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > You can have mine - and my husband’s! 😃 :eek: This thread turned kinky quick! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/11 "2006-07-04T23:56:22Z")
Who let the perv in the wiener thread?? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/12 "2006-07-05T00:01:29Z")
I really can’t stand hot dogs. Once in a great while I’ll get a wild hair and want to get a Luke’s Mexican dog, or an Oscar Myer with loads of yummy toppings, which I love, and try to pretend that I can’t taste the weiner. But my stomach is never fooled- it knows a hot dog when it digests one, and it will often hit the eject button. I do loves me some bratwurst, though. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/13 "2006-07-05T00:15:15Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Someone is eating my share, too. I don’t think I eat 6 hot dogs a year… Could be me. When things at the office are too hectic for me to get a real lunch, I sometimes grab a couple of hotdogs at the convenience store down the street. Yeah, I know _Soylent Green_ is probably more wholesome, but when a guy gets hungry, he ain’t so picky… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/14 "2006-07-05T00:52:42Z")
> [@trublmaker](#): > > Once in a great while I’ll get a wild hair and want to get a Luke’s Mexican dog What’s that? ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/15 "2006-07-05T01:05:43Z")
What counts as a hot dog? Do those cocktail weenies count? Vienna sausages? Or even just plain sausages…? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/16 "2006-07-05T01:12:44Z")
Luke’s is a chain of Italian hot dogs and sandwiches-type place. My local one has a Mexican-style dog- it’s wrapped in bacon, placed in a bun, and covered with chopped tomatoes, cold pinto beans, chopped onions, grilled onions, jalapeno sauce, mustard, and mayo. You can also get this type of hot dog from a open-air hot dog stand, many of which are found around the southside of town. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/17 "2006-07-05T01:18:38Z")
Hrm. Can’t say I ever ventured far south of the UA during my short Arizona stint. I did love me some Nathan’s Chicago Dogs, though. I’ll have to find one of those Mexican Dogs next time I’m down there. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/18 "2006-07-05T01:20:35Z")
I just remembered having seen a hot dog stand on 4th Ave. Can you get a Mexican Dog there? (I figured at the time that they probably sold more dope than hot dogs, considering it was 4th Ave and I think it was across the street from Hippy Gypsy.) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/19 "2006-07-05T01:28:04Z")
Well, this would certainly have described me, up until about 2 months ago when I started watching what I eat a bit more. Basically, at an event where hot dogs were available (i.e. a baseball game or cookout) I’d have 2 or 3 – I much prefer them tastewise to hamburgers, since mostly they are only available as overcooked shoe leather at most venues. Figuring that such events happen about twice a month on average (including kids’ birthdays and holidays for grilling days, and about 10-12 baseball games a year), make “2 or 3” a factor of 2.5, and I get an estimate of 60 hot dogs a year, right on the nose. I am picky about my hot dogs. They have to be all beef and preferably with the casing on: Nathan’s and Boar’s Head brands both have hot dogs in natural casing available in supermarkets where I live, though Nathan’s, Sabrett’s or Hebrew National skinless hot dogs are excellent alternatives. I don’t care particularly for Oscar Mayer franks, and despise Ballpark franks or any other “pork and chicken filler” type of hot dogs. Turkey franks are not so bad, and I expect to eat more of them as an alternative to the “regular” hot dogs going forward. I will completely sidestep the religious arguments over hot dog condiments, except to say that I agree completely with Uncle Cecil that ketchup on a hot dog is an Abomination unto the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210/20 "2006-07-05T01:41:11Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > We eat a lot more hot dogs than we did in earlier times when we had a higher income. We like to grill our food, and tube steaks are better than nothin’. At least there is the illusion of meat. Uhhhh . . . _tube steak_? You know that means penis, right? Oh, nevermind, I just noticed your username :). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-average-american-eats-60-hot-dogs-a-year/363210.md?page=2)