# The Great Hot Dog Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331 "2008-07-04T23:34:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/41 "2008-07-05T04:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] And here sits my hubby, putting ketchup on his dog. [/QUOTE] He’s European. You have to make allowances. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/42 "2008-07-05T04:06:01Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] An appropriately made hot dog is one that has whatever YOU personally want on it. Anyone who says otherwise needs to get a grip. It’s just a hot dog, for Christ’s sake. A good host makes a lot of condiments available, because the cool thing about hot dogs is that everyone likes theirs a little different. [/QUOTE] I couldn’t have put it any better. You make your dog the way you like. I like both ketchup and mustard on mine. And I’ll put on the yellow hot dog relish from the bottle, too. It is a hot dog, after all, not a fancy 5 star dinner from the Ritz. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/43 "2008-07-05T04:13:58Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Ketchup _is_ kid’s food. The only acceptable use of ketchup for an adult is with fried potatoes, and even that is dicey. It’s the equivalent of drinking an alcoholic beverage with a marachino cherry in it. Cole slaw and meat is a working combination, as odd as it may sound to people who haven’t had it before. Cole slaw isn’t all that different from sauerkraut when you get right down to it. [/QUOTE] I think that’s a bit much. I very much enjoy ketchup on fries and in addittion to mustard on a burger, and I have pretty diverse tastes in food that range from foie gras and sushi all the way to pickled deer’s heart (it tastes like roast beef, btw). But I agree with the OP, never on a dog. Never! Kraut, mustard (preferably horseradish-infused), slaw, relish, chili and cheese, onions…all are acceptable condiments for a dog. Those of you that have never had the privledge, though, need to come to the Queen City and experience the ultimate dog: The Skyline Cheese Coney, with mustard, onions, Cincinnati chili and shredded cheddar. it is quite simply the bomb-diggity. > **[Home](https://skylinechili.com/)** > > Legendary and loaded with flavor, our secret-recipe chili blends bold spices for a one-of-a-kind taste that keeps you coming back for more. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/44 "2008-07-05T04:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] It amazes me how many people are so concerned with what’s \*\*\*on \*\*\*their hot dog, but don’t give a crap what’s \*\*\*in \*\*\*it. I, personally, will put just about anything on my dog . . . including, sometimes, ketchup. But my favorite is grilled onions with a touch of BBQ sauce. Ok, I’ll say it: Some of you guys are just BIGOTS!!! 😉 [/QUOTE] Hah. Ground up fat, beef lips and assholes never tasted so good! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/45 "2008-07-05T04:17:24Z")
Oh, gods. Skyline chili. Once you make the mental leap to calling that stuff “chili,” you are in for a world of flavor. Gimme a 5-way and leave me alone for awhile. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/46 "2008-07-05T04:17:36Z")
When I make myself a hot dog I put on mustard and pickle relish, if I have it, and tomato relish, my grandma’s recipe, if I happen to have made some the autumn before. Or I might put chili on if I have some left over, or some of my bourbon barbecue sauce. But my ideal hot dog, the Best Ever, came from a place that probably doesn’t exist anymore, the J&W Grill in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and it had slaw on it. Not just any slaw, though. I have tried and failed to replicate this taste experiment. Hot dog, bun, slaw, and chili. It was really good. I don’t care what other people have on their dogs, though. FWIW my kids liked catsup when they were kids, and the only one who still does is still a kid. ETA: Hebrew National beef franks are the only thing I consider when I’m the one doing the grilling. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/47 "2008-07-05T04:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Oh, gods. Skyline chili. Once you make the mental leap to calling that stuff “chili,” you are in for a world of flavor. Gimme a 5-way and leave me alone for awhile. 😃 [/QUOTE] Ha. I lived for awhile in Texas and am well aware of what constitutes “real” chili. Chunks of meat, kidney beans, lots of hotness… But Skyline chili on a coney is just…sublime. It’s the cinnamon and chocolate they put into it in small doses that makes it so yummy. You just have to get over the, ah, diahrreal consistency of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/48 "2008-07-05T04:30:04Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] Ha. I lived for awhile in Texas and am well aware of what constitutes “real” chili. Chunks of meat, kidney beans, lots of hotness… [/QUOTE] You obviously didn’t live in Texas long enough! ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/49 "2008-07-05T04:35:00Z")
It took me a while to accept kidney beans in chili, but my girlfriend made a believer out of me. Many and various are the ways of chili. I’ve had it made with cows, pigs, chickens, frogs, crawfish, alligator – but I guess chili deserves its own thread. The best condiments won’t matter if the actual hot dog isn’t good. Your standard U.S. frank is pathetic – slimy, tasteless, made from inferior meat. Pay a little more and get some delicious bratwurst. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/50 "2008-07-05T04:35:23Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] You obviously didn’t live in Texas long enough! [/QUOTE] When I lived in Fort Worth, my Dad was a Colonel in the US Army Corps of Engineers and oversaw the groundbreaking of the Joe Poole reservoir. He was invited as an honorary judge to a chili contest in Sulphur Springs, and apparently the chili cookoff was a pretty big deal. I tagged along and tasted chili of about every stripe imaginable. I suppose I threw in the kidney bean reference because my Mom would sometimes make this awesome chili with spiced ground beef, kidney beans, onions and it was served…over rice. We all loved it. But putting chili over a starch isn’t that big of a stretch. Heck, your Skyline 5-way is served over spaghetti, which I never really got into but many here around Cincinnati swear by it. I prefer Cincinnati-style “chili” as a condiment on a hot dog. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/51 "2008-07-05T04:36:32Z")
My hotdogs have any combo of: ketchup, mustard, hotdog relish, nothing. Or chili and cheese, maybe chopped onions. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/52 "2008-07-05T04:38:50Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] It took me a while to accept kidney beans in chili, but my girlfriend made a believer out of me. Many and various are the ways of chili. I’ve had it made with cows, pigs, chickens, frogs, crawfish, alligator – but I guess chili deserves its own thread. The best condiments won’t matter if the actual hot dog isn’t good. Your standard U.S. frank is pathetic – slimy, tasteless, made from inferior meat. Pay a little more and get some delicious bratwurst. [/QUOTE] Ah, another Cincinnati favorite! Brats and Metts are like gold around here. I love Johnsonville brats with spicy mustard…but a Kahn’s all beef frank will do if it’s all that’s available. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/53 "2008-07-05T04:41:26Z")
I’m 47 and put ketchup and sweet relish on hot dogs, and there’s not a _damn_ thing any of you can do about it. I loath mustard and dill pickles and am not a fan of bitter flavors in general. Nothing to do with age, although there might be a correlation with beer drinking - I don’t drink either. If I want a dog from a Chicago hot dog stand, the places I go are OK with whatever you want on it…they wouldn’t tend to stay in business if they made editorial comments about the customer’s condiment choices. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/54 "2008-07-05T05:02:36Z")
I don’t put mustard on _my_ hot dogs, solely because I don’t like mustard. It’s fairly normal for many people I know to use it. Personally, I like chopped onions, chopped or sliced tomatoes and shredded cheese on my hot dogs. Since I don’t like to eat 'em plain, I will put ketchup on if there’s nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/55 "2008-07-05T05:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=want2know] Were my wife and your husband separated at birth? 😉 [/QUOTE] Maybe. Does she speak in a funny tongue that sounds like she’s got a mouthful of potatoes? Hey, come to think of it, perhaps that explains the ketchup thing! [QUOTE=silenus] He’s European. You have to make allowances. 😃 [/QUOTE] Oh yes, I make all kinds of allowances for that. 😉 Heck, if we were in Denmark, he’d be putting cucumbers on it! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/56 "2008-07-05T05:51:10Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] If I want a dog from a Chicago hot dog stand, the places I go are OK with whatever you want on it…they wouldn’t tend to stay in business if they made editorial comments about the customer’s condiment choices. [/QUOTE] You’d be surprised. Some people like that kind of stuff. Anyhow, nobody here in Chicago really gives a shit if someone puts ketchup on a hot dog. It’s just all playful jibing, part of the local culture and tradition. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/57 "2008-07-05T06:07:13Z")
To every hot dog, turn, turn, turn. A time for mustard. A time for ketchup. And a time for every wiener, under heaven. I had two magnificent Beef Franks with Ketchup, Yellow Mustard, and Sweet Pickle Spice/Clove Relish today. I am unashamed, and they were delicious. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/58 "2008-07-05T07:12:55Z")
Um, I like mustard, relish a bit of ketchup and …wait for it…are you sitting down? A bit of mayonnaise on my hot dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/59 "2008-07-05T12:14:30Z")
My choices from best to worst that I will eat if I have to, and I never eat a chicken or turkey wiener. The best part of a wiener is usually the bun. American Cheese A Brown Sugar based Barbecue Sauce. Ketchup Ketchup & Yellow Salad Mustard Yellow Salad Mustard ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331/60 "2008-07-05T12:24:22Z")
Food snobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-hot-dog-debate/455331.md?page=4)