Yet another reason I’m an atheist.
And now that I’ve contributed the West Virginia Dog to the rest of the world, I will tell you all the secret to a perfect hot dog.
Smoke. Instead of grilling your hot dog, try smoking it. This is especially good with natural casing dogs–they get ridiculously plump, and take on a great smoky flavor. Perfect with Gulden’s Spicy Brown (or Stadium Mustard, if you can find it) and onions, either diced fresh or grilled. Seriously, smoke your hot dogs and you will never want to go back.
No we didn’t. It only took 29 posts.
Why is the weinie all split open? I’ve never seen that before.
Quoth Hillarity N. Suze:
So I’m not the only one whose family has a recipe for tomato relish? Good stuff, that. It’s also the secret ingredient in my sloppy joes.
Personally, I’m a “little of everything” kind of guy for my preferred toppings, and that usually includes a small amount of ketchup. I’d never heard of cole slaw on a hot dog before, but now that I have, it sounds like a pretty good idea.
But if I’m going to have one and only one thing on a dog, it’s mustard. Spicy brown is superior in every way to plain yellow, and the greatest of all spicy brown mustard is Bertman’s ballpark mustard, which so far as I know, is only found in the Cleveland area. That stuff is God’s gift to sausage. Hot dogs, Polish dogs, brats, whatever, just become heavenly with a generous topping of that stuff. If you’re going to combine it with other condiments, it goes best with the vinegar-based ones like kraut and relish (here, I’d skip the ketchup, chili, and cheese).
Ketchup belongs on hamburgers and hotdogs to represent the blood spilled by meat packers. Not making it available cheapens the entire labor movement.
:smack: I stand corrected.
You must be able to spell “wienie”, or you’re not allowed to eat one, much less discuss them. The word “wiener” means “of Wien”, Wien being how the Austrians spell Vienna. Hence, Wienerschnitzel is schnitzel Vienna style. “Weinie” would be pronounced “wy-nee”. No-no, don’t thank me.
That’s called a ripper. The hot dogs are deep-fried; the longer they’re in the hot oil, the more split up and gnarly-looking they get.
Thank you. Ignorance fought: I didn’t know hot dogs were prepared by frying in oil. I’ve only ever seen them grilled, boiled or broiled.
That was a typo. Around here it’s pronounced “wee-nee.” My apologies.
I consider myself somewhat of a Hot Dog snob.
After all, I’ve experienced the best dogs on Earth, from the late great “O” in Pittsburgh, where I used to hang out for hours and play pinball and eat dogs.
So, how do I like 'em? - with everything. Cheese, ketchup, spicy mustard, relish, kraut.
Yumm…
Oh, and Chicago dogs suck. Sorry, but it’s the truth. What’s with the fluorescent green relish?
No mention yet of Nathan’s hot dogs? Kobayashi and Joey can’t be wrong, you know.
It’s pronounced “wee-nee” around here as well, but it’s spelled either “wienie” or “weenie.” Chefguy was just saying that if it were spelled “weinie,” the pronunciation would be “winey” or, actualy, “viney” if you’re going with the German pronunciation.
That is not a Ripper! This is a Ripper. Served by Rutt’s Hut in Clifton, New Jersey, and served with a signature relish, not all that crap in the picture cited. That dog was split, not ripped.
Just a joke, my friend, in the spirit of SDMB nitpickiness. I’ve seen commercial dogs packaged under both spellings.
This must be addressed first: The Maraschino cherry is the traditional garnish of the one true cocktail, the Manhattan. Whiskey, vermouth, a dash of bitters, and the aforementioned cherry, this is not your kid sister’s drink.
On to the meat of the thread, I’m apparently a hot dog slut. All of the preparations listed so far sound quite tasty to me. Particularly that cole slaw thing – I am definitely going to try that the next time I make slaw.
Uh huh. I draw the “stupid hippie” line someplace before “why can’t we all love each other?” comes up in a hot dog debate. Good lord, everybody is proud of there own regionalisms, let em have some fun. We don’t really want to send ketchup users to the gas chambers. We just want them to be painfully humiliated for their obviously childish and immature tastes. 
Until this thread, I had no concept there were people who thought ketchup on a hotdog was only for kids. I’ve always eaten them that way, although at some point in adulthood, I started putting mayo on in addition to the ketchup. So I guess that means I can horrify some of you on two fronts. 
I don’t eat a lot of hotdogs. The thought of what’s in them keeps me away most of the time. Every couple of years, though, I’ll suddenly crave them and buy a package or two. I usually eat bratwurst when I grill out–which I just finished doing. Yup, ketchup and mayo on the brat as well.
Mustard, chili, slaw, and onions.