GRILLED OR PAN-
ROASTED HOT DOGS
WITH SAUERKRAUT
You may think of hot dogs as your fallback, never-fail,
always-OK-but-never-great backyard tubesteak, but a
great hot dog can be so much more than that. Just ask
anyone from New Jersey. Good hot dogs are first and
foremost about the dog itself, and try as you might,
you’re never gonna make a hot dog at home as good as
you can get from a professional hot-doggery.
Whether you like salty-smoky New York–style all-beef
franks, or the German-style beef-and-pork franks you
find in Michigan, or even a neon-red Red Hot from the
North Country, there’s one thing for certain: the best
dogs have natural casings. Without the casing, a hot dog
has no snap. With no snap, well, . . . what’s the point?
How can you tell if a hot dog has a natural casing?
There are several things to look for:
- The label. Most packages will be labeled “skinless”
or “natural casings.”- Curvature. A hot dog with a natural casing will
have a slight curve to it even before you cook it. This is
because lambs’ intestines—the casing of choice for hot
dogs—are not symmetrical. Dogs with artificial