Published July 3, 2026 04:00AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A hot dog is not a grand cru Burgundy.<\/p>\n
You wouldn\u2019t know it from reading the roundups of \u201cbest hot dogs\u201d published each year around this time. The contenders are ranked. They\u2019re scored. They\u2019re rolled around on the palate and scrutinized for subtle notes of something or other.<\/p>\n
This is not the way any reasonable person eats a hot dog.<\/p>\n
Often, the dogs under consideration are actually distinct types it makes no sense to compare or rank. \u201cThere are so many different regional styles,\u201d says chef, author and hot dog pundit Farideh Sadeghin. \u201cOne of the things I love doing when I travel is exploring these classics that many people don\u2019t know about.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of open-hearted curiosity and spirit of adventure we should all be bringing to our hot dogs.<\/p>\n In The Hot Dog Cookbook: 50 Recipes for the World\u2019s Best Food,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Sadeghin brings home what she\u2019s discovered in a compendium of hot dogs from all over the planet. The recipe for any topping you could possibly want is here, from Argentine chimichurri to Alaskan onions sauteed in Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n Sadeghin has some sound and even surprising advice for cooking and serving the sausages themselves, particularly when it comes to doing it outdoors. \u201cIt\u2019s a low-maintenance food that begs for a little sunshine,\u201d she says. Depending on what\u2019s available at a given campsite, she\u2019ll either grill directly over the firepit or cook in a cast-iron pan on a portable stove. But it\u2019s her hack for hauling hot dogs on a hike or a picnic that\u2019s really changed the game for me: \u201cIf you boil the dogs ahead and store them in boiling water in a heatproof bottle or thermos, they\u2019ll stay warm for four to six hours or so,\u201d she says. When you stop for lunch, decant the dogs, pop them in buns, and you have a hot meal right there on the trail. Brilliant.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery hot dog is a sausage,\u201d Sadeghin says, \u201cbut not every sausage is a hot dog.\u201d Even within the hot dog category, the options are remarkably diverse. The following guide does not comprehensively cover the breadth of different hot dog styles available across the U.S., but it does give a sense of just how much variety is available to fill your grill and fuel your outdoor adventures this summer. Ask not which hot dog is best; get excited about which style you\u2019ll try next.<\/p>\n What\u2019s known as a Frankfurter W\u00fcrstchen<\/i> in the city of Frankfurt\u2014a lightly smoked pork sausage in a sheep casing\u2014has a protected geographical status in Germany. We use the name frankfurter a lot more loosely stateside. These days, more often than not an American frankfurter is an all-beef sausage, with or without a casing. (There are exceptions. See under \u201cFootlong,\u201d below.)<\/p>\n I happen to love a snappy dog, and the Bronx-made Sabrett line includes an outstanding all-beef frankfurter with a surpassingly snappy natural casing: the iconic New York street cart dog. But Sabrett vice president Mark Rosen confirmed that this skinless dog is the company\u2019s biggest seller, and if you\u2019re not into a snappy casing, who am I to judge? These have all the rich beefy flavor and hickory smoke that Sabrett dogs are widely loved for, with a more tender bite.<\/p>\n What they call a Wiener W\u00fcrstchen<\/i> in Germany\u2013or, confusingly, a Frankfurter W\u00fcrstel<\/i> in Austria\u2013is pretty close to what\u2019s typically called a wiener stateside: a mix of pork and beef, finely chopped to a smooth texture, in a casing made from sheep intestine. A U.S. version may contain any or several of the original\u2019s bright and warming spices, including paprika, coriander, white pepper, and ginger.<\/p>\n Made in Erie, Pennsylvania, by a business in operation since 1927, this old-school pork-and-beef wiener has my kind of lamb casing. Unlike many of the hot dogs on supermarket shelves, these don\u2019t have an acrid smoke flavor mixed in; they\u2019re naturally smoked over hardwood for a softer smokiness that makes all the difference. The company ships nationwide, but you should also always seek out wieners made close to where you live. Hot dogs are a hyper-regional food, and that\u2019s a big part of their appeal.<\/p>\n All-beef kosher hot dogs, produced under strict supervision and guaranteed free of mysterious pig parts, have long been a popular choice even among those who do not keep kosher. Those who prefer a skinless dog will appreciate that kosher dogs come without the sheep and hog casings other hot dogs have.<\/p>\n Unlike some hot dogs labeled kosher, this brand is officially Glatt kosher, a stricter certification. Even if that\u2019s not relevant to your own dietary practices, the all-beef dogs from New Jersey-based producer Abeles & Heymann are on another level. Smokier. Beefier. Sturdy enough to hold up beautifully on the grill.<\/p>\n Hot dogs are about welcoming everyone to the table, and plant-based options are more plentiful than ever, available in any grocery store. To me, success or failure in this category comes down largely to texture. Whatever it\u2019s made of, I want a veggie dog to offer some resistance when I bite in.<\/p>\n Seitan, made from wheat gluten, tends to be my plant-based protein of choice, with a satisfying chew to it and the capacity to soak up flavors like a champ. It\u2019s the base for this toothsome veggie dog and the reason I slightly prefer it to Field Roast\u2019s Classic Signature Stadium Dog, based largely on pea protein. If you want something a little skinnier, smoother, and juicier, go with the latter. The hearty Classic Smoked Frankfurter is harder to overcook, I find, and its meaty texture stands up remarkably well to a tsunami of condiments, which is the way I like to go with a veggie dog.<\/p>\n Up around Rochester, New York, this homegrown cousin of German weisswurst is a local icon. A mix of pork, beef and veal, uncured and unsmoked, it\u2019s a singular, subtle dog, often served smothered in the region\u2019s signature spicy meat sauce, plus mustard and chopped onion.<\/p>\n You can buy the Rochester-based Zweigle\u2019s brand at any Wegman\u2019s store, or order them direct from the company. The \u201cPop Open\u201d style does just that as its hog casing chars on the grill. Zweigle\u2019s also offers skinless whites, as well as something they call Texas Red Hots, another variety altogether (see below). Any of these is like a secret handshake among hot dog illuminati and the mark of a next-level grilling spread.<\/p>\n The red hot is the yin to the white hot\u2019s yang; the different varieties around the country really warrant a taxonomy all their own. In Chicago, what they call a red hot is only as red as any hot dog cured with nitrates or nitrites. Elsewhere, things get a lot more vivid. In North Carolina and Maine, a bold dose of dye makes for hot dogs as red as the stripes on Old Glory.<\/p>\n This Maine favorite, a pork-beef mix in a natural casing, is perhaps the reddest of America\u2019s red hots and surely its snappiest. Founded in 1860, Bangor-based W.A. Bean & Sons produces franks with a color and a curvature straight out of a cartoon. This style seems to me the pinnacle of hot-dog-ness, which is to say: fun. (If you\u2019re not into fun\u2014i.e., can\u2019t get with the red dye\u2014W.A. Bean does offer Maine Snappers without it.)<\/p>\n To me, the footlong is Manifest Destiny applied to the hot dog: As long as you\u2019re going there, why not go all the way? Elias Cairo, co-founder and head sausage maker at Olympia Provisions in Portland, Oregon, has his own take: \u201cI do believe that a frankfurter should hang out of the bun, so everybody gets at least one or two bites of the unadulterated sausage on each side. That\u2019s just a sausage maker wanting people to enjoy sausage for sausage\u2019s sake. Then you can have all the stuff you want on top, make it your own. But take a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n By now it should be clear that I am against the very notion of a \u201cbest\u201d hot dog. That doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t declare my personal favorite, and the Olympia Provisions Uncured Pork Frankfurter is it. This footlong is all pork in a natural lamb casing\u2013a frankfurter in the European style\u2013made with freshly ground coriander and smoked over a mix of hardwoods for a pervasive but balanced smoke flavor. \u201cUncured\u201d in this case means that Cairo uses no artificial nitrates or nitrites; the curing happens by way of naturally occurring nitrates in celery powder.<\/p>\n Like Sadeghin, Cairo associates hot dogs inextricably with life outdoors. A former pro snowboarder, he apprenticed in Switzerland under a J\u00e4germeister<\/i>, or master hunter. (You may know Cairo from Outside\u2019s<\/em> video series The Game Show<\/em>, where he shares his no-waste approach to butchering and cooking the wild game he hunts.) Though he takes his meat seriously and has strong beliefs regarding the correct way to build a frankfurter, Cairo has also never met a hot dog he doesn\u2019t love. \u201cI like mustard and raw onion on my frankfurters, but if I\u2019m at a gas station on a road trip and I\u2019m buying one off of the roller, it\u2019s ketchup, mustard, green relish. Eating it, I\u2019m like, this is the best.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/hotdog2_opener_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/hotdog3_opener_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Frankfurter<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Sabrett_opener_blue_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example:<\/b> Sabrett Skinless Beef Frankfurters<\/a><\/h3>\n
Wiener<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Smiths_opener_red_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example:<\/b> Smith\u2019s Natural Casing Wiener<\/a><\/h3>\n
Kosher<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AH_opener_navy_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example: <\/b>A & H Kosher Beef Hot Dogs<\/a><\/h3>\n
Veggie<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Veggie_opener_terracotta_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example: <\/b>Field Roast Classic Smoked Plant-Based Frankfurters<\/a><\/h3>\n
White Hot<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Zweigle_opener_red_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example: <\/b>Zweigle\u2019s White Pop Open<\/a><\/h3>\n
Red Hot<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Reds_opener_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example: <\/b>W.A. Bean & Sons \u201cRed Snapper\u201d Franks<\/a><\/h3>\n
Footlong<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/footlong_opener_cream_2400x1350-1024x576.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Classic Example: <\/b>Olympia Provisions Uncured Pork Frankfurter<\/a><\/h3>\n