Best hot dogs that won't kill you?

[blkery]

I love me a Nathan's, but the current diet doesn't. I've noticed a lot of of options from Applegate, Niman Ranch, and Beelers...are any of the alternadogs good substitutes?

[vanillagrrl]

Coleman organic beef hot dogs are excellent. I even tested them when they were in development and rejected one version for not enough snap. Now they've got it!

[virtualguthrie]

Where are ou located? Here in the SF bay area there are quite a few options for grass fed, natural casing dogs. Let's Be Frank and Fatted Calf come to mind and I know there's more. I'm pretty sure Let's Be Frank does mail order.

[rabaja]

I really like Let's Be Frank and Fatted Calf dogs, but I would never consider them diet friendly.
Even my Applegate dog at 8g of fat is looking pretty unhealththy next to Caroline1's .5g fat Oscar Meyer. Although I feel better about buying Applegate, and I think the Oscar Meyer ingredient list must be scary.
I could be wrong about Let's Be Frank. I will check next time I see them out and about.

[Caroline1]

Depends on what kind of diet you're talking about. I've about given up on ever finding a great AND healthy natural casing wiener unless I take up charcouterie and make them myself. I'm currently on a low fat diet, and for low fat, believe it or not, Oscar Mayer makes a turkey dog that is incredibly low fat (0.5g fat, 40 calories, 470mg sodium per dog) and to my great relief, unlike other skinless wieners, these have enough texture to them so that when you bite you can sense the difference between the bun and the wiener. The flavor is quite acceptable and not the bland flavorless thing I expected a "turkey dog" to be. I now have more of a problem finding great buns than an acceptable "diet" hot dog. I love them with sauerkraut. But if you find a wiener with a natural casing and 0.5g of fat per sausage, please let me know...!!!!

Oh! They're called, "Oscar Mayer Classic 98% Fat Free Wieners." It's pretty amazing having a hot dog that tastes pretty damn good and the bun has twice as much fat as the wiener! '-)

[Georgia Sommers]

Many's the time we have no buns at all and use a slice of whole grain sandwich bread out of the bread box. Now that I've said it, it could be a bit weird, but we've always done it.

[Caroline1]

Nogt weird. I've done it too! (And we all know that I'm not wierd! <g>) The only problem I have with bread, unless it's the heel, is that it lets the sauerkraut juice run through and gets all soggy. Something about the crust on a hot dog bun or a heel of bread that helps contain the flood!

[calpurnia]

I like to use toasted corn tortillas for my hot dogs.

[Georgia Sommers]

Yes, heels required for kraut! Sounds awfully good right about now. :)

[rabaja]

I found some pretty good Applegate hot dogs at Whole Foods back in September. They are called something like Worlds Best Hot Dog or something, uncured I believe and healthier than the average hot dog. 8 g of fat per dog.
I like them, they are a treat once in a while and easy enough to keep in the freezer.
Will check the pacakaging when I get home tonight and give you better details on the type of Applegate dogs they are.