Thumann's Premium Natural Casing Franks

My girlfriend picked these Thumann's wieners up for me at Roche Bros deli a few days ago. The night she gave them to me we had ordered takeout from Punjab Cafe and so I waited to try these weenies out. After finishing the meal we realized that we had neglected to use the delicious chutneys that came with our food. And the rest is history...

I ate one plain and two SLUM DOG style.

Slum Dog: A hot dog dressed with Indian Chutneys. In this case spicy onion and tamarind (I think?) chutneys were used.

I think I may have invented this killer condiment combo!

Appearance: I cooked these wieners to my typical grilling specs: uncut wiener skin grilled until sides are thoroughly split open with generous amounts of grill coloring. The hot dogs before and after cooking are orange-ish.

Smell: BUTTER. Opening the deli bag I was nearly knocked on the floor by an odd butter smell. Weird but not totally unsettling.

Taste: The wieners themselves have a strange buttery taste with a mild spiciness. The condiments are what blew me away here. The hotness of the spicy onion with the sweetness of the tamarind is a winning combo (that's why they always come on the side with Indian food). However, the butter taste didn't jive well with these condiments.

Texture: The natural skin on these wieners bites easily and is chewy in the mouth. The actual meat is nice and consistent and juicy.

Overall: The wieners weren't bad but the butter taste was a little odd. A buttered roll would probably push them over the edge. The Slum Dog dressing however was without rival. I will try it again with a more appropriate hot dog: something that doesn't taste like butter.

Thumann's Premium Natural Casing Franks get a 2/5!

Slum Dog gets a 5/5! Booyah!

Montreal Hot Dog Fest

Yeah I'm six days late on this one.

So I really wanted to have an all out hot dog fest while vacationing in Montreal, but it didn't really work out that way due to lack of motivation. Montreal isn't really known for wieners anyway.

I'll keep this short.

To the left are two hot dogs from Mont Royal. I got one Roti (toastie) and one Vapeur (steamie), both dogs were "all dressed" (mustard/onions/coleslaw) which is the Montreal way. They were skinless, "steamed" hot dogs, apparently Lester's brand. The steamie had a sort of Frenchish roll and the toastie had buttered/toasted New England Style roll. Coleslaw on a hot dog is a good idea to me!

They were pretty good but nothing special. 3/5.

This is supposed to be the hot dog place in Montreal but it didn't seem to be too special. From what I gathered a lot of places serve the Lester's brand franks. I was kind of hoping for something natural casing. I'd think about getting them again next time I go to Montreal for a CHEAP bite. Also, I got poutine here.

AND...

My girlfriend got these all-dressed veggie dogs (tofu dogs?) at Lafleur, a Montreal fast food chain. Hehehehe! I don't think these were anything special for her either.

They were out of veggie poutine.

* for future reference *

I did find a place that I wanted to try after I had stuffed a crepe into to my stomach. Unfortunately, I was too full to stop. But I did notice all kinds of steaming meats and sausages in the window of Slovenia Boucherie-Charcuterie. I'm 99% sure that they had wieners, or just some long skinny hot dog colored sausages. It will have to wait until I get up there again.

Fin.

--

Make sure to tune in next time for the world premier of the...

SLUM DOG!

Windy City Eats: Chicago Dog & Corn Dog

I almost forgot to get wieners tonight so I ended up getting these, to-go, from Windy City Eats in Weymouth, MA.

Appearance: The wieners themselves are standard pink natural casing. Chicago Dog: On a poppy seed roll with mustard, green relish, onion, tomato, pickle, hot peppers, and celery salt. Classic Chicago style I suppose. Corn Dog: Nice brown on the outside, golden inside. The stick that they come on is huge.

Smell: I was too busy shoving wieners down my throat to smell anything. On the ride home I could smell the sweet corniness of the corn dog.

Taste: More about preparation and condiments with these dogs. Chicago: Nice mix of flavors with the million different toppings. The hot peppers are dominant. Corn: Nice sweet cross between corn bread and Chinese chicken finger. I had some mustard with it too which was good. This is my first time ever having a corn dog. Yummahz!

Texture: These wieners are firm with a nice snap to the skin. Chicago: Nice crunch from the onions/pickle/peppers. The bun got a touch soggy during transit. Corn: Crunchy on the outside soft on the inside. Eliminates to-go sog.

Overall: I love Windy City Eats. I've gone a few times before and intend to go back for more reviews. Hopefully with better planning next time. They really push the Vienna Beef brand but it's good stuff.

This trip to Windy City gets a 5/5!

Old Neighborhood Frankfurts

Today, I picked up a 3lb box (approximately 21 wieners) of Old Neighborhood Natural Casing Frankfurts at Hannaford for $10.99 (on 07/07/11). The use-by date "AUG-09-11" printed on the bottom of the box. Exciting fact about these wieners: made in Lynn, Massachusetts. WOWIE! I grilled these wieners and garnished them with black pepper, Claussen Pickle Slices, Howard's Sweet Pepper Relish, and a good squiggle of Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard.

Appearance: These wieners are a peachy-pinkish color with some tanning/sunburning/light-charring brought out by grilling. Light skin-bursting up the sides of the frankfurts. Closer up after biting in, the wiener is light pink on the inside with little orange specks. The condiments only enhance the already appealing range of grilled wiener coloring.

Smell: Smells like a wiener that was cooked on the grill with a hint of sausage-spiciness (maybe paprika?).

Taste: Biting into this smooth and subtly spiced wiener is a treat for the taste buds. The grill char is an excellent touch as well. However, there is an odd OTHER kind of taste going on. I can't quite put my finger on it but maybe a chemical/preservative taste. I only notice the OTHER taste when eating the wiener plain without a roll. With my choice of condiments the OTHER taste is completely un-noticeable to me. Which leads me to wonder: Do condiments and preparation give any wiener the potential to be perceived as a really good wiener?

Texture: The natural casing on the babies bites easily and offers a nice crisp pop. They are juicy with nice smooth meat and just a little on the greasy side.

Overall: I really like these wieners but, the OTHER FACTOR takes them down a notch for me. I will probably only buy them again if I am in need for 3 pounds of wieners. On a side note the condiment selection worked really well for me.

These wieners get a 3/5!

Crown Royal Bakery Hot Dog Bun

After work today I decided to stop at the Crown Royal Bakery in Wollaston, MA to pick up some hot-dog-buns. I was introduced to these delicious treats a while back by my co-worker and have had them a million times since. Today was my first time actually going to the bakery and buying them myself. The bakery, I hear, is absolutely mobbed in the morning but when I went at 5PM I was the only one there. I must note because of the time of purchase the bread wasn't as fresh but just a tiny bit more firm than usual.

Appearance: A shiny, tan, and round egg-washed bun with the red head of the hot dog poking out of the ends. The heads must become red from the egg-wash or baking. After biting in, the wiener is revealed as a typical pink-type and the roll yellowy.

Smell: Nothing special to note smelling the hot dog. The roll smells sweet and egg-washy.

Taste: The roll is a little on the sweet side and the mild hot dog is a little on the salty side. Perfect combo of sweet and salty. However, the bread:wiener ratio is a little high with the little oblong hot dog residing within the large round roll.

Texture: The wieners used in these are skinless and on the soft n' chewy side. The roll is soft but not as soft as I have had before. The bread immediately surrounding the wiener is a little soggy: I don't know if this is because of the juices coming out during baking or if they slather the wiener in something; definitely a plus though.

Overall: These dogs are very good and very fulfilling. I'm pretty sure they can be found at almost any Chinese bakery for a good change-up from the traditional wiener. I haven't really tried much else from the bakery but it's supposed to be a pretty good example of Chinese baked goods. At 85 cents a piece (as of 6/30/11), I will definitely buy these again and again and again.

Check out the bakery. It's right across Newport Ave. from the Wollaston Red Line T-Stop.

These wieners get a 4/5!