http://www.hsn.com/products/cuizen-800-watt-hot-dog-steamer-with-bun-warmer/6813598
one reason mail order (website or regular) is so popular is to avoid nuts like this at the store (or in the parking lot, or on the road to the store)
alas, I still haven’t figured out how to cook Costco hotdogs at home that taste nearly as good as when you buy them fresh made at Costco for $1.49 each, including relish, onions, saurkraut, and mustard
(and all the soda pop you can drink)
if i could figure out how to make hot dogs taste good when I cook them at home, I could skip my Costco trips (they have NOT ONLY the world’s best hot dogs, they have the world’s most dangerous parking lot!!!!)
Have you put them in a pot of water and heated the water slowly? Do not boil the water, just let the dogs sit in the hot water until they get warm. What you’re trying to do is “steam” the dogs.
Well, one thing is for sure, if you want the hot dogs to taste good, don’t boil them. Grill them, or even just throw them in a toaster oven, if you still have one of those.
Also, you have to add a pinch of celery salt, that is the “secret” condiment.
Drop in 1 TBSP bacon grease.
Simmer hot dogs.
yum.
http://www.hsn.com/products/cuizen-800-watt-hot-dog-steamer-with-bun-warmer/6813598
I have the same problem with Italian sausage--when I cook them at home to put into a pasta dish, they're never as good as the sausages found at a good Italian restaurant. I often cook them in a George Foreman grill, but maybe that's not the way to go.
Steamed dogs, and steamed buns is the trick. The brand of dog is Costco’s own. They used to exclusively sell Hebrew National, but then there was a problem getting the Kosher meat, and Costco developed their own, or so it was written in their magazine a number of years ago.
We like to steam the dogs/buns, but our trick is to slice the steamed dogs in half, and then the halves in thirds prior to putting them on the buns. The sort of shredded dogs seem to distribute more flavor throughout our “hot dog sandwiches” when we do them that way. We most often use large Sara Lee hamburger buns, or our own home made buns of which I might put the recipe to the weekly cooking thread someday. It’s a Bread Machine recipe I posted multiple times since 1999 on the internet at various cooking sites as the topic came up.
I like Costco hot dogs, too. But...my fave hotdogs are at Gray’s Papaya in NYC. They still have their recession special...two (roller grilled) hotdogs and a drink for $4.95.