Episode Details

The hot dog dates back to 13th century Frankfurt, where pork sausages were handed out to celebrate imperial coronations of the Holy Roman Empire. Vienna also claims it, through butcher Johann Georg Lahner's blend of pork and beef, which is where the name wiener comes from. This episode covers the competing stories of who first put the sausage in a bun: Charles Feltman's Coney Island cart in 1867, Harry M. Stevens at the Polo Grounds, and the Feuchtwanger family, whose customers kept walking off with the white gloves they lent out. We also explain the grim origin of the name, which newspapers used long before cartoonist Tad Dorgan supposedly coined it.

We look at what goes into a modern hot dog, including how nitrites keep it pink, the natural casings that give it a snap, and the Nojax cellulose casings invented in Chicago in 1925. We cover the argument over whether a hot dog is a sandwich, regional styles like the Chicago dog and the DC half smoke, 20 billion hot dogs eaten in the US each year, eating contest records, cancer research on processed meat, and choking risks for young children.

• Frankfurt vs Vienna and the origin of the frankfurter and wiener
• Three competing claims to inventing the hot dog bun
• Why hot dogs are called dogs and the Tad Dorgan myth
• Nitrites, natural casings and skinless hot dogs
• The sandwich debate, regional styles, health research and choking safety