Making Bar-S hot dogs not taste nasty

[classicdrogn]

I know it can be done. The ones that have sat under a heat ;amp on the convenience store roller machine for a couple hours are usually pretty good, even. Alas, regardless of whdther I pan fry them, boil them, oil-fry them, boil then pan fry, or even bake them in an oven on low heat for an hour, I cannot get rid of the strong, harsh chemical taste of the things, and a well-meaning relative-of-uncertain-degree (about a third of the town has the same last name, after a while you just default to "cousin" or "auntie/uncle") has given me a case of the damn things. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Labster]

Is it possible that you got a bad batch? Maybe they were free because something was wrong with them? I know Bar-S is not exactly the highest quality maker - I do eat their bologna, but go to Costco for their Kirkland hot dogs.

I guess I'd try the old beanie-weenie: hot dogs cooked in baked beans, probably a can of Bush's original. The extra baking should dissolve some things in the sausage, while the beans have a strong flavor that covers up a lot.

If that doesn't work, may I suggest swallowing them really fast so you don't have to taste them?

[Dartz]

Soak 'em in water for a while like Marrowfats to get the shit out.

[robkelk]

Donate them to the local food cupboard?

[classicdrogn]

Labster - If it's a bad batch, so has every other batch of them I've ever tried - I 've bought a pack now and then over the years to see if my memory or tastes might have shifted, and they've always been like this, it's just that this time there's a lot of them. As for baenie-weenie, can't beans give me the runs, and anything but green bean pods taste foul enough on their own that it would be worse than the dags alone.

Dartz - eh, worth a try, though that's basically what I did with boil-then-fry, but maybe a longer soak with less/no heat....

Rob - If I donate food, it';s going to at least be good food. I can hold my nose and wolf them down if that's the only answer, and if that's the biggest challenge I face I can even find it in me to be grateful.

[classicdrogn]

Amazeballs Podoggens* (name pending review)

1. Bake a big ol' potato, wrapped in foil to keep the skin from getting too dry and brittle. Allow to cool enough for safe handling. Somehow resist scarfing the whole delicious smelling thing, we've got science to do.

2. Cut in half lengthwise and use a fork to crumble most of the interior to melt some butter and cheese into for normal potato-consumption purposes.

3. Bake another potato and actually resist scarfing this time. Slit a pair of hot dogs down the sides and insert in the hollowed out halves, along with some grated cheese. I used a nice cheddar, parmesan, and asiago mix the local grocery stocks pre-shredded, but most anything will probably work, even velveeta or processed rubber cheese singles if you're a truly uncultured barbarian.

4. Wrap and bake again, low heat and medium long time. It will smell even better now, but be strong! You already ate the first potato!

5. ... at least wait long enough to cook the dogs and to not burn your mouth after taking them out... oh fuck it, OMNOMNOMNOM


The Bar-S dogs were still a little tangy, but with the potato and cheese as an extra buffer it's much less noticeable. I think it really may be that they just have an excessive amount of smoke juice added. With better ingredients, this is easily going to go on my favorite meals list.



* like "turducken," because it's a potato stuffed with a hot dog stuffed with cheese. We can workshop it?

[robkelk]

3. Bake another potato and actually resist scarfing this time. Slit a pair of hot dogs down the sides and insert in the hollowed out halves, along with some grated cheese. I used a nice cheddar, parmesan, and asiago mix the local grocery stocks pre-shredded, but most anything will probably work, even velveeta or processed rubber cheese singles if you're a truly uncultured barbarian.

Might I suggest a nice smoked cheese? I've found that a slice of smoked gouda in a sandwich is strong enough to hide a multitude of sins without actually overpowering the meat it's eaten with.

As to where to find smoked cheese, well, I live in a city with more than one high-end grocery store, so each has incentive to stock products that the others don't. But it isn't so rare that a decent-sized town's grocery store won't have at least heard of it.

EDIT: Oh, and consider adding green-pickle relish -- the stuff you can find at any hot dog cart. (Yes, we're coming close to making a Whistle Dog here, but there's a reason those sell out quickly when A&W Canada brings them back in the summer.)

[classicdrogn]

With the Bar-S dogs specifically the goal is to diffuse the smoke flavor that's too intense in them alone, so a mild cheese and perhaps a slice of coldcut deli chicken or turkey rather than bacon is indicated, but starting with higher quality ones that aren't already trying to cover for the rest of their ingredients I'd agree with you. The tater-skin "bun" is still the critical component, though.