Photo: ALEAIMAGE (Getty Images)
It’s officially summer and this means we’re in the midst of grilling season. And while there are myriad meats and vegetables suitable for the grill, it’s hard to beat the appeal of juicy hamburgers or charred hot dogs. If there are two kings of summer, they’re the iconic hot dog and the timeless excellence of a well-made burger.
Even at their most basic on a simple bun without any condiments, these grilling favorites are flavorful, memorable, and iconic. Add other ingredients and they can be out of this world in terms of flavor. And while we can agree that the hot dog and hamburger are the best foods a grill can make, which one is actually the best?
Today, we’re feeling a little squirrely, a little wild, and a little crazy. So crazy we’re going to attempt to figure out which of these summertime staples is actually the best. Keep scrolling as we delve into the pros and cons of each food item in an effort to once and for all determine the one true king of the grill.
Burger Versus Hot Dog
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Texture
It all comes down to what you enjoy in terms of texture. A burger can be quite dense and firm, but juicy if prepared correctly. A hot dog isn’t as firm and that’s likely due to the absolute mystery that is its ingredients. In a squeaker, we’ll give this one to the burger.
Winner: Burgers
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Flavor
If you’re not a fan of beef, you won’t enjoy a burger on its own. It can be a little barnyard-like if you don’t have the highest quality beef. Hot dogs, regardless of where you get them and who makes them, taste pretty much the same. They taste like hot dogs. We’ll give this one to the franks.
Winner: Hot Dogs
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Ingredients
Here’s where things get tricky. While we assume hot dogs have a decent beef percentage, there are also tons of question marks about the quality and the other meats and ingredients involved. A well-made burger is simply made of ground beef. This is a no-brainer.
Winner: Burgers
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Versatility
The hot dog, while delicious, is a bit of a one-trick pony. Sure, you can add ketchup, mustard, and relish. If you’re really feeling wacky, you can add chili and cheese. But, unless you want to get really crazy, you’re rather limited. Cheese, bacon, jalapenos, peanut butter, caviar, you can literally add anything to a burger.
Winner: Burgers
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Portability
If you don’t put anything on save for American cheese, a simple, not overly juicy burger is fairly portable. But if you add anything else, it can become a bit of a mess. The hot dog, even when adorned with various condiments, is still much more portable and easy to carry around in one hand.
Winner: Hot Dogs
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Nostalgia
While we love a nice grilled burger (especially if it’s a cheeseburger), there’s just something nostalgic about a hot dog. Maybe it’s because we have memories of biting into a tasty, char-grilled hot dog at a baseball game when we were kids, or perhaps it’s just because we enjoyed hot dogs more in our youth.
Winner: Hot Dogs
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Intangibles
You can write “gourmet hot dog” on a menu, but it’s still the same mystery meat hot dog with a fancy name. You can make a burger out of wagyu beef or add multiple kinds of cheese, bacon jam, and fried onions and make it something spectacular. The burger is just better overall.
Winner: Burgers
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Overall Winner
The burger narrowly won this battle of summer stalwarts. It could have gone either way, but it was the intangibles and overall fancy quality of the classic burger that propelled it to victory.
Overall Winner: Burgers
