When I was in college in Los Angeles, I managed a Chicago-style hot dog franchise called Flooky’s. The franchise owner, a native of Illinois, was convinced that Los Angeles was a ripe market for Chicago-style hot-dogs and intended to franchise several more stores in the L.A. area.

Chicago-style hot dogs are also often called "Chicago dogs" or "Chicago Red Hots." Any other names that you know of?

We served up hot dogs that snapped when you bit into them. They also snapped when you bent one in your hands past the breaking point. This distinctive "snap" gives the hot dogs a uniquely wonderful mouth feel.

In the Northeast, some companies even dye their casings a brighter shade of red to give their hot dogs a distinctive look.

During my meat-selling career I’ve sold hot dogs for several hot dog companies to many restaurants. Every now and then I come across a restaurant operator that brings in hot dogs all the way from the Midwest or as far as the East Coast, even though there are many local options in Colorado.

One such account is Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs at Denver International Airport. Steve, the owner, brings in his "snappy" hot dogs in from a supplier more than 1,857 miles away. I’ve shown Steve my local options, but they just don’t have the same bite, mouth feel or flavor.

Steve uses a beef and pork hot dog that has a natural lamb casing. That casing is critical to producing the right "snap." It’s also got a great smoky flavor, isn’t too salty, and has the most wonderful mouth feel.

Without a doubt, hot dogs made with stay-on natural casings are more "snappy" than hot dogs extracted conventionally from temporary plastic casings.

For those reading this who have never seen a hot dog processing plant, the ground meat is typically stuffed into an artificial plastic casing, which creates the links in their desired size and shape. The links of hot dogs are then hung on hooks and wheeled to the smoke house or oven. After cooking and smoking, the artificial plastic casing is removed and the hot dogs are packaged in retail or food service packaging. So most hot dogs in the marketplace today are skinless, with no casing.

Is it possible to make a "snappy" hot dog that isn’t made with a natural casing? I can’t imagine how it could be done.

My first Chicago-style hot dog experience at Flooky’s consisted of a natural casing beef hot dog that was first boiled, then finished on a flat top grill. The hot dog was served in a freshly steamed poppy seed bun. The bun had to be fresh — no more than three days old, if possible — and had to be lightly steamed, not overly. Chicago dogs are typically topped with mustard, chopped onions, sweet relish, tomato wedges, a dill pickle spear, pickled peppers and finally a dash of celery salt to top it off. There’s nothing else quite like them.

I just love Chicago-style hot dogs and often go out my way to find them while traveling. The funny thing is that no matter where I go, the hot dogs just aren’t as good as those you find in Chicago from the specialist street vendors that have carts set up on busy streets.

Is this your experience, too?

What makes a hot dog ‘snappy?’

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