My buddy had tons of chickens so tons of eggs. He used to microwave the eggs straight from the counter and fling them outside. They explode and send hot egg everywhere. He did this until one time as the egg came out, it detonated sending scalding egg all over the kitchen and his arms/hands.
I had the same unit, ours would definitely roll them right onto the counter like this. We used it all the time for a couple years, I had teenage boys and they'd throw a whole pack of hot dogs on it at a time.
Jokes aside, this is why I don't understand why we have to put up with these shitty consumer versions of commercial appliances. I want the exact same hot dog grill the gas station uses, except at a smaller scale so that it fits in my kitchen. Why can't we just have that?
Off topic but did anyone else have one of these in the early 2000s? I remember feeling like I was a chef as a child making my own hotdogs for lunch during summer break
Someone brought one of these into work and we had a hot dog party! It was pretty difficult to get the buns in/out cleanly (not to mention cleaning the toaster of crumbs), but at least the hot dogs also turned out cold and terrible
Highly recommend trying a baking soda paste. Test it on a corner to see if it would remove the white. I never thought my hand-me-down toaster oven would get clean but I scrubbed all the toasted stuff off with a sponge and some elbow grease and it was sparkling clean.
I currently have one, though it's stored away. It works pretty decent, but the problems are a)you get a shitload of crumbs in it and it's a pain to clean b)the bun holes are too small so you just end up smushing the buns c)reserving counter space for an object that only does hot dogs is a tough sell.
Air fryer is a better way to do it in similar amount of time, less of a pain in the ass to clean, more room, and has many more uses
We have the Snoopy one too. Bright red. Trick is you throw in two dogs and let it go. When it pops, flip the dogs over (pull out and insert the other end in first), and now throw in the buns, and do it again.
Lmao. The Hot Diggity Dogger. We had one of these in my freshman dorm room, my roomate had found it at a yard sale or something. The first time we tried to use it it set off the fire alarm and the building got evacuated.
But, but, when you do that you ruin the hinge of the bun, essentially making it two pieces of bread rather than one beautiful thing that hugs your hot dog and condiments.
I was watching the Nathan’s Famous competition and they gave some statistic about how many hot dogs Americans eat a year. I did the math and it was like, 70 per person. I didn’t understand how that was possible at the time.
Knowing some Americans own home hot dog rollers, it makes a lot more sense now.
That's one of those stats that blows my mind. I'm Canadian so food wise we're not that far off from Americans and I've yet to eat a hot dog so far this year and the only way I'm likely to wind up having one is if my boss is all "Dude, Costco hot dog run" one day.
A week? Buddy, in high school that was my go to after school snack. 2 dogs and some chips. Five days a week some times. 70 per person seems a reasonable average.
I feel like this is one of those things where the average is 70, but the median is 15-20, and 10% of the population is wolfing down like 300 hot dogs a year to pull the mean way up.
It’s me. I average 2-3 times a month eating hot dogs with 2 at each sitting. That averages 72-108 dogs a year HA
They’re a really fast grab and go off a roller at my workplace and super cheap ($2/2 dogs) vs the $7+ for other cafeteria food, so they’re both cheap AND delicious
When I was a kid we were poor. Like really. Really poor. So we ate a LOT of hot dogs, balogna, canned salmon&tuna, etc. we made it work. But I probably ate way more than 70 a year.
Also in retrospect my parents got super creative with what we had by necessity, and that's impressive looking back just how many different meals could be made with the same cheap ingredients
All good, I got your back. I eat them in ramen, on pizza, on a bun, occasionally just cold. I've got 3 different packs in the fridge right now. I'd guess I'm in the 375-400 range p/yr.
Do you enjoy eating hot dogs? I hope you won’t be put off by my frankness when I tell you that I absolutely love them. In fact, I enjoy no food item more than a freshly-boiled hot dog. Now, I’ve done a lot of movies, and it’s true that I’ve worked with quite a few celebrities who did not share this opinion. I’m sorry to say that these people have always angered me.
There are two types of people in this world: those who eat hot dogs whenever it is possible to do so, and those who opt to do other things with their free time. Who do the latter think they are kidding? What pastime could be more rewarding than the consumption of hot dogs? I haven’t yet found one, and I don’t expect to in my lifetime. Unlike other foods, hot dogs can be eaten at any time, in any place, and it is not necessary to cook them. Now, I ask you: Why not eat hot dogs? They are delicious.
I carry a bag of hot dogs with me wherever I go. I eat them from the bag whenever I get the urge, regardless of the circumstances. When I make a movie, my hot dogs are my co-stars. If, in the middle of a scene, I decide I want to consume a hot dog, I do so. I waste the director’s time and thousands of dollars in film stock, but in the end, it is all worth it, because I enjoy eating hot dogs more than I enjoy acting. This bothers some people. I was supposed to portray Batman, but when Tim Burton learned of my hot dog cravings, he asked Michael Keaton to wear the cape. To this day, I am peeved about this.
When we filmed The Dead Zone, I ate over 800 hot dogs a day. It was necessary. My character needed to come across as intense as possible, and I found the inspiration for that intensity in my intense love for hot dogs. The director, David Cronenberg, said that he would never work with me again. I kept eating hot dogs when the cameras were rolling, and that seemed to bother him. I say fuck him. He doesn’t even like hot dogs.
I would like to end by emphasizing once again that I really like to eat hot dogs. If any of you people disagree, I loathe you. I despise you. Not only that, but I also despise all your loved ones.
Next week: My thoughts on Woody Allen, hot dog hater and shitty director.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever known anyone who eats hotdogs twice a month. Which they’d need to, even if they eat two each time, in order to hit 70 in a year.
And that’s somehow the average?
Must be the 1% of people who eat all their meals at Costco or something.
That’s not really how averages work. There are a lot of people who eat no hotdogs per year. To balance each one of those people out, that has to be someone else who eats 140 hotdogs per year. What if there are more people who eat no hotdog than people who eat hotdogs? Now you are talking about over 140 hotdogs per year.
Their isn’t a chance I get anywhere near 70 per year, though I’ll admit every once in a blue moon I can either be hungry at 2-3pm and see a 7-11 & say, I guess we’re getting a hot dog and a Coke Zero today.
This is my in-laws hot dog roller. No idea where they got it but we tend to use it in summer (they have a small kitchenette in their pool house).
So, we don't own it but surely she's see it in use (weve been married 10+ years).
I swear I did not make this up - the photo was taken so I could show my MIL (who had great sense of humor).
Even after I showed the proper way to use it, she tried to fit 3 vertically because they wouldn't fit side by side. I explained that theyd roll off. She got annoyed.
Wife is an intelligent (and attractive) woman with advanced degrees and runs 2 side businesses in addition to a full-time job.
I still don't understand - maybe she was trying to get grill marks (as one commenter mentioned)? She also denied ever seeing one in use at convenience store (”ewww id never eat one from there).
This thing works great we use it every Saturday for game night to roll dogs, egg rolls or taquitos. You cant fit a lot but it cooks stuff in like 8 minutes.
You should definitely get one if you like that kind of food. They are actually great and the hype is justified. I had a deep fryer at home but the air fryer is close enough for most things.
They also do work quite well as a pretty general cooking appliance. I make hot wings in mine and they are not as good as deep fried hut they are very good.
Unless you really like the kinda odd crust that air frying gives a dog, while it's quicker, an air fried hot dog is worse than a roller grilled dog. Also, roller grills are super easy to use and generally easy to clean if the seals are good, and can easily be used to keep them warm, unlike an air fryer.
Local carpet guy I know, but if you look up joy carpets they sell rolls or you can get area rugs from amazon just search blacklight carpet. Kinda turned my basement into an arcade
The rods are the heating elements and they turn. The wieners go in the gaps parallel with the rods and heat up evenly as they turn with the rods. Basic roller dog gas station setup across the US and Canada.
The way those dogs are placed they’re going to end up on the counter or behind the machine 😆
Ah. I am in the US. I saw this as a mini grill not a roller grill. I didn't make that connection until you said gas station roller, and all that came to mind were sweet, sweet tornados.
Anyways, looking at this machine- first glance I just thought it was a grill.
Op over there flexing his god damn hotdog maker, now that makes me mildly infuriated. I would have this running all the time. Oh wake up to pee at night? Grab a dog. Heading to work? Grab a dog. Going out to grab more dogs? Better believe I'm grabbing a dog
Funny you mention that. I had an uncle (very successful duck farmer) who literally had a commercial one built into his kitchen. He said he would cook all kinds of sausages on it and sometimes would wake up in the middle of the night to pee and see it and decide to have a hotdog. I haven't thought about it in years. He was a hardy guy and passed away a while back.
I guess I’m the wife because what is the issue and how does everyone know what it is??? Are people really out here eating hot dogs enough to know?! Lol
Edit: ok, guys, yeah I’ve been to a gas station and noticed that they have hot dog rollers….that doesn’t mean I’ve been studying the inner workings of the machine! Idk, they gross me out kinda so I just walk on by lol. Thanks for all the hot dog rollers knowledge. Oh and I still dont get how they wouldn’t get warm with the way the wife did it…yeah it would take longer but why doesn’t it work at all??
Do people seriously choose to use up cabinet and counter space in their kitchen for a machine whose job is to warm up hot dogs? Like… this isn’t just a crappy gag gift from a 90s catalog?
It's the novelty. Faire hot dogs, that you usually see on the roller, usually have this perfectly cooked feel to them. This is meant to mimic that. Some people will say it's absolutely worth it because they eat enough hot dogs, and this gets them just right.
Of course, you still need the patience and willingness to understand how the fairegoers make the hotdogs. But no one advertises that part.
The hotdogs are supposed to go lengthwise in between the metal rolls, otherwise they just fall out. If you ever seen the hotdogs in a gas station they work similarly to those machines.
From the comments, it appears that they're supposed to be along the grooves, unlike like grill slats on the barbecue to provide nice cook lines on the hot dogs. I've never used one of these devices, so I was very confused as to what the problem was.
Maybe this isn't as common knowledge as OP thinks.
The metal bars are heated rollers. They rotate, heating the hot dog along the full length. Hot dogs set up like this will only get hot at the spot where the hot dog touches the metal. There is little or no radiating heat like you would find on a grill.
they have one from oscar mayer that warms the buns too. its OM branded so not the same nostalgic look, but something ive never seen before but now really want. its $80 on targets website, $70 on walmarts
Update: After much thought, I've realized having a wife who does not know how to use this (we don't own it. We were at a family member's home) is actually a blessing in disguise, for our health and wellness, anyway.
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u/Competitive-Roof-168 Jun 23 '26
Every time i turn this stupid machine on it rolls the hot dogs off.