Hot dog rolls - top slit or side split?
Asked by
janbb (
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June 4th, 2024
Let’s debate this burning question.
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93 Answers
Top split, burnt (charred) hot dog, brown mustard. No ketchup (ugh), no relish, just mustard. Maybe onions.
Top split. Ketchup, mustard and chili.
Top.
@elbanditoroso can order mine, his description is perfect. No onions for me.
Hmm – I’m a side splitter, charred, brown mustard and sauerkraut.
I wonder what the difference is.
Ketchup?! You certainly don’t fit the stereotype in my head. I would have lost that bet.
Edit: two stereotypes. Northeast and Jewish.
Top split seems more coney-islandy
What? What does that even mean? Would the innards not just fall out if the “split” was on the side? And if you just rotate it by 90°, would it not be at the top after all?
Wait, I think I screwed it up, I’m a side split I think. Ugh.
Great Summer prep question
It depends on what is in it.
Lobster Roll – New England Style Side Split – Buttered and toasted
Chicago Dog – Poppy seeded top Split Hot Dog Roll
Bratwurst – Hoagie roll, German brötchen, or pretzel bun (NEVER use a regular hot dog bun, this is a huge mistake as you can’t get enough sauerkraut on it)
@JLeslie Thank you for catching my mistake! I meant mustard of course and was able to edit it. Ketchup – feh!
Top Split, charred on the grill, ketchup. Sometimes a half-slice of cheese in the bun first.
I’ve never seen a side split, but I agree with @ragingloli – rotate it and you have either one! Duhhh!
Grilled hot dog with ketchup, mustard, relish and onion on a toasted bun rotated so the split is on top.
Top split means you have more bunnish flavor as you are eating. And the dog (and fillings) are more securely held on a top split.
My grocery sells top split buns – but they are far outnumbered by side-splitters. I think top split it seen as gourmet or specialty.
Does split render it a sandwich?
I am a barbarian, I get whichever is be8ng pushed at the front of the store when I walk in, I just grab it off the display table. Sometimes it’s side, sometimes top.
With spicy mustard and some good cheddar.
Now I need to go buy hotdogs and stuff.
I don’t think the split matters much. I turn the split to the top when I eat it no matter how the bun is made. I agree a top split usually has more bread flavor in your mouth as you bite. Maybe they tend to be rounder.
Doesn’t matter with me as long as I can get it into my stomach.
Side, just like a sandwich, then rotated 90º for eating.
Top split
Side split
For those who deny that there is a difference. The question was pondered after I debated which to choose in the store and then went for side split as I usually do. But I am trying to parse the difference since like @gorillapaws I rotate it anyway to put on my sauerkraut and eat it.
Isn’t the top split more difficult to toast? I feel like in my experience the top split doesn’t flatten out enough. I prefer the bun toasted. I can eat it not toasted, but at home I always toast it in my toaster oven.
@JLeslie When I toast it, I always wedge it open so it toasts the inside and the outside. I don’t think this is possible to do very easily with a top split.
I don’t care which way it is slit. The dog is going into the bun, getting covered with mustard and diced onions, and then getting shoved into my mouth.
Top split (substitutes are unacceptable!)
Grilled vegan dog
Mustand + ketchup (yeah, I know…)
Agree with @seawulf575, although I add sauerkraut.
I hate Puka dogs. Every time I have one I want to puka.
@Caravanfan Sauerkraut is fine too, though sometimes it goes through me too quickly. I just play it safe. I will do chili and cheese though…that is also an option.
@seawulf575 The advantage of a side split is that you can more easily grill the buns. So for the answer I’m going for side split and I’m sticking to it.
I agree with sauerkraut but I love it.
I also like coleslaw on my hotdogs.
@Caravanfan Thanks. And – yuck. I may be going to Hawai’i in November; now, maybe not. lol
Top split is an eastern affect. In California they are all side split buns at the grocery store. Eight buns for a pack of ten hot dogs.
No ketchup anywhere near a hotdog, just mustard. But celery salt a necessity and then it must be a Vienna Beef hotdog.
By the way, Vienna Beef’s Taste of Chicago website shows a side split bun,
Hebrew National only for this penguin!
@janbb I wouldn’t put puka dogs as a reason not to go to Kauai. My absolute favorite restaurant in the world is in Lihui and there are plenty of good places in Poipu
Sabrett hotdogs are my favorite.
Tie for second place Hebrew National and Nathan’s.
I buy whichever of the three are on sale.
Bun brands I’m not so picky.
@janbb I wouldn’t put puka dogs as a reason not to go to Kauai. My absolute favorite restaurant in the world is in Lihui and there are plenty of good places in Poipu
@zenvelo If that’s a “side split bun”, then why is the split on top??
@smudges The top split has the split in the rounded area where the bread rises. The side split it is along the side edge of the bread.
New England style. They’re awful things that have no weight, can crush down into a doughy paste the size of a quarter, and fall apart pretty easily. But they are the only appropriate vessel for a hotdog.
If you want to make it “fancy”, it should be buttered and grilled on both sides.
Note: These buns and hotdogs should be kept as far away from ketchup as possible. Ketchup on hotdogs and those thick type of buns are both violations of the UN Declaration of Human Rights Article 32.
Gene’s Michigan Hots are awesome ! Port Henry, New York.
Top sliced bun, dogs are covered with Michigan Sauce (Detroit style Greek meat sauce) chopped onion and yellow mustard.
@hat (native New Englander here) I think the lightness of split-top rolls is much of the appeal. The rolls aren’t heavy or “bready;” they’re more like a delicate picture frame, enhancing but not competing with a work of art. And, in the summertime, what’s more artistic than a good hotdog? (In my case, a vegan dog.)
Top split, half burnt Nathans dog, coleslaw, mustard. Aka a Slawdog. Mmmm!
I tried one that had veggies and a pickle. Weird but pretty good. Also love chili dogs.
@hat here here on the ketchup! But I’m not a ketchup fan and I rarely put it voluntarily on anything. Mustard all the way for me. I recently discovered my new favorite snack which is a really good bagel toasted and then smeared with good mustard. But that’s off topic and I totally understand if my post gets modded off the face of the Earth.
@Love_my_doggie – exactly! Although, I’m usually a fan of sandwich bread which emphasizes the contents and doesn’t fill me up.
@Caravanfan: “I recently discovered my new favorite snack which is a really good bagel toasted and then smeared with good mustard.”
Mustard is a deeply misunderstood and underrated condiment. I propose that the addition of a good mustard (not yellow) to foods not commonly associated with mustard has a > 75% improvement rate. Ketchup is for people who have yet to discover a good mustard.
@JLeslie Thanks!
@Caravanfan When I was very poor my ex and I would make mustard sandwiches – just mustard and bread. It gave us the feeling of having eaten something!
@hat Then you might enjoy a Bagel Dog. Excellent with a good mustard!
@smudges, the bun in the picture was roasted 90 degrees so the side slit was on top
@ragingloli You have to come to the colonies so we can feed you up good!
I am already hovering around a too high 80kg. I have no desire to get supersized, if I even live long enough before I get filled with lead.
^^ But just think, you might feel svelte among obese Americans!
Like others, I had never even heard of the side split hot dog, so I’m definitely top split. But I only allow myself a hot dog once a year, sometime during the week of the 4th of July, because they are so high in sodium, as are the hot dog rolls! But I really miss having a hot dog, hence my allowing myself one a year. If I’m at 7-eleven, then I get chili and cheese on it. Otherwise, I like ketchup, mustard, and relish… the sweet kind, not the pickle relish. I don’t really bother with onions although my mom used to chop up onions and mix them with mustard and then I would put them on my hot dog.
Aren’t most hot dog buns in the supermarkets across the US side split? I’m shocked there are people who aren’t accustomed to having side split in most hot dog situations. Lol.
Wonder bread, store brands, Martins potato, Arnold’s, Pepperidge Farms, they are all side split in my stores and I have lived in many states north to south, east of the Mississippi.
As an aside, I often eat a hot dog with rice and mustard for dipping.
@hat I like a good yellow mustard—one that does not have vinegar as the first ingredient but mustard seed.
@zenvelo, @JLeslie Ok, I understand now. So the side splits have one rounded side and one flat side. Then yes, I eat side splits usually. LOL
p.s. who’da thunk it? 63 responses (so far) regarding a hot dog bun!
@smudges Because it’s something we can all agree on and politely argue about without getting mad!
Side split, spiral cut before cooking over charcoal, sauerkraut and yellow mustard.
Deeper question, is a hot dog a sandwich? I believe it is.
It is clearly a form of taco.
^^ Which sparks another pressing Q.
My husband has been known to wrap a hot dog in a tortilla.
^^ I know. I don’t eat hot dogs much but I usually buy one package during the summer and have a few suppers “on the barbie.” Two nights ago, my igniter didn’t work so I griddled the dog and it just didn’t taste as good.
Don’t normally eat them either but we have been grilling them at the lake on our boat. Started for the kids but the adults have been devouring them also.
I may sautee some with diced onion for some baked beans this weekend. Beanie weenies. Kids love ‘em here.
Never even heard of a top split bun until just now! But it’s more logical than the side split.
Dog, charred. Ketchup and mustard ONLY. I only like mustards in 2 things and hotdogs are one of them.
It is! Oh…and I like hot mustard in my sweet n sour sauce for egg rolls.
Top splits are training wheels for n00bs who prefer bun stability over flavor balance, mouthfeel and wiener functionality.
Hot dogs AND tacos are sandwiches.
Bought some dogs yesterday, first buns to hand were top split. Planning to indulge shamelessly after yard work today.
How could the split of the bun possibly affect the flavor @Smash?
@Dutchess_III – the balance of flavor and the way the flavors interact with your tongue. Instead of thin sides, with a flatter sandwich area to hold the meat and toppings, a top-split has fatter sides, first necessitating a smaller pocket to maintain the hinge against the larger leveraging forces and ensuring more… ah…centrifugal… with the quantum… maybe I’m just talking out my butt because it’s fun to rant about meaningless things.
ROFLOLL!!!
BUTT thicker roll = more calories!
Ever since this thread started my mouth has been watering for a classic all beef dog with a steamed roll and mustard and onions.
There is a reference above to Top Dog near the University of California campus in Berkeley CA. I went there yesterday while in the neighborhood and rather than satisfy my hot dog craving, I was disappointed.
The basic dog is grilled and then put on a (side split) French roll that has been also heated on the grill. The customer must do one’s own condiment addition from a shelf with various mustards (good) and jars of chopped onions, sauerkraut, and pickle relish which have been out all day and not fresh (bad).
And the French roll greatly distorts the read to wiener ratio.
Never going back.
^^ Sad. I’ve been happy with mine all week once I got the grill up and working again.
I have never cogitated upon the bread to wiener ratio so deeply in my entire life!
French roll, side split.
Polish dog, charred.
Catsup, mustard, mayo, onions, tomato. NO RELISH!!!
@zenvelo Top Dog is mecca!
A New York dog is manna from Heaven!
@filmfann How can you say that when you grew up in the home of Kasper’s on Telegraph Ave.?
@zenvelo We used to go to the one on MacArthur Blvd. I love Kaspers.
I also think Top Dog is better.
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