Dogs of Summer 10: Nathan's Natural Casing Hot Dogs

It took me forever to find Nathan's natural casing hot dogs.  For some reason, most of the supermarkets around here only carry the skinless variety and quite frankly, I can't stand them; The Handwerker family sold the company in 1987 and I swear they've done something to the recipe.  The skinless dogs taste like cheap salty grease to me and I refuse to buy them.  (My apologies to all of you out there who enjoy them.)

And yet, Nathan's is still an iconic brand, and before the natural casing franks disappeared from the stores around here, I used to like them.  So, when I finally found a package of them in ShopRite I bought them and took them home, excited at the prospect of finally tasting another Nathan's frank after so many years.

Nathan's natural casing franks are far better than the skinless ones.  For one thing, they're juicy without tasting as greasy or heavy as the skinless wieners. Also, the seasoning is very close to  how I remember them.  Unfortunately, like the skinless dogs they are too salty for my taste.  Overall  I guess they're  not all that bad and the basic beefy garlicy flavor is okay. I'm glad I found them and I'm glad I tried them, but I don't think I'll be buying them again.  We're like old friends who have grown apart over the years each with fond memories of the other but neither of us with a desire to get back together.
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