Have you ever noticed that hot dog buns come in packages of 8 and hot dogs usually come in packages of 10? So if you want to buy an equal amount of buns and hot dogs you need to buy 5 packages of buns and 4 packages of hot dogs. That’s 40 hotdogs! Do the math – there is no smaller combination. 

What’s Up With That?

I like hot dogs. They are the quintessentially American fare for picnics and camping. Oh, the entomology of its creation is debatable, but who cares. Bottom line is Americans eat 70 billion hot dogs each year. On every extended camping trip we have at least two hot dog meals. Since it is just the two of us we would like to buy 8 buns and 8 quality hot dogs.

You may wonder if I sit around and think about these kinds of modern-day problems. The short answer is no. But I do read packaging. For example, when we cooked those hot dogs on our last camping trip, and while I was eating them, I read all the labels on the catsup and mustard containers. And I found this one interesting:

40% more than our 14OZ size. 

Hmm… that would be 19.6 ounces. But the bottle says is contains 20 ounces. So it is actually 42.8571% more than the 14 ounce unit. But 40% probably sounds better to a marketing person. Now I didn’t buy this because it said 40% more; I bought it because it fits nicely in our camper’s refrigerator door and I like French’s mustard. So I gave this a little more thought. Do people buy a larger bottle because it says 40% more? I have no idea whether it sells more. French’s must think it does.

So it occurred to me that perhaps the 8-bun package and the 10-hot dog package might  just be marketing ploys to sell more buns and hot dogs. 

Consider this — and it makes sense to me — a one pound package of hot dogs. One pound is a nice round number we all understand — well most of us understand it — unless you have bought into the communist plot to convert to the metric system. If so, this package weighs 453.592 grams (Bah! Humbug!) However, do you see the problem on the package?

There are 10 hot dogs.

But only 8 buns in this popular brand:

I have never seen buns sold in anything but 8-packs.

On our last trip we were camping for two weeks. We ended up buying 10 hot dogs and 8 buns.

Wait… it gets worse!

I like Hebrew National all beef hot franks.

12 ounces and only 7 hot dogs. Let’s do some more math…

Holy Moly, we need to buy 7 packages of buns and 8 packages of hot dogs to get an equal amount. That’s 56 hot dogs!

Why don’t the bun makers and hot dog makers get together and resolve this?

So is the 8 + 10 combo a plot to make us spend more money and throw away the left overs? I did some research. Seems the buns are baked in clusters of 4 and the standard baking pan holds two clusters, thus 8 buns. It’s the way they have always done it.

Now, to be fair to the hot dog makers, there are more options these days and you can sometimes find 4 and 8 packs if you are in a large super market. But when you are camping for several weeks at a time, like we do, there aren’t large supermarkets around to resupply and we always end up with the 10 + 8 combo.

Note to self…

Start buying the Hebrew National 20-packs. 

Repackage them into packets of four and freeze them. Take two packets and 8 buns camping.