The mystery solved: This is the reason why hot dogs don’t match the number of buns in a pack

Five years before Christopher Colombus sailed the ocean blue in search of India only to find the New World instead, a new type of sausage was developed in Frankfurt that bears the city’s namesake. While the origin of what is better known today as the humble hot dog may be contested, it’s central place at barbeques and at US sporting events is not.

That’s in part due not only to it being inexpensive but also the ease of eating weiners with your hands without getting them covered with the variety of condiments. Nor having to touch the piping hot meat thanks to the bun they are served in.

No one is sure exactly when the practice started, but it may go back as far as the German culture of eating sausages with bread and spread to the US with German immigrants from Europe.

So, if the tradition of eating hot dogs in a bun has such a long history, why haven’t bakers and sausage makers gotten together to coordinate making packs of buns and frankfurters of the same number? Well, it mainly comes down to inertia but times may be changing.

The dogged question of why hot dogs and buns aren’t sold in packs of equal numbers answered

Modern life is a far cry from a century ago. Nowadays you pop down to the supermarket and have a wide choice of conveniently packaged hot dogs and buns to choose from. Unfortunately, the fluffy rolls of bread to house your wieners generally come in packs of eight while the hot dogs typically come in packs of ten.

That leaves people who want to have a bun for each sausage a little irked as they are forced to buy another pack of buns meaning six leftovers bread rolls. Many have scratched their heads at this quantity imbalance, as they are meant to go together.

Years ago though, people would get there hot dogs from the butcher and their buns from the baker. It wasn’t until the 1940s that manufacturers began packaging and selling the two in the format we see today, explains the National Hog Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC).

Baking trays for hot dog buns were designed to hold eight rolls in clusters of four explains the association. Meanwhile, hot dog makers put their product in packs of ten to sell them basically by the pound. Despite the headache that this has caused countless consumers, it has pretty much remained the same until now.

Hot dog bun bakers and wiener manufacturers changing quantities in packs

However, bakers have been reconfiguring pans to allow them to bake 10 and even 12 bun at a time, but change comes slowly. As for hot dog manufacturers, they’ve been switching things up with jumbo wieners that come eight to a pound pack. But they are sold in other quantities as well, creating new arithmetic anxiety for consumers shopping for their summer barbeque.

Fortunately, those who are creative with leftovers of either of the two items don’t need to worry about them going to waste. Hot dog buns can be used to make sandwiches while the sausages can be added to other hot dishes or enjoyed au natural.

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