A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - What's The Best Fast Food Hash Browns?

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

Today, Josh and Nicole are diving into the world of crispy breakfast treats as they rank hash browns from popular fast-food chains. Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Alright. Let's save Christmas. There it is. Only in theaters Friday. This episode is presented by Pepsi. A hot dog is a sandwich. That deserves a Pepsi. This episode is presented by Pepsi.

A hot dog is a sandwich. That deserves a Pepsi. What we dog is a sandwich. That deserves a Pepsi. What we need is a few good taters. What's taters, precious? Potatoes, boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew. I think they're like hash browns better, masters, with the frying and the ketchup and the McMuffins. I love the McMuffinses.

This is a hot dog, it's a sandwich. This is a hot dog, it's a sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What?

Welcome to our podcast, a hot dog is a sandwich, the show we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host Josh Erard, my throat's about to bleed. And I'm Nicole and I.D. And today we are taking on one of the biggest potato-based challenges, Nicole, that we have faced yet. We will be determining what the best fast food hash brownie is. This is very exciting for me.

I love fast food hash browns a lot because none of them are made like in-house Not that anything in the fast food place is made in-house It's just a frozen puck of potatoey goodness and all that really determines the goodness or the badness of it is Number one how it's cooked number two how it's stored and number three how oil logged it always is Those are the three determining factors for me. Yeah, and the oil-logging is interesting. This is one thing I'm fascinated with when people are like, oh, this fast food place is good, this fast food place is bad.

A lot of it has to do with how much the person dunking it in the deep fryer cares about. Yeah, the policy. Well, also like policy, like I'd be surprised to know if like Burger King like puts their hash-bound coins in for 35 seconds at a certain temperature versus Taco Bell and how their temperatures are like predetermined and allocated and then do you actually have a manager who's not just smoking pot out back and is actually making sure the

Oil's getting clean. So there's a lot of factors you can smoke a pot. Oh my god We're talking about hash browns on hash brownies Nicole. No marriage wanna hear The other thing that I'm fascinated with is, like you said, none of these are made in-house. These are all coming from some sort of factory. Frozen. Frozen from a factory. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, but, but there is a curation. There is a curation that's going on from the restaurant. Like they are working with all these factories. Like the Japanese emissaries during the Meiji Restoration sent out into the world to find the best products and bring them back to Japan. That is what these fast food restaurants are doing. These potatoes, you ever hear the story about, remember when the chicken sandwich wars were popping off? Popeyes perfected it.

And everyone was like, my god, we have to do this. And Burger King launched theirs. And then, yeah, every one, was that the Chik-King? Not the Chik-King. That was post-Chik-King. Chik-King was Burger King. But every fast food restaurant had their chicken sandwich and then Popeyes' was better, and then there's like, we gotta come out with an even better one. Sorry, our chicken wasn't very good. But I listened to a podcast or something with the CEO of Burger King, and he's like, we went to 30 different pickle factories, try to find the best

pickles. Sounds like a TikTok. Yeah. And so that's kind of what they're doing with this, right? They're like, Pickles sounds like a tick-tock. Yeah, and so that's kind of what they're doing with this, right? They're like, you know, these different little potato factories totally and see who can get the edge from their competitors Do you think that the patties are all made in one factory and the coins are all made in one factory? Um, I don't know about that. I would I would guess that these are all quite different regional factories, although My heart of hearts says no my heart of hearts says nay They're all I think they might like McDonald's I'm sure has their own factories for their hash browns because McDonald's is the progenitor of fast food breakfast. These have been iconic

From day one. Sure. Yes, but but that said every other, Do you wanna look at them? A lot of other hash browns look quite similar, like Jack in the Box and what you got over there? You got Taco Bell? Yeah, so our ranking is, in no particular order, we have Taco Bell, Carl's Jr., McDonald's,

Burger King, and Jack in the Box. Are those even different hash browns? I don't know, I mean, McDonald's is certainly different. McDonald's does have a differents? I don't know. McDonald's is certainly different. McDonald's does have a different shape, I will say this. So the Taco Bell and the Jack in the Box have a very similar shape. I think they're the same size and shape, but you can clearly see that the bake on them is different.

The cook on them is quite different. But is that something that's coming from the factory, or is that the fact that Jack in the Box's oil is obviously colder? It might even look older because of how dark it is. I don't even think it's a temperature thing because that thing is quite squishy. Oh really? Interesting. And so there's a lot of variables here. So what we're saying is if your favorite hash brown does not get represented here today.

Sorry. Sorry, not sorry. I still love you. I'm going to be a total B about this. Do you have any preconceived notions of what you think is gonna pop off? What's your go-to breakfast hash round of choice? It's always been McDonald's, but whenever I'm in the airport, specifically LAX,

I find myself going for these little coin babies, these Carl's Jr. coin babies, because it's like in the terminal, it's Carl's Jr. Little poppable snack-os. Yeah, yeah, these are like, I love when I'm traveling, the Carl's Jr. Little hash around coins are money, but the McDonald's ones are like kind of perfect, too. Nothing hits like a Carl's Jr. in an airport. Tell you what. Why is that? I

What is with Carl's Jr. in airports? It's so good. I know I had one on land I went on the car boat. No, not not on Main Street. I get down. I actually really have Carl's Jr. They've been a big hearties a lot of room in my heart I've never been to a hearties. They're the same company as Carl's Jr For people that don't know just like east of the Rockies like Hellman's and best foods Yeah, same thing so many brands brand brand brand brand we never said so many brands It's a short period of time if McDonald's doesn't win. I'm gonna drink that Pepsi out of my shoe You're gonna do a Pepsi. I'm gonna do a Pepsi Shoe We if McDonald's doesn't win. That's how confident I am but now

You know those there's like sports. I'm not a sports better. I'll do it out of your shoe Do that of my she's the only shoes I brought today your shoes are no I'll walk barefoot in the office. I don't care is there something inherently weird about me doing it out of your shoes something I think it's gross. I think the stakes are higher. Is it grosser in like a Sanitation way or grosser in like a sanitation way or grosser in like a challenger's way? Like the movie challenge? Yeah, yeah, yeah, like where she spits on the park. Okay, how about we do this? There's a psychosexual element that feels weird.

How about it's Meggie's shoe? No, no, how about we do Meggie's shoe? No, please no. Okay, Meggie doesn't want that. Meggie doesn't want that. The parasocial relationships, if I drink Pepsi out of your shoe, I think you're gonna spike too high. But it's a Lululemon sneaker! You always tell me I have the most sensible shoes. Yeah, that's how I compliment people Quite sensible I got check it out sockless

Okay aside from that do you find yourself more of a patty guy or a coin boy doesn't matter as long as it's good Don't call me coin boy. That sounds anti-semitic Hey coin boy check Should we start with which where do you where do you ending on McDonald's? Oh, so do you ending on McDonald's? No, I don't want to end on you know start McDonald's ruin all the other hash browns for us No, stop. I think we need to start either at one end of the table or the other end of the table. We'll go to the end. Let's start with Jack in the Crack.

You call a Jack in the Crack. Why does everybody call a Jack in the Crack? Because we're all super cool and unique. Oh, the grease soaking through the bag. Does that turn you off? No. I know what I'm getting if I'm eating fast food. The grease should be on the inside.

So typically, right, the way these are cooked, the potatoes are probably pre-blanched in oil, then buzzed up. Or that's where the term hash comes in. It's literally French, like, ashe. You ever get like a beefsteak ashe? It means like hashed beefsteak, just ground beef? No, never.

Yeah, beefsteak ashe. And so like the term hash brown, literally the hash comes from French, hache, and then brown, it's just hashed in browned potatoes. Thanks point dexter. And duper to believe. That's interesting. This is a good baseline I feel like to go off of. The potatoes to me feel a little bit undercooked.

But the outside is- Is overly browned. Is overly browned. But I think it's a good- Which to me is not where I wanna live in a half brown. The key to a good half brown, one, internal seasoning. That's where you get some benefit of pre-cooking potatoes,

blending them with definitely salt, maybe some MSG, maybe some spices in there, onion, garlic, whatever, whatever, white pepper, the classic fast food trio. So this is really salty, it's really nice. The insides though, it feels like it was fried in dirty oil For not a long enough time and then browned early because the oil is ready and the oil was too hot Yeah, the oil was so hot that it cooked the outside and then the inside was left a little bit wanting a boy

Is this so I mean I eat 15 of these it's well salted. I'll give salty. It's potatoes. I'll give it that Score it out of 10. What do you got Jack? I'm gonna give it salty. It's potatoes. Mm-hmm. I'll give it that score it out of 10 What do you got Jack in the Box right now? I'm gonna give it a five just just off of first bites first looks first noms I agree on five entirely. What's next Burger King Burger King? These are the tater crowns Oh, these are I don't love Burger King's commitment to the monarchy, but I love that. We got a double. Oh, we got two double tots Oh my god, we're gonna have oh my god. That means they were crowding the fryer. Oh Really? Yeah, did you ever fry tater tots? No, I don't I don't cook tater tots. I hate tater tots It's tough, dude I used to do it at my pop-up stony baloney because I did like a like pork belly chili verde smothered tater tots

With like smoked cheddar and that was really good. I don't like the smoked cheddar though I think that's pretty whack. Just a regular cheddar. Um, these are really good Why don't you want the smoke on there? I don't need it. I think smoke and tomatillo goes really nicely together. Okay. Because you get the freshness of tomatillo, but... How long did that pop up last?

Five weeks, lost a lot of money. These are delicious. I don't know if I can imagine anything better than a Burger King tater crown. Un petit patate. I really like it. What? A little potato. Un petit patate. I really like it. What? A little potato. Un petit patate?

A quel langue? What language is that? How do you say potato? Oh. In French? Pomme. Pomme. Pomme de?

Pomme de terre. Pomme de terre. Why did I say patate? A petit pomme de terre. Un petit pomme de terre. Pomme de terre. Pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre.

A petit pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre. A petit pomme de terre. Pomme de terre. D'air. A petit, a der berger gring, getting petit pomme terre. Le roi de berger. That's pretty fricking good. This is excellent, this is excellent. I want to try one from here, because this guy looks crispy. You know what I want to do? First time I'm going to rip open the ketchup baguette.

I'm going to eat the inside and see, I'm going to isolate the center. You're going to suck out the marrow from the hash browns Isolating the center you gobbling you gollum What is gollum? Maggie? You're a What is gollum species called well he started as a hobbit, right? Yeah, he starts to hobbit and then slowly but surely his obsession with the ring turns him into a gollum, right? Well a gollum or he is just called Golem. Are there other golems out there, like a sexy lady golem?

Hobbits? I hope so. Hobbits turn into... Meggie, tone it down. So hobbits turn into golem and golem-like creatures. But orcs now, orcs now are... they were once elves, correct? They're elves that are sort of marinated, like making a thousand-year-old egg? Yeah, I think so. I only recently got in Lore of marinated, like making a thousand year old egg. Yeah, I think so.

I only recently got in Lorela Ring, sorry. Oh really? Yeah. I saw like all of them for the first time. They're all right. I really love them. I'm not like a nerd, but like I, and I respect people who are, like I almost wish.

I wish I was a nerd about things like that. I wish I was more of a part of the fandom. I wish I had a fan, I mean, yeah, I wish I had a fandom to be a part of them Firefly It's only 14 episodes I heard it's one season it's just one season now that's right space Cowboys Anyways, um Sound off in the chat if you think we should watch firefly. Yes. I mean what like seven eight

I'm gonna give it an eight. Oh, eight? Let's give it an eight, and then we can readjust if we want to. Sure we can, of course, this is our podcast, there's no rules. Boom. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

You know, Josh, it's the month of November, and I think gratitude is one of the things we have to practice. Couldn't agree more. Yeah, I've realized that I'm incredibly grateful for one of my dear friends. She's a girl that I've known since I was five years old and we kind of ebbed and flowed through each other's lives. But at this point, we're both 31 years old and we've grown up together and I've just seen her glow and blossom and she's always been there for me. And I'm so incredibly grateful to have that kind of relationship that's outside of my marriage,

or my work, or my parents. It's really beautiful to see. When you said, I have a lot of gratitude for, I thought you were gonna say me, and that's what I find that you don't say. I have a lot of gratitude for you that we can come here and have good times. But you know who we don't have enough gratitude for?

All the time. Who? Ourselves. Ourselves. Ourselves. And that is actually something that I have learned from therapy is not only how to have gratitude for myself, but how to have grace with myself, how to have forgiveness with myself, and being given the tools in the framework through therapy is actually something that I really, really value. Josh, that is such a great point.

I never even thought of that. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. You just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Let the gratitude flow. With BetterHelp, visit BetterHelp.com slash Hotdog today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash hot dog.

I am craving a big slice of pizza and an ice cold Pepsi for lunch today. Nicole, what if I told you, you have the power to make that happen? I do? Yeah, and you know how I know that? Cause you're real, real smart. That's one of the reasons.

The other reason is that I had the same dream that you had, except this was a couple of days ago. We basically lived parallel lives, but I was craving an ice cold Pepsi and a big old slice of pizza. And I was at the airport and I was coming back to LA. And so I like really needed some food to get me through that last leg of the journey.

And I was on the plane and I opened my pizza and the flight attendant came by and I got the free chips and I got an ice cold Pepsi zero sugar. And I will never forget this borderline spiritual experience of eating that spicy from the pepperoni, salty, chewy pizza, going to the crispy chips, and then resetting my palate with ice cold, refreshing Pepsi Zero Sugar, that perfect amount of acid

to just cut through all that fat in your palate. And then back to the chewy pizza, crispy chip, refreshing Pepsi, chewy pizza, crispy chip, refreshing Pepsi. And it made the flight so, so much better. My lunch was absolutely saved. I love story time with you Josh. It's my favorite. But moral of the story is Pepsi makes your food taste better. Everybody knows that. So grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar for your next meal as food deserves Pepsi.

Hey, remember that part in Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey is getting shaved at the place and then he takes an open ketchup packet and goes like this? I do! And then that barber like passes out? Every time I see a half open ketchup, it instantly transports me to that time. Sorry, that was such a tangy time. Such a tangy time. We weren't so divided as a nation.

I know, so simpler. I mean, were we? Probably were, actually. We're being honest. Okay, now we're gonna get to the OG. McDonald's! Yes! Well, I will say, I said that I didn't care about the grease not existing, but there's no grease on this, and that's kind of awesome. There is grease on this one, though. I'm not even gonna say anything to eat that. Almost tastes like tempera on the outside right there's an extra Coating on it. There's an extra coating of starch on it that like yeah, you're not getting with this It's almost protecting it you see those little nubbins right there

I like there's like it almost looks like the semolina on the bottom or cornmeal on the bottom of like a pizza crust You know what I mean you're getting these little nubbins on the outside of McDonald's whatever starch They're coating it in in the factory. It does a great job. It absorbs the grease, like it eats light and clean, you know. Wow, I love eating potatoes and drinking soft drinks. I don't know why we don't do that more often as a people. Potatoes and Pepsi, that should be the new collab, you know. It's a lovely, I can't imagine anything better than this right now. It's actually such a great way to start my day

What the heck? I'm gonna take the potato and Pepsi challenge just every single every single day wake up with a bunch of hash browns and Pepsi my gosh Damn, that's it. Can I tell you something? I'm gonna go back and eat one of these well cuz I say even go back and try the jack-o'-box one because Well, I'd say even go back and try the Jack in the Box one because Patty vs. Patty. It's so much more. It's it's so much more compact and cute. It's like remember the blackberries Like the Jack in the Box is like your original blackberry and then this is like the blackberry curve You know so much more compact sexy put in your pocket. What is the blackberry curve? They curved it to fit the the flexi flexination of your hips of your hair. I think so't know. Let me actually Google. Let me quickly- let me just- let me just Google.

What's interesting is McDonald's feels slightly less salted than Jack in the Box. And I didn't think- it does. It does, it does. And if you put ketchup on it, I don't- I can't imagine a better hashbrown existing. It's really good, but I went back and I had one of the little hashbrown coins. And I might be a coin boy. What you're getting with coins is more fried surface area. And it tastes almost more MSGE. Yeah Burger King is really good though. Shoot I think I think I might I think I might be giving the Burger King one an A and I think I might be giving the McDonald's one an 8.2. 8.2 I give the McDonald's hash brown a 10. Really I find myself wanting to eat more Burger King than the McDonald's at this current state

of affairs. There's a crunch factor on McDonald's hash brown that I don't think has ever been replicated by anything. I want to like play around with this. But there's a taste factor to the Burger King one that I'm not getting from the others that we've tasted. More science has gone into the tongue workings on the Burger King, you know?

More science has gone into the teeth workings on the McDonald's. If they could just talk to each other, get the tongues and teeth working in syncopation, I think then you end up with the best hash brown possible. But still. The tip of the tongue, the roof of the mouth, the lips and the teeth.

Absolutely, man. That's what I've been saying for years. Shoot, that's good. impossible but but still of the tongue the roof of the mouth the lips and the teeth absolutely man That's what I've been saying for years She's good, but the flavor okay I guess I'm more of a flavor girl than a texture girl like you're the kind of guy who needs to eat as fast food the Second it comes out like that's you that's not me I am more of a flavor person than a texture person always have been always will be so I find myself Leaning towards the Burger King ones a lot more than the McDonald's ones. I'm covered in grease. Oh yeah, my fingers are...

I'm covered. I'm covered in grease, Master. I swear, it looks like I have highlight on my fingers. I'm just gonna dab my cheeks. Ready to go on to the next one? Yeah. You want a little break? You want a little jumping jack break or a little high knees?

Some high knees. I need a Pepsi break. Okay. Okay. We have... Many forget Carl O was Faramir masters I've got that Carl Urban right Carl Urban's Faramir now he's in the boys all right that's bad here's the thing Carl's Jr.

they've been slinging a lot of fish sandwiches lately Does this taste like fish to you? It tastes like old for aro like old canola. Yeah, it tastes like fresh. Yeah, if I own I was sending This is different than the tater crown despite the fact that they look somewhat similar from a different factory Look at them. What's the difference? There's no difference. You're lying. Hold on hold Hold the line No, they are different. They're absolutely different. Are you sure? Let me see. I don't believe you. Okay, grab it yourself! You're closer to it!

Bro, they're different sizes. I swear to God. No, Burger King is... Okay, you just handed me four of them at the same thing. Here, eat. You need to eat. So I'm guessing these are the Burger Kings and these are the... Shuffle. shuffle okay grab four Shuffle them around and I'll tell you which is Burger King, which is Carl's Union, but you got to remember where they are Okay, I'm gonna know not for sex. Oh my god. I don't sex I guarantee you

This is like one of those weird like freaking like like don't touch anything. I want to eat hash browns I haven't eaten a hash brown. Where's my Pepsi? You're gonna are closed. That's a cup. You're gonna have four to choose from okay? Okay, go ahead pick pick your winner. So right now I have four hash brown coins in front of Josh and two are from burger BK Carl's Carl's what? Yes, okay, they're from this I think they're from the same they're from the same factory I pretty sure. Or they're at least getting it from like a similar place. Do you think the fry oil at Carl's is colder? It's colder. The potatoes cooked more. The inside potatoes cooked more? The Carl's ones. Why are we having such differing opinions? What's going on? They're so not crispy. They're so not crunchy. No, I'm saying it's more pulpy.

Inside potatoes of Burger King is more mash? No, Carl's. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You are correct. I agree with you. Probably older. Probably means the older could be it was in colder oil For longer because that gives it more time for the heat to penetrate. More mealy. This is more mealy. Which I kind of like. So the Carl's Jr. is more more melee and the Burger King is more actual shredded potato pieces Yeah, you got more like I don't know why I mean you're so different right now. It's pissing me off I don't like this We're normally in sync I know like that boy band

98 degrees They're really in sync. I love 98 give me just one night I couldn't name a single 98 degrees song. So you're a fake fan Yeah, I really am a fake fan of 98 Degrees and I'm sorry. Nick Lachey, I'm sorry. To the entire Lachey clan. I apologize. I feel like he's probably written a cookbook and we would love to...

My hands are so disgusting right now. The only way out of the storm is through. One more Hashbrown. Okay. I will give Carl's Jr. a seven. They were fried improperly. It's better than Jack for sure. It's better than Jack for sure Yeah, it's better than Jack Jack the jack-o'-box one was a rough way to start out. Yeah, but we had to do it

I do it. Um, I Say Carl's probably a point and a half lower than Burger King. So if I gave Burger King Ah me So if I gave Burger King an eight the Carl's hash brown, I gotta give a six point five to get a taco bell It grass yes So if I gave Burger King an 8, the Carl's Hash Brown, I gotta give a 6.5. Do you want Taco Bell? Do you want Taco Bell? Si! Gracias! Okay. Me gusta Taco Bell.

I'm into it. We think same factory for Jack, Taco Bell and... What? No, just Jack and Taco Bell, same factory. This is fried much better. This is done much better. I think they might have a little bit of a... I think they might have a partial starch on the outside

cause look at the craggy bits on the edges. Is this the same as Jack in the Box do you think? No, it's not. It's different right? It's the same. It's the same mold, it's the same factory mold cause it's the same size. Different potato.

Very different. Yeah. You can see there's an even edge. Yes. On, it's almost like the edges on the Taco Bell one have been like sanded down. Mm hmm, yeah. Yeah, it's a different cut on the the Taco Bell one have been like sanded down. Mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, it's a different cut on the potato.

Totally. That's the cleanest eat I've had. Like, it eats really well. This is really nice. It eats really well. I mean, next to the McDonald's hash brown. For science, the things I do. McDonald's has Toast of your Flavor.

It has a deeper crust on it. No it doesn't. This has a Toast of your Flavor. Even look at the coloring. Look at the coloring. The Taco Bell one is so much more darker. That's true. So much more pleasant. It's...

You like the darkness of the Taco Bell one? Yes, I do. The darkness and I think the potato flavor of the Taco Bell one is kind of excellent. Ooh, taco. Uh-oh. It's kind of excellent. Do we have a little coup here? I don't know that I've ever eaten a plain hash brown from Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell breakfast, but my hash browns are always folded into a breakfast crunch wrap. Claro que si. Si?

Si. Es bueno. Es muy bueno. Magusta el crunch wrap. But this is the first time I've had a plain, and I'm really impressed. I think they're doing a good job. It's really good. I think, do we think they have what it takes to take it? You think? I'm gonna restructure myself a little bit, okay? Restructure, restructure. Okay.

Can I have this ketchup? Sure. Sick. Only if you do the dumb and dumber thing after. I don't want to. I don't like being sticky. Fine, fine. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and say Taco Bell is my number one.

Burger King is my number two. Whoa. McDonald's is my number one. Burger King is my number two. McDonald's is my number three. Carl's Jr. I'm sorry Jack in the Box can you put over there? Absolutely. That's not Jack in the Box that's Burger King? Absolutely. Okay Jack hmm. I'm so everything's so grease. Stop touching so many things. Everything's so grease. This is my current rankings. It's Taco Bell. it's Burger King. Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Jack in the Box.

This is my ranking for best, excuse me, hash browns from a fast food place. Also, to be fair, we got these around, what time? 9.30, it's what, 10.30 right now? It's a little older than you'd like them to be. I'll give it, I'll give you that. It's a little older, but I am considering how these things sat a little bit over time. We did reheat them. Josh, stop it. Pepsi. We have Pepsi money now, stop burping. They like it, they like it. I will say the fact

that we did reheat these again is a factor, but I do think that is not something that people really consider because whenever you get a piping hot hash brown, you're eating it fresh the second it comes out. You can still tell differences though between the hash browns, regardless of how we've procured them. Sure, of course, of course. This is my ranking and I feel confident and comfortable in my ranking.

It's a crazy ranking. It's a little bit befuddling, but it is mine. It's a little, it's, it's fuddling for sure. Certainly I feel fuddled. Not befuddled? No, just fuddled. I'm A-fuddled. I don't love the McDonald's sitting in third.

I don't love that right now. But it's how I feel. I know it's how you feel. Do we need to come to consensus on this? Or are we fine having a completely bifurcated? You know what, Josh? I think we bifurcate. I think the time to bifurcate is now.

We'll bifurcate curious, you know? Let's be bi- curious. I thought about it a lot. Let's be by curious here. Okay. My by curiosity is telling me. Uh-huh Taco Bell does win. Ah! And the only thing I'd do is I'd flip BK and McDonald's. Okay, that's fine So and then that's pretty close. That's pretty cool. But yeah, even then we're arguing about what two and three? Yeah, you know, how about we eat two and three one more time just to really you know I don't want to be by curious anymore. I think it's time for us to be like you're always still Curious, you know, I'm it's just you've decided to act In a different way and that's fine. We're not No bifurcation eraser erasure here. Eat the hash brown coin. This is so greasy. Why does it taste so good?

Do we eat all the McDonald's? No, that's right here. I'm really tasting it. I mean, oh wait, wait Wait, wait, wait Side by side. It's a better product McDonald's. McDonald's is a better product. Josh, see? Well try Taco Bell now. We have one last bite No, Taco Bell's numero uno. Try it. Nicole? You're bike curious again You're back. Stop yelling at me so much today. Put it down. Put down the hash brown. Which one do we eat first? McDonald's.

That crunch. Ms. Maggie, I'm sick. Palate cleanse. Ms. Maggie, I need to go home. I know where I stand. Say it on three. One, two, three. Taco Bell. Yeah, Taco Bell, that is the best hash brown. That is the best fast food hash brown. We absolutely did it. Holy smokes. People said it could not be done. And look at us, continuously doing the impossible. Dude, the level of grease.

Unbelievable. Covering this table. It is unbelievable. And it is literally unbelievable. If I open my laptop, I fear the oil will seep in and I will never ever work again I can't get up from this chair. There's so much oil around me that I'm gonna slip and fall like mr. Bean sketch What's his name Rowan Atkinson Rowan Atkinson come on great Rowan Atkinson right now well Josh we did it Look at us.

I don't feel great about what we did, but we did it. At least we did it together. We did it together, and that's the key. Oh God, it's like an oil spill at a beach. ["Spring Day"] You've always wanted to be part of something bigger than yourself. You live for experience and lead by example.

You want the most out of life and realize what you're looking for is already in you. This is for you. The Canadian Armed Forces. A message from the Government of Canada. A&W is now serving pre-organic coffee. And you can get a $1 small coffee, a $2 small latte, or like me, a $1 small coffee and a $2 small latte. Available now until November 24th in Ontario only.

Woohoo! ["Sweet Home Run"] Nicole, we've heard what you and I have to say on the subject of Hush Browns. Smells like Sonic in here. It really, really does. God, I would kill for a cherry limeade slush, but that's not what I'd kill for right now. I would kill for victory, Nicole,

because it's everybody's, say, fourth through sixth favorite segment, depending on which polls you believe. Nate Silver, I think, had this as through sixth favorite segment depending on which polls you believe Nate Silver I think had this as the fifth favorite Segment from hot dogs and sandwich listeners. That's right. It's where we put our trivia knowledge of the test It's time for yummy in my tummy got some trivia for you I don't think after 2016 we can trust Nate Silver's modeling. I don't know who Nate Silver is You know Nate Silver. No, but me and you look like camp counselors today I look like I do the art me and you look like camp counselors today.

I look like I do the art department and you do sports. I did do, that was my first job was doing sports at a science camp. I made a child cry in dodgeball because he, well, I'll tell you what, I was doing it for justice. I want to do trivia. I love you. I just want to talk about trivia. I think we can talk about it after the cameras are off, but I need to tell you the story.

Okay. Okay. Later. Can we do trivia first? Mm-hmm. Okay What rare small batch Italian cheese is made from the milk of sheep that graze on the island of Sardinia and is often referred to As the world's most dangerous cheese. I know I know I know it I know it I know it I'm through the same answers one two three The correct answer is Kazoo say our answers. One, two, three. Kasumatsu. The correct answer is Kasumatsu. Okay. Can I just say something, Robot Maggie?

Josh just went to Italy. You went to Sardinia, right? I did go to Sardinia, yeah. And so I feel like that's biased. And I would like a question next time based off of something only I would know. It's just my chance that I knew that because I'm smart. But I think in the future, Robot Maggie,

you should kind of like maybe consider, I don't know, like something a little bit less biased. So there's, so you know, okay, yeah. I found the cheese stratification in Sardinia very interesting actually. I talked to a cheese farmer about Pecorino and they said, they said, Rome, they want the cheese, but they don't want the sheep.

And so Pecorino Romano used to be like farmed and made in Rome, but according to this Sardinian cheese farmer, they have exported all of that production, because they don't want it smelling like sheep near Rome. Weird, okay. To Sardinia, where there is a fair amount of agricultural production. And so, if you ever see on a menu Pecorino Sardo,

or Pecorino Sardu, which in Sardinia would be Sardu, it's from Sardinia, but they have a lot of- The milk is from Sardinia? Yeah, the sheep are raised in Sardinia, the pe Sardinia would be Sardu. It's from Sardinia, but they have a lot of... The milk is from Sardinia? Yeah, the sheep are raised in Sardinia. The piccora means sheep in Italian. I didn't know that. Yes, yes, yes. And there's a lot of pecorinos that are actually a lot younger than the pecorino Romano that we think of that are very fascinating. We both get one point. I know.

Just so you know. I'm having a discussion with you. I'm not trying to best you. Is it a discussion if the person next to you just keep saying yeah, uh-huh. Yeah. Yes Yes, I'd love to learn Nicole explain something at me. I also love Talk about the history of Mac cosmetics next Which rare ancient grain is known for its tiny size and has been a staple in traditional Ethiopian cuisine for thousands of years M-m-m-meh

Talk about snow again, once again on three, one, two Teff The correct answer is Teff Yeah, so when the military derg took over Ethiopia in the 1980s and there was a massive amount of famine Then Teff was actually a big reason why they were able to crawl out of that famine Because of how resistant to drought and blight it is In Farsi it's called khakshir, which means milk of the land. That's pretty cool. They eat teff in Iran?

Yeah, oh yeah. Khakshir, it's, well, we don't like ferment it the way that it's fermented in Ethiopia. It's mostly used as an aid for constipation. So it's a constipation aid. That's interesting. Yeah, and it's delicious. I like to just drink it for fun. And then the constipation is just a bonus. I don't drink a lot of it. No, it aids to help constipation aid. That's interesting. Yeah, and it's delicious. I like to just drink it for fun. And then the constipation is just a bonus. I don't drink a lot of it. No, it aids to help constipation.

Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant. The violent, never mind. It's not violent. It's not violent. No, it's nice. It's like prunes. I eat a lot of prunes. I haven't had a good prune since a while.

Are we tied? We're tied. So this is the Taberaker. Which rare and prized salt, harvested from the Brittany region of France? Forms only under specific weather conditions and is often referred to as the caviar of salts beep I would I would venture I'm not as confident, but I think I have the guests should we say it on three? Yeah, one two three. The correct answer is Fleur de Sel. It is Fleur de Sel. Okay. Okay So I guess we're even we have to have to keep going until we break the tie.

What were the five restaurants you just ate from? Big Jack in the Box, Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Carl's Jr. God dang it. Name one character from Lord of the Rings. Spiegel. Josh Witts. No, no, no!

He was faster. He named his cat. He named his cat. Technically, the cat is named after the musical Pippin and not Pippin from Lord of the Rings. That's really unfair. But we didn't meet somebody else that had... Well, I'm explaining something. Okay.

No, this is so unfair. We met somebody that also had a cat named Pippin, and we asked, Julie asked what Pippin it was named after, and they said, both the musical and Lord of the Rings, and I don't think it can be both, because then it's every Pippin, it's either one Pippin or it's all Pippins. Well, you know what they say, Pippin ain't easy. Okay, now it's time for a little segment we call...

Opinions on what casseroles! ["Casserole's Theme Song! I'm so mad at you. Why? Because you won just because you said it like half a second faster, but my answer was also valid. Did I say it half a second faster than you or was I half a second smarter than you? You know, you know what? It's okay, we can talk about this later. Let's hear that first opinion.

Hey, Josh and Nicole. This is Noah Yeager. I don't know why I said my last name. I'm going to find you. I don't know what I'm going to do. I would just like to say thank you to Josh for teaching me how to cook chicken. Honestly, I bake my chicken. I try Brian every single time. My college roommates use the same technique. It is incredible. Also, my opinion, my casserole opinion, is that Cheez-Its floated in a little bowl of apple cider.

Like cereal is incredible and I cannot be stopped. So thank you very much. Bye. Definitely in college, the old Cheez-Its cereal with the apple cider. Like is this alcoholic apple cider or is this like a Martinelli's? I'm guessing like, maybe not even a Martinelli's. IIt cereal with the apple cider. Like, is this alcoholic apple cider or is this like, like, a Martinelli's? I'm guessing like, maybe not even a Martinelli's.

I would guess even a flat cider, like something you'd get at Trader Joe's. Oh, I've never really had flat cider before. I've only had sparkling cider. It is a delight. It is a delight. Really, is it? I love sparkling cider though. And you know the difference between juice and cider? You can't... There's no joke here. There's especially no joke, but it does

start with, what is it, if it's, if it's yellow, you got juice there fella. If it's brown, well you're in cider town. Oh, I was going to say something so inappropriate. No, not about yellow, not about yellow. No, no, no, something else. That sounds horrifying to me. The cheese heads floated in the cider. I think. I would eat them on the side, like. Sounds like a lovely time if you're doing that, but I think together there's something about the acid, the sugar, and then that deep toasty cheesiness that does put me off, but apples and cheese.

Well what about apple pie? Yeah, apple pie. I don't like cheese with apple pie. I don't know why people keep doing this. I don't find it to be a pleasant combination at all. Cheetos apple pie was good. Cheetos apple pie is good. You know what is less good than an apple pie?

A regular apple pie. Which, not to break down the facade of the whole cookbook, it's a fun recipe and many people love it. But I've never been a fan. It's like similar to miso in cookies or something where I'm just like... I love miso in cookies. You are being a little stinker. I don't think I'm being a little stinker. I'm saying it's a personal preference, but I understand why a lot of people would like it. I don't think it's for me. Maybe hear me out. You shake that cider up with some milk or vanilla protein powder. Oh. Then put that on the Cheez-Its. I think you need some dairy to match. Have you been looking up all that stuff on TikTok, Utah TikTok, Mormon mom TikTok stuff where they're putting protein powder and like Diet Coke and stuff? Oh yeah, I heard about that. Yeah. Yeah. It's they're making a pilk but with protein protein. Yeah protein. Yeah, yeah

Prolc If there's any hope it lies in the crock. Oh, yeah. I love that. Okay Also teaching people how to cook chicken is 94% of our job as food media people not mine. I'm just here for the vibes Hi, my name is Mikey, you know, I just wanted to say I'm from the north, the northern Michigan originally. And pasties are God's abomination upon this earth. They were created purely to try to get people to eat some tubers. Rutabaga, who really wants that? I mean, seriously, there is nothing you can do to make a pasty a good thing. And that's my take. Love you guys. Take it easy.

Cornish pasty? We've, I've learned a new thing today. This is a recipe for an upper Michigan pasty, which is incredible, but in there do seem to be some sort of rutabagas in it. So you're making a traditional pie dough, a pasty. Yeah, I would know a pasty is like a Cornish pasty or just generally a British sort of pie. Yeah, this seems to be rutabaga potato ground beef onions. It's sounds really nice. I think to me, I like getting into weird tubers. And I wish- I like weird tubers.

I like weird tubers. I think they have a nice bitterness that potato lacks sometimes. Same, same, same. I love the texture of the potato, love flavor of potato, but I'm not like a potato guy sometimes. Same, same, same. I love the texture of the potato, love the flavor of potato, but I'm not like a potato guy at my core, which is why if I'm making something like a stew, or even if I wanna make like a hash brown situation,

or some sort of a Kugel, latke, whatever, I love using like a rutabaga. Me too. Using a turnip, using a parsnip. Me too. You know, dude, rutabaga, I think is actually really incredible. I think you're sleeping on rutabagas

and you're forsaking your culinary heritage as an upper Michigander. What's a swede? Is a swed a swede? Have you heard of this? No. So if you look up, oh, it's a rutabaga.

A rutabaga is a swede, S-W-E-D-E. Weird. Yeah, rutabaga is a swede. I just think it's called something different in the UK. Delicious, I love tubers, I love root veg. The more the merrier. They are delicious. You just got to have an open mind when you're eating them and not expect a potato. I think that's what it is. Like open yourself up to like there's this almost horseradish-y mustard like quality that I get from rutabagas.

But there's almost like I would call it's a it's a volatility to it. I think rutabagas are deceptively sexy and enticing, like La Femme Nikita. Um... We eat a lot of shalgaam, which is also known as turnips, a lot of the time. It's like a health food. Almost like khokshir, like when you're sick, you eat a boiled turnip. Supported. And let me tell you, it is so...

I used to hate it when I was younger, like it would make me sick just the thought of eating it the older I've gotten the more mature my taste buds have gotten It's quite delicious just with some boiled turnips with them some really good salt is like a delicious flavor for me now Last time I seriously use rutabagas. It was for the filling of craplach. All right, it was really nice. Open your mind Hi, my name is grace. I'm from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Heck yeah. I need to tell you, Josh and Nicole, that the holiday shaped Reese's are not as good as the original regular shaped Reese's. The peanut butter to chocolate ratio is off and it's not as good. Bang.

Thank you. Wow, okay. Bang, bang, bang. Well, we have a co-worker named Greg who is obsessed with peanut butter pumpkins. Reese's peanut butter pumpkins are his jam. And I had one recently. I don't love it as much as a regular Reese's. What I do like are the eggs.

The Easter eggs are the best shape. It's Easter egg, classic Reese's, peanut butter pumpkin, Christmas tree. Those are my rankings. Those are the ones that come to mind. But it looks like you guys also have a bat shape, a ghost shape, a heart shape. Yeah, that's my favorite.

I think the Reese's egg shape is a perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter Perfect than any other one. I'd say too perfect. I'd say too perfect. What is that? I'm Reese's eggs, right? There's like the egg shaped patties and then there's like a full bulb Egg shaped egg shaped patties. You're talking about the patties So you're probably getting it and thinner more even coating of chocolate than that I agree even like the Reese's Minis, like the fun-sized Reese's.

Too much peanut butter. Too thick of a peanut butter. And then the chocolate's also a little bit thicker too. The original Reese's little small patties with them sexy little mini skirts on them, you know? Those are by far the best. And I think part of it, the texture that you get from that skirt that you peel off, right?

That like you kind of run your. No, no. But I'm being dead serious though. It's like there's a jaggedness to it. And almost like a soup dumpling where it's thicker on the outside and then thin and drooping and sopping on the inside. I think that's what I love about the original Reese's Cup.

I think it is by far the best. I'll eat anything. I think they're little, like, you know, peanut butter... What's this, like, mortar? It's like a mortar. It's like a peanut butter mortar. Maror. No, it's like, uh, it's like caulk. It's like a...

Caulk. They've, like, amassed the peanut butter into a caulk of sorts. Yes. And I think that around any chocolate is really, really delightful, but original Reese's Cups. I agree, and you're very brave to say that. I disagree with you, but I respect your wrong opinion.

We don't shy away from controversy here on the Hot Dog Sandwich. Heck no! We talk all the big, hard-hitting news. Yeah, you won't. No censorship over here, buddy. We're like hardball with Chris Matthews. I am the hardest ball.

I have the hardest ball. Hard as a frickin' rock rock touch it. No. Thank you Hi guys Maggie ethical chef Nicole I'm Noah nice to meet you. I put cheddar cheese in my golden curry. Oh It's delicious. Yeah. And I love it. Okay. Love the show.

It took me a second to realize what golden curry was and then I... Japanese curry. Yeah, it's like the brand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like the brand. You know, I don't dabble too much in Japanese curry. I did have it when I went to Japan and it was freaking delicious. One of the best things I put in my mouth on that trip.

The cheese, I feel like cheddar wouldn't work. Monterey Jack would work. Mozzarella maybe could work. I think cheddar could work. I think cheddar could really work. I also, why don't I eat more Japanese curry? We need to eat more Japanese curry. We do, but there's also so many... We eat a lot of Thai curry. Me and you are Thai curry first, Indian curry second. Any other curries?

If there was more Jamaican or Trinidadian or any sort of Caribbean curry, I might need a fair amount of that too. Yes, yes, yes. You know? Love curry goat. Yeah, Japanese really... We need to eat more Japanese curry, Josh. We sure do. I think cheese would work really well in it because there is a kind of thick, creamy uncchewiness to Japanese curry, and I think cheese is only going to offset that, give you a different texture., yeah, these be really nice. I mean cheese and just about anything is good I want to make like a like a curry katsu sando

But really doused the katsu in the curry and just freaking put some melted cheese on there It was like a grilled cheese like a panini. I have a better idea Just take a block of cheese deep-fry the block of cheese like like yeah, and then put curry sauce on it and then watch it like like like freaking hot dog on a stick cheese stick sandwich dressed cabbage boom okay I like it I like it synergy why are we why are we not making that today for lunch um I have an appointment I'm very busy yeah an appointment today's kind of like my reset day it's like dentist appointment what time got it well I don't have one today I have to make one today. Oh and that is part of

your reset day not actually physically going in? Oh yeah yeah today's my make all my appointments day. Oh and then. You guys ever do that you block out like six hours just to be like what do I got to do? DMV, bank, my card hasn't been working in like four months. You wait until six months to do that? Every six months? Yeah, well I just- I do like once a month. No. I do all my rounds. I do probably like a year and a half.

Joshy, that's horrible. That's terrible. Did you think I'd be good at doing those things? You're terrible, Muriel. You ever seen that movie? That's the end of the show. I have to say something! You can go home. You can go take a walk, go to the park.

If you don't have any parks in your area, go to a Target, a Loiter in the parking lot, return the carts for people. Do something nice. Are we done with the podcast? Yeah, not forever. Well, obviously not forever. Until the next episode. We've been doing this for almost five years.

Do you wanna stop? No, I think we should keep going for another five years. Why are you talking like that about it? Cause you said are we done with the podcast and I had to assure you that no one. I meant like for today. No, well one, we are actually recording another episode today. This is totally like

Trisha and Ethan right now and I can't deal with it. I don't know who those people are, so I'm gonna act like you didn't say that and keep talking about what I wanna talk about instead. You can go to Starbucks, you know, don't even buy anything. Just get a water, sit there and watch the birds. Did you see the tech talk about the secret tunnels under LA and there's this a secret Starbucks and the guy.

Yeah, I think that'd be really nice. Well, secret tunnel under LA that they call the, um, the actor bond. Cause all the actors, they get to drive in tunnels underneath Los Angeles. Okay, can we walk in the tunnels or is it so small that like? Well, I think we need more podcast listeners to even sort of get invited to the tunnels.

You need to get invited to the tunnels? Because it's only for very high profile actors. What is it like the fricking like hide, like the nightclub? Yes. Like the nice guy? Correct. No, no, no, the tunnels get you anywhere in LA.

What are you talking about? I'm the only one that saw this TikTok. Can we please? It's complete, but yeah, it was literally a comedian that did it, I'll show it to you. Okay, bye.