Seriously, How Are Hot Dog Buns Actually Sliced?

The origin of hot dog buns is shrouded in mystery . There are at least three competing theories about who invented this piece of bread that cradles a hot dog, but the only consensus is there is no definitive answer. And the only thing more mysterious than who invented the hot dog bun is how they are sliced.

How do they pre-slice hot dog buns and yet keep them connected? It seems like a question for the ages, but leave it to the Great OZ, also known as YouTube , to pull back the curtain and reveal we have an automated series of suspended blades that only cut small portions of the bun, leaving the hinge intact. A member of the Reddit community further explained that the cutting process involves "knives/saws that are shaped like an upside-down capital T." This is because hot dog buns are baked in sets of 6 or 8 and touch each other while baking.



Enter the T-shaped cutting device. As the hot dog buns move on a conveyor belt, "the legs (vertical part of the T) come about halfway down the bun between every other set of buns." How the splits are made The individual on Reddit went on to explain: "The 'saw blade' is 1/4" or so narrower than the buns; it spins on the vertical axis, slicing 2 buns most of the way through side to side, leaving the seams between 2 & 3, 4 & 5, etc.

and the bottoms intact." But it doesn't end there. The Redditor wrote, "The sliced row of buns is then folded in half, 4 up and 4 down with the bottoms touching and the tops facing out, and it is bagged.

" Although we don't actually know if the method explained is true, multiple people claim it's how it's done. This explanation makes a lot of sense, especially when you open a bag of these squishy buns and can see the splits between every other one. Perhaps the only thing cooler to watch than the cutting is how they blow up the bag before the buns find their way into the packaging.

This automated process of cutting hot dog buns and packaging them up for sale is definitely an engineering feat. So the next time you're making your Chicago-style hot dog , you'll have something to marvel at. Of course, this still doesn't answer why there are only 8 hot dog buns in a pack .

These are the questions that keep us up at night!.