Howler Hotdogs - Mitee Dogs with Cheese product reviews

I had been given several varieties of Howler Hotdogs to review but the favourite with both Miss 7 and Miss 9 was the Mitee Dogs with Cheese. I cooked these up with a couple of other varieties of the hotdogs but didn't tell anyone what varieties they were until after they had eaten. The Mitee Dogs were easy to differentiate from the others as they has little lumps of melted cheese oozing through the batter. When you took a bite into them they were a darker colour than the other hot dogs which my husband found a bit off putting. The colour of course came from the Marmite. I must admit it was a strange taste for me too but that is why the produce different varieties, we will all have different favouries.

These hot dogs are so quick and easy for a homemade takeaways night. There are five in the box and you can cook as many as you need along with some oven chips and it is all done in 15-18 minutes. The quality of these hotdogs are much better than what you would you would get at your local fish and chip shop for about the same price. I'll be buying them in the future for the kids.

When I saw the Howler's Hotdog range up for review this was the flavour I was looking forward to trying the most, when it comes to cheese I eat cheese with absolutely everything and so the idea of a hot dog with cheese was just delightful! I often buy sausages that are full of cheese so I was pretty sure that these would be good, especially after having tried the howlers mini hotdogs with cheese in the past!

The first thing that I noticed when I removed a frozen Mitee Dog from the box was that the batter appeared to be darker in colour than the hotdogs which I had previously cooked up, and after cooking I have to say that I found that this sausage was also darker than the rest. I did ponder why this was, but decided it was probably due to the spread that had been added to this variety, whether that was Marmite, Vegemite or similar however I wasn't sure, either way I loved the flavour as did Miss4, my partner not so much. I have to admit that this hot dog was bursting with cheese I was most impressed as every bite I took I could taste and see the cheese oozing out of the top, Miss 4 was also very happy with the cheesy goodness as she like me loves cheese.

This hot dog appeared even meatier than the rest of the range which was a bonus, and compared to other more traditional hot dogs which are typically purchased from food trucks and the likes at circuses, shows and sporting events these are wonderful, I loved that they were not greasy, oily and filled with fillers, eating one of these hot dogs really feels like you are eating a actual sausage. Cooking them was simple and I did this both in the oven and the airfryer both which gave incredible results, of piping hot sausages, surrounded by lots of yummy crisp, golden batter which was perfect and not thick or gluggy at all, it was also an even thickness the whole way through.

Served with a salad and side of wedges or chips these make a great easy meal for during the week, but I can see them also going down well during a sporting game on tv if we had friends over. The benefit of cooking these at home is not only that they are healthier but that you can also pick and choose your own sauces as you please, Miss 4 went for her usual tomato sauce but I found that these were really good with a squirt of aioli over them, while my partner went for BBQ and said it went pretty good.

These will be going on my to buy list again in the future although I may have to buy a box of this variety as well as a box of the Original Howlers since my family is split on their favourites! With 5 hotdogs in a box these are likely to be great value as I can't imagine a packet costing more than $10.

Sausages with cheese are always a favourite of mine so I was pretty sure that hotdogs with cheese was going to be a winner. I cooked these up in the deep fryer so not the healthy option but they can also be cooked in the oven making them a much healthier option. They were served along with chips and tomato sauce mainly given tomato sauce must go on everything according to the children.

The hotdogs themselves are quite solid (for lack of a better word), they are quite chunky and meaty and don't have a "cheap sausage" feel to them, they are definitely a higher quality product which I loved. The batter is also quite thick and filling as well as being tasty which again I enjoyed. One hotdog was really quite filling. There are also decent chunks of cheese in there which I was pleased about. I couldn't tell if it was marmite or vegemite used in them (it's apparently unable to be specified) but this was a good thing given the arguments in this house over which one is actually acceptable.

Master 7 was the only one who didn't like these, he decided he preferred his hotdogs without cheese in them. Miss 11 and I however, were fans of them. I would definitely be buying these in the future, they made for a great "homemade junk food" night meal!

We had started our meal with an entree of mini hotdogs, so were now about to embark on the main course with a packet of Mitee hotdogs complete with cheese. There were nine of us, four children and five adults, but there was other food as well, so three of them volunteered to help me with the testing. The theme of the meal was Mexican so we set out the cooked hotdogs on a bed of husked corn so they would look pretty!

We all enjoyed the tang of the cheese - I could not see any cheese in my own hotdog, but the others assured me that they had noticed several chunks tucked into the meat. I think the cheese in my own portion must have melted in because I could certainly taste it; it gave a nice tang to the product and made it quite unique. Two of the adults who were tasting the hotdogs with me refused to eat them unless they got their chilli sauce to accompany them - as they pointed out, the hotdogs on the packet are shown dipped in sauce, so that is the proper way to eat them!

I actually ended up with another taster as Miss Seven, having assured us that she would eat a whole one, had to give up part way through so her mother finished it. But that was fine by me as I was able to get an extra opinion. Miss Seven had chosen tomato sauce to dip hers into rather than the chilli that the others were having, so her mother continued with the tomato. Miss Seven said she liked them even more than the mini hotdogs she had tried earlier - probably because she loves cheese - and her mother agreed with her, commenting that it was a great example of a traditional hotdog.

I noticed that the meat had a good, chewy texture - a proper meaty bite rather than the sausage version included in most hotdogs - so it really tasted as though you were getting a real meat serving. The batter was tasty too, and not at all greasy since it had been oven baked. That is a worthwhile aspect of this product as it means you are not overloading on the fat and other nasties that are in the deep fried versions.

Although my four tasters and I all thoroughly enjoyed the hotdogs, there was still one left over. I think there had been so much other food that everyone was too full to tackle any more. The hotdogs themselves were really satisfying; and, of course, all of us had already eaten at least one mini hotdog for our entree. So I wrapped up the remaining Mitee hotdog and took it home, intending to have it for my lunch next day.

And I learned something! Not only did this second hotdog have LOTS of visible cheese pieces in it, it was totally delicious eaten cold! I would not have thought of eating a hotdog like that; they are something I have always thought had to be eaten piping hot and dripping with sauce. I guess the combination of a good flavour and the oven baking process means that there is no fat to congeal on the meat, so it is palatable eaten either way. Gluten free or not, this is a great product.

Ever since I was a kid, hotdogs have been a favourite "naughty snack" if I am at some big event or show. I have come across some of the best, and all too many of the worst kind ever made, some of the more dire ones barely register as "non-toxic" IMHO. However, having tried some of the gourmet mini dogs from Howler in the past I knew these were on the "better" end of the quality scale, so dived in and cooked me up some hotdogs for dinner.

Simple to prepare, even in my benchtop oven - which is normally a nightmare to get at anything close to a consistent temperature for any length of time. If I so much as LOOK at it, the temp can vary wildly, it seems. So, I popped a couple of frozen dawgs on a baking tray, set the timer to 10 minutes and walked away. When it dinged, I came back, turned the dogs over and set the timer for a further 10 minutes. When that ding sounded out, it was time to pop the dawgs on a plate and slather sauce on them.

The first bite was interesting, as it got the end-cap - more batter, less meat. The second bite gave me a really nice ratio of meat and batter, and I could appreciate the full flavour. Now, this is a flavour not everyone is going to enjoy. It actually took me a while to figure out that the somewhat savoury flavour was marmite (or vegemite, not 100% sure which because they both taste the same to me) but the chunks of cheese were very easy to distinguish and appreciate. Appreciate them, I did. I loved every bite that had a chunk of cheese in it, and that was almost every bite. A few bites had more cheese - two chunks? - while a couple had almost none. It averaged out to cheese in almost every bite though so I was happy.

I did like the batter, though it's somewhat denser than the usual light and somewhat bubbly batter. It made biting through the dog cleanly a little awkward as I neared the end, but it didn't in any way taste bad, feel bad, or cause my teeth any significant issues.

Overall, these are going to be one of those "love it or hate it" foods I think. I'm definitely on the "love it" side of the fence, and if you like marmite-&-cheese sandwiches, you'll likely sit on this side too. The cost - which is still not confirmed at the time of writing this review, but is assumed to be around the $7-8 mark - make seem a little steep... until you realise these are healthier, tastier hotdogs than the rubbish you buy from food caravans at shows for $2-3 each... and these should work out around $1.60 a piece