I worked in a hot dog stand during college that served really tasty hot dogs. Their secret was to simmer the "red hots" in pure lard. The red coloring would fade out and the dogs got soggy if you let them sit in hot water. They really didn’t seem to soak up the lard. The owner always made a big deal about not telling anyone about the lard. Kept hot over a steam table, the lard didn’t smoke.