First of all, this is one of my favorite recipes...Very delish! I have made it a few times, and have fine tuned it a bit to our taste...I think that cooking the chili at least an hour on very low heat, helps with enriching the flavor..I add more chili and cumin and a bit of oregano and garlic, because we like our food spicy...I use the "Williams" chili packet, as it appears to have less carbs than the other mixes...Now this next step that I do, no is not a time saver, but really makes the difference in taste...I actually grill on the Foreman, the whole split hotdogs, (Kosher being best), and THEN I slice them and actually add them to the chili after the chili has cooked for an hour..BTW...You may have to add more water to the chili to cook it that long, but you can adjust your seasonings...Oh, and I like my chili to taste more like a sloppy joe type of mixture, so I do add a bit of Splenda and a dash of LC Catsup...I then heat it through..I do not cook it with the cheese on top, because I have found that it taste more delicious with shredded cheese on the top after it comes out of the oven...makes it taste more like an actual "chili dog"...We like it best with the shredded Mexi cheese, a bit of shredded onion, sugar-free pickle relish, and ballpark mustard on top...YUMSVILLE!