Koegel's natural casing hot dogs are some of the best I've had.
I haven't really tried Kirtland, unless those are the ones they use in their food court hot dogs, if those are the ones, I'm not a fan... too smokey flavored for me. I don't associate smokey flavor with hot dogs to be honest.
I've been on a kick lately. Started out trying to find the best hot dog, to make traditional Jackson Michigan style 'coney' dogs. I started out trying to literally find the best hot dog, but then when I realized really top level dogs sometimes cost over $5 a pound, I realized that especially for coney dogs, it was basically a waste of money. With the style of coney that they serve in Jackson, the chili topping they put on , is really what you taste. So, now I'm actually on a quest to find a modest priced dog that cooks up nicely, covers the whole bun ( but not much if any beyond the ends of the bun ), and leaves plenty of room in the bun to allow ample space to put the chili meat stuff. ( and onions ).
Right now, my modest price point to hit, is about $3 a pound. If it's up towards $5, I'll just spend a couple extra bucks a pound and buy a steak.
If you want a authentic Jackson Michigan chili sauce for hot dogs... here's the formula ( Jackson has pretty solid claim to possibly, maybe even probably the first Coney style hot dog in the USA ).
1.5 pounds ground beef heart
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
water
Water to just help mingle the seasonings, you cook down the sauce until there's almost no liquid left.
Now, I don't have a source for beef heart, so I just use really lean ground beef. Lean is better, because the sauce being too greasy would not be good.
Coneys are just hotdogs in a bun, covered with a layer of that chili sauce, a bunch of chopped onions on top of that, followed two 'strips' by plain old yellow mustard
Fort Wayne has a famous Coney joint. People from all over come to go there. I worked a block away for 20 years. Probably ate there twice a year. They hit the spot occasionally. I assume very similar to the style you enjoy. Cinnamon has always been leaked as the secret ingredient in their sauce.
As far as the poll, I actually prefer a pork based dog. Beef overpower the other things on the bun too much for me.
Low slow, maybe try a pork dog for your magic dog