They've gone up in price, but they still retain their status as the cheapest meat. The people who aren't buying steak are buying something else instead.

In fact, I believe that the price of hot dogs have gone up more than the price of steak has. Yet people are still buying more hot dogs and less steak.

You don't have to buy the buns lol. I remember using sliced bread instead of the buns because it's cheaper if you only use 1 slice to wrap the meat. I still see the $1.99 for a loaf of wonder bread or whatever it's called. That's plenty of slices for plenty of hot dogs lol.