Carnival food

Hello,
Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever had a really good hot dog during a carnival? It seems like everytime I go to a Carnival I can't wait to get a foot long. When I get it , It always seems to be an overpriced tasteless mystery meat dog. The coney sauce seems to be the only saving grace to these dogs. Sound familiar?

I'm really not into carnivals, but i know the food is pretty lame and and most likely unsanitary.The guy making your footlong just used the porta potty...yuck.

Used to work for a Carnie---LONG ago---got a tip----DONT but the burgers!~!!! We would grind suet together with frozen beef blood and mix it about three to one with the cheapest burger we could get and then smother the crap out of it with onions. You would be amazed at how many folks actually liked them enough to get seconds! I guess with enough onions, anything will taste good!

Then on the other hand, I enjoy fair and carnival chow.. Mainly the Chili Dogs! Ya, some of them dogs seem like they've been gathered up from the pound several weeks earlier... John Fox would roll over if he seen them.. Personally, I'm after the chili sauce they use.. Found a few good ones in the past. Mostly it's canned stuff, then there's the better ones that doctor the canned stuff.. But very few care enough to create their own recipe (the ones I seek out).. But when you mention price, ya, they do get extreme... Yet they make a profit (massive at times), you have to look at the rent they pay for that space also.. It's a hit and miss game.. Might be a big seller at one event, and next one will be a loser.

Maybe it's just me, but the carnivals I've been to, usually have some local vendors. There seems to always be a local hotdog place selling dogs. I usually shoot to them for a good dog.

(I'm assuming the word "carnival" refers to state, regional, county and local "fairs" and not just the guys who set up some rides in a mall parking lot.)

Scorereader.. I never hit them carnivals in a parking lot. I like the ones at the fairgrounds of sort.. (Ionia and Allegan are my fav's).. Atleast in them places, I know they have hookups and the county oversee's them..

Steve that is a great write up! The pictures alone have put me on the prowl for a great dog. Problem is here, ( in Indiana), a decent dog is hard to find. So I usually head down and buy some nice kosher beef dogs and make some sauce at home. Got a question though. Some of the dogs in the article pictures are huge! What kind of dogs are they? How much do they weigh? thanks for any info. I have a hot dog cart that I run in the summer months. My customers would keel over if they saw dogs like that.Thanks

I'm not big on carnivals either. The thing we've enjoyed are food festivals. Usually the best thing there is BBQ but a good brat or chili dog is usually easy to find too. Our favorite one this summer was "Blues, Bumpers, and BBQ" in Lebanon, Ohio.

quote:

Originally posted by myway

Steve that is a great write up! The pictures alone have put me on the prowl for a great dog. Problem is here, ( in Indiana), a decent dog is hard to find. So I usually head down and buy some nice kosher beef dogs and make some sauce at home. Got a question though. Some of the dogs in the article pictures are huge! What kind of dogs are they? How much do they weigh? thanks for any info. I have a hot dog cart that I run in the summer months. My customers would keel over if they saw dogs like that.Thanks

I envy you Myway.. In search of a good chili dog, yet you have pork tenderloin sandwichs in every direction from you place... Ahhhh.. The good life in Indiana!

You're right Uncle Vick. Plenty of pork tenderloins here. A local bar here began selling tenderloins that are bigger than a dinner plate. Taste wise they are o.k., but nothing to scream about. There is a place called Carol's corner in a little town called South Whitley, great tenderloins! But closed for the season

I agree w/ ScoreReader above. The local vendors usually have good dogs, etc. The "carnie" types are generally overpriced w/ questionable quality. I recently went to the N. GA State Fair and had a wonderful Italian sausage w/ onions and peppers and great fries with the best lemonade I ever tasted from a local church-operated stand. The price was reasonable also.

SC State Fair starts here in Columbia next week - when it's fair time, I forget about the outrageous prices and refuse to think too much about the food contents...I love the Polish Sausages and ESPECIALLY the big tubs of fried mushroom! The combo of those two and a fresh squeezed lemonade will set you back about 14 bucks, 200 g of fat and 1000 mg of cholesterol but hell, it only is once a year!

Head something on radio that the Minnesota State Fair's new invention this year was "Spaghetti and Meatballs on a Stick" as they claim to be the origin of most new fried concoctions. Tried the fried Twinkie last year - yuck. And watch out for the chemical cream filling, that stuff gets REALLY hot.

Myway, Vienna Beef makes those big dogs here in the midwest. They're known as "Bigfoot." They're available as a skinless 12 inch dog in the following sizes:
2/1
3/1
4/1
5/1
Vienna also produces a 12" skinless Polish in the following sizes:
2/1
2.5/1
3/1
The biggest obstacle will be locating a 12" bun. If that's a problem, Vienna also makes an 8 inch skinless dog in the the following sizes:
3/1
4/1
6/1
The 8" dog looks like a monster in the standard 6" bun. You could call it "The dog that ate Indiana."

CSD
Born in Chicago
Raised in Chicago
Living and selling Vienna Beef dogs and Polish in Wisconsin
Number one son lives in the South Bend area

http://www.ctnow.com/dining/hce-bige-eats-pg,0,7950446.photogallery?coll=hce-headlines-dining-top

quote:

Originally posted by vegas

http://www.ctnow.com/dining/hce-bige-eats-pg,0,7950446.photogallery?coll=hce-headlines-dining-top

After seeing that lineup of food, I'd be jumping in my car this very second, if I wasn't 1045 miles away. All of it looks really yummy!

quote:

Originally posted by 6star

quote:

Originally posted by vegas

http://www.ctnow.com/dining/hce-bige-eats-pg,0,7950446.photogallery?coll=hce-headlines-dining-top

After seeing that lineup of food, I'd be jumping in my car this very second, if I wasn't 1045 miles away. All of it looks really yummy!

Yummy indeed but, at those prices, a day at the fair with an average size family would cost an arm and a leg. Speaking of legs, those turkey drumsticks looked especially good! pb

quote:

Originally posted by vegas

http://www.ctnow.com/dining/hce-bige-eats-pg,0,7950446.photogallery?coll=hce-headlines-dining-top

Love "Hog on a Log"!

I've given on to the turkey drumsticks at fetivals several times because they look so good. But I've never been impressed. They look a lot better than they taste.

Thanks for the info Chicago style. I am going to get on the Vienna Beef website to check those out. I had wanted to use Vienna Beef hot dogs on my cart, but my unit price was more than I really wanted to pay. But maybe a little name recognition could help me out here.
Thanks again

You'll want to call Vienna Beef directly and request a salesperson from the Chicago office that services your state.

CSD

Any time I go to a carnival, craft fair, Car Show, etc... I always hit the fried dough stand. Can't leave without one.

Can't beat that fried dough, weather it's in the shape of funnel cake or zeppole. Good stuff.

How about sticking a Vienna Beef frank on some sort of fried dough? I'd buy it.

Vienna Beef makes a corn dog and a Polish saugage variety of their corn dog. Both are prepared in the deep fryer.