Cooking your dogs... how many test runs?

Curious as to many test runs you guys did before you pretty much got your dogs to taste like you wanted them to.
You guys didn't just buy your dogs and throw them in water to cook, did you?
I'm sure you went about it quite a few different ways to see what would taste the best.
Did you try multiple brands before you found the one you liked?
 
 

i tried hebrew nationals (my fav), nathans, and ball park black angus.....
tried "raw", microwaved, steamed, fried, deep fried..... the hebrews won every taste test, with the ball parks coming in a close second....
of course bright leafs were involved as well (a local fav) but im not so much sold on them

We tried about 3 different brands, but they were all local ones. We already knew how we liked to prepare them, so we stuck with that. So far, success!
 
 Jon and Angie
 Po'Folks

I was not a big fan of Nathans, we tried Hebrew, but I fell in love with Eisenbergs(chicago). I would love to know how people like them -deep fried- haven't done that.

a trend i see around here is to score them with a "twist cutter thing" and then deep fry, sometimes wrapped with bacon..... its damn good that way, and extremely fast, although i know deep down its the most unhealthy way to eat them
 
edit: and yea, i wasnt too impressed with the nathans either...... left like a greasy film inside mouth, hard to explain, and the taste wasnt that great either

We knew HOW we were going to cook so we tested all the dogs we tried cook that way (we do "dirty water" dogs). We checked the local grocery stores to see what was selling. Bought a package of about 10 different brands (all beef only...it was a choice we made). Simmered them, individually, in water (used fresh water for each brand) and tasted. All dogs were tasted "naked" (bun only, no condiments) and with condiments. We weren't really wild about any of them. We thought Hebrew National and Nathans were really bad in water. Then the guy who was our "commissary" suggested we try Sam's Clubs All Beef (not the mixed meat ones). they came out the best and they hold up to sittting in the water for a time. Can't steam, nuke or grill them (too salty) but they worked out great for us to simmer them.  Then we taste tested chili to find a base that we could work with. Castleberrys was the absolute worst thing I have ever put in my mouth... I couldn't swallow it. I spit it out, scraped it off my tongue and brushed my teeth. It was awful. Ended up with Homel. Then came the tweaking of the chili which then had to be tested on the hot dogs (we cut the hot dog into smaller pieces so we weren't having to eat a whole dog each time). The hot dog testing took a couple of days. The chili testing took about 3 or 4 days from beginning to end. We threw away a lot of food during that time. Since we settled on the dogs and chili base, I have made minor changes to my chili "helper" recipe about 4 times.
 
Part of the reason we ended up with Sam's Clubs dogs was because we travel a bit and need a fairly consistent supply source. We started in NC (March 2009). We have sold dogs in NC, GA, TX and NM (we're on our second time in NM). In all states we have been told that we have the best hot dogs they've ever eaten. Ditto for the chili sauce.
 
You need to cook your dogs the way you will cook them on your cart. Not all dogs can be cooked the same way. Some are better grilled, some are better steamed and others are better simmered in water. DON'T OVERCOOK YOUR DOGS!!!!!! They have already been cooked, you are just reheating. Once you have your dog chosen based on how you will cook it, you can choose your chili based on how it compliments your dog. I believe chili should compliment the dog, not over power it. All your other condiments should be as fresh as you can possibly get within reason (onions should be sweet if using raw). Don't use old, withered veggies or super sweet soupy relish because it's cheap. The better your condiments, the happier your customers will be. It's a whole package. Good dog, fresh bun, fresh, quality condiments = a good sandwich and repeat customers. BTW, a fresh bun doesn't HAVE to be steamed. Old buns HAVE to be steamed. Sometimes our buns are so fresh we can't steam them. They would turn to mush.
 
We sell food off our cart that we would (and do) eat ourselves. We like good food, not necessarily upscale, chic chic, "name brand" food (I also think Sabretts is over rated and we tested that as well) but good, satisfying, well made food. We eat food off our cart often. I mean actually made on the cart. With our menu now, it's getting harder to do that but we do try to eat one different sandwich pretty much daily so that we can keep up with the quality of our meats and cheeses (we sell only REAL cheese). We will dump an item if the quality drops or the price climbs so high that we can't keep it on. We had to dump the roast beef and we replaced it with a steak sandwich (smoked beef brisket....yummy). Which is now my favourite sandwich and our most expensive at $6 for a 6" sandwich. Before we put a new item on the cart, we have to test it at home. For us, it has to be able to be made fairly easily and quickly on the cart plus taste good. So, for us, testing NEVER ends.

BackAlleyBurger


a trend i see around here is to score them with a "twist cutter thing" and then deep fry, sometimes wrapped with bacon..... its damn good that way, and extremely fast, although i know deep down its the most unhealthy way to eat them

edit: and yea, i wasnt too impressed with the nathans either...... left like a greasy film inside mouth, hard to explain, and the taste wasnt that great either

Ya, I think its the seasonings they use- kind of a New York thing.

i've tried boiling, grilling, steaming, deep frying, nuking, raw, and from all that testing i found out............................ it still was a damn hot dog !! and not saying this is true everywhere but where I am its all about the $$$..... i offered 2 dogs as a study a boars head( which usually sacrilege around here) and a nathan... both all beef, one natural casing, nathans skinless, the boars head i offer for 2.50... nathans 2.00 when someone orders a dog i say nathans or boars head.. they look for a while i report the prices and the diff. 99.9% say oh... a nathans then.... go figger

I have to agree with Lorna. That is the same process we went through. I grew up in Texas and chili was meat. We tried that here in the Pacific NW and it didnt go over as well as I thought it would. We changed to chili with beans, and re seasoned it, and people love it. Goes to show, you have to sell what the people want to buy.
 
 Jon and Angie
 Po' Folks

U wanna know what's hard? When you like your hot dogs boring-like, and have to taste test chili, cheese, and fixings!! yuck. But, I have to bite the bullet for the customers, know don't I? Plus I'm weight concious and think, why in the heck would someone put THAT on a dog?!

We tried several brands. Some were better than others but harder to buy in bulk. We only do events with temp licenses, so without a commissary it's hard to buy in bulk without ordering from a supplier and have a drop off point. We tried other dogs that I liked better, but profit and convenience had to help make a decision. Don't get me wrong we use quality dogs, but some of the other had a little better seasoning.

We use a Star Hot Dog Steamer. If we are selling at an event we use Sabretts 8/1. They hold up very well in the steamer. At our snack bar we use Ballparks. The Ballparks are good for a couple of hours then start changing color. With the steamer there was not much need for testing. Fill it with water, turn it on and put the franks in. (Our snack bar is only open for a few hours every Friday night at a local auction house.)

One time out....
Several Brands no mention what ones we were serving we kept track ourselves and then waited for customers to say something to us we knew we were on the right track with one brand when customers returned for 2nd's 3rd's and 4th's......