New England Hot Dogs

Hi Folks, I'm new to this site and am thinking about starting a hot dog vending business within the next year or so. I live in West Central Massachusetts and would like to hear from all the New Englander's out there as to what they think is their favorite type of hot dog, grilled or steamed, new england style roll or side cut, and of course their favorite toppings. Also if someone has an opinion as to which brand and type of hot dog is a favorite please pass that along as well. Thanks again, Star0082

New England style roll, grilled, grote & weigel or hummel. I'm from CT and feel the more traditional New England (well at least CT) hot dog joints use a beef and pork mixture. As far as toppings go, I usually take my basic dog with mustard and kraut, sometimes I'll go with chopped onions and a good homemade relish.

Grilled Hummels natural casing on a grilled NE style roll, don't need anything but mustard and mabey kraut it's a HOTDOG not a SALAD !

Hope you're gonna include chowder at that stand.

One of my fondest memories of traveling in New England was those roadside chowder stands. Yumm.

Hi, No, chowda isn't planned for the menu. I grew up in western Mass where the most popular hot dog houses sold theirs New York System Style, small dogs, light beef chili sauce, yellow mustard and lots of chopped white onion. I'm actually supprised that Kraut is among the toppings that were mentioned by the first few respondents. Thanks, still looking for more great suggestions. Star0082.

Boiled or steamed in beer dogs used to be a signature of the old Lum's chain and they did really well in the NE market. It's been so many years (decades) since they left the market that you might well find a built in niche.

Whats a NEW ENGLAND hot dog??
Forgive me, I live in southern New Mexico and I enjoy a hot dog as much as the next feller.
Please enlighten me.
Ole Rouxdog

Boy, I miss Jordan's Redskins. Boiled til they split, on a NE bun.
My folks are from Maine, and all my trips to visit my grandparents involved these, served with an ice cold Moxie ! Ah, those were the days !

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in VT

Boy, I miss Jordan's Redskins. Boiled til they split, on a NE bun.
My folks are from Maine, and all my trips to visit my grandparents involved these, served with an ice cold Moxie ! Ah, those were the days !

I'm pretty sure you can still get these at Hanaford up here in Maine. My last trip into Skowhegan showed at least 4 different brands of red 'dogs in the cooler case, and a few more in the deli counter. I go for Old Neighborhood NC myself. New England sytle roll, lightly grilled, with brown mustard and 'kraut, chili, onions/mustard/dill relish, or Sabertts red onions.
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I've tried many a hot dog stands hot dogs and several of my favorites are Pearl, all beef,medium dog, natural casing. Boars Head, all beef, N/C . Old Neighborhood, All Beef , N/C. Schondlands, all beef, N/C. Boiled, Steamed of grilled. And all on New England style Rolls.

Wicked
Sunapee, NH

I concur with Mark in VT regarding Jordan's in a NE bun. Tasty product and cheaper than some of the more upscale ones. Corn relish would be a nice touch that I would go for.

Flo's makes the best hot dogs in NE.

I haven't found red skinned dogs in the western part of Mass. I do know that they had dogs referred to as red hots and white skinned dogs referred to a white hots in the Albany N.Y. area when I was a kid. Anyone else seen of or heard of these? Thanks, Star0082

Jordan's are available at just about any Hannaford market. There are a few varieties to choose from.

Found a source for Jordan's Red Hots in bulk on the web. Here is the link:

http://www.mainelobstershop.com/redhotdogs.html

quote:

Originally posted by Zenarcade

Flo's makes the best hot dogs in NE.

Flo's is vastly overrated; not even the best 'dog in Maine.
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quote:

Originally posted by Top

quote:

Originally posted by Zenarcade

Flo's makes the best hot dogs in NE.

Flo's is vastly overrated; not even the best 'dog in Maine.
Top

I am sorry, friend, but you are dead wrong! This is one of those cases where the product does live up to the hype. I fully understand why there is a line out the door most summer days.

Started our cart at the Elks in Waltham Mass, and just selling Kayem deli skinless, with a condiment tray, relish, diced onions, hot peppers, and packets of mayonnaise on the side, (yes, people put mayo on their dogs!) and thinking of sliced jalapenos. Also offer hot kraut, all on a new england style roll. Kayem is sold at Costco, Restaurant Depot, and I now use Wonder rolls, because all the other rolls sucked, fell apart etc.

Martin Rosol's makes the best dogs- based in New Britain CT their "retail" store is a giant walk in fridge with a deli counter in it!

Dogs are available by the case- some are 25lbs!

These dogs are the kind used my the famous Capitol Lunch a few blocks a way- some the best dogs around!

Kayem might be a good way to go. It is a Massachusetts company with a great reputation. They also produce high end healthy sausages which might give you some flexibility with the food snobs. I didn't even think about it until I saw it in the previous post. It is a good idea.

And Kayem also makes numerous sizes, long, short, natural casing, skinless etc.

I have never gotten what the attraction was at Flo's. Stopped there a few times thinking I was missing something, but! To their credit though, she dose sell Moxie.
Now for a good burger, travel a little further south on Rt.1 and try Wild Willeys, not bad at all. Chow Jim

IMHO there's a good variety of dog tastes in New England. What I think of as a "traditional" NE dog will have some pork in it, like the old Jordans (which are kind of trashy mild little suckers, but kids love 'em and they go well with ketchup ), Roosy's favorite Maple Leafs, and the very porky R.I. Saugy. Tastes have been changing, however, and most of the dog shops I visit are doing all beef, I'm sure in part to draw customers who do not eat pork.

Personally, I think the key condiment to a N.E. dog (if it's not a NY System or other chili dog) is relish. Gotta have a good piccalilli or pepper or tomato relish to distinguish your product. I'm a big fan of baked beans, as well, but that seems to fly only in certain areas, and they're not worth doing if you don't do them right. The Spike's chains I've visited are doing pretty good beans these days, although they do nuke 'em for serving.

As for rolls, a New England style is best, but you have to be able to grill them, and they're not for oversized dogs. If you go for the quarter-pound "gourmet" dog with lots of toppings a fresh roll with a bit of crust works well.

Bump....
 
Any New Englanders out there ? What type of dogs do you like ?
 
I'm leaning towards a 5-1 or 6-1 Hebrew National...
 
We did a taste test against Kayem NC beef/pork, and we found the HN's to have more flavor....
 
Also, we're grilling our dogs on a flat top grill....

i love kayem n/c beef but the bun has to be split top butterd and toasted too .

Buck & Vi's


i love kayem n/c beef but the bun has to be split top butterd and toasted too .

We are still undecided on our hot dogs.....But I think it may be down to between Hebrew National all beef or Grote and Weigels All Beef NC....We are awaiting some samples from G&W.....
 
We will be using a Coney Island type roll....However we will open them up and grill the insides on the flat top....Not sure if we will use butter to toast the inside of the rolls or not.....

Does anyone know what dogs are used by "Boston Speed" ? 
  
I think I have conflicting information.... 
  
Pearl dogs ?  or are they Grote & Weigel ? 

Speed's uses a Grote & Weigel all beef frank. For years they served Pearl until the place was sold 2 or 3 years ago. The new owners switched brands.
 
It's good to see an old thread resurrected. I'm in agreement with those who don't like Flo's. It's the most overrated dog in my opinion. A bland frank that is steamed. I don't care for their "special relish" either.
 
Grote & Weigel makes a good beef dog. Not common where I live in N.J. but it is served by one place called Father & Son Luncheonette. Too bad they often serve the dogs less than hot and leave them on the griddle too long. Good when prepared right. And they have a casing unlike Hebrew National. Unless you get them from Wegmans or a kosher deli.
 
Mucke's out of Connecticut makes a very good beef dog but I'm not sure they make one with casing. I would ask. I had this dog at Spike's in Rhode Island.
 
Sabrett with casing is great on a flat top. Same dog is served at Papaya King in NYC. My favorite beef dog is from Best Provisions out of Newark, N.J. but they are unavailable in New England.

One other thing. You compared Hebrew National to Kayem's beef/pork. Be aware that they are franks in 2 completely different styles. Hebrew National is a well seasoned Eastern Jewish dog. All beef kosher or kosher style dogs are spicier with garlic and paprika dominating.
 
A beef/pork frank is in the German style and has little or no garlic and paprika. A different flavor profile with a wider range of milder, subtle spices like mace, sage, and marjoram. Comparing the 2 are like comparing apples to oranges.
 
I would suggest picking a dog from one or the other types. A great German style frank is Thumann's out of New Jersey. They will distribute their franks to New England. I've had plenty of beef/pork franks from New England and none are better than Thumann's. This dog was served at Rosco's in Connecticut and always won "best of" awards. The only German dogs that I like as much are some of those made at local pork stores in New Jersey.

John, Thanks for the informative post on the differences between hot dogs...