Hot Dog Taste Test

AOL Hot Dog Taste Test

http://food.aol.com/grilling/best-hot-dogs


AOL has featured another hot dog taste test and has chosen the top 20 dogs. I find some of the results pretty strange to say the least. Dietz & Watson in last place! Sabrett's next to last! There are surprises galore in this taste test.

And the winner is?

Hebrew National Reduced Fat Beef Franks

Well, what do the hot dog experts here at Roadfood think about these rankings?

the greatest majority of stuff they have in their list is just plain grocery store crap. I wouldnt dirty my grill with any of it. BLEH

FOUR Oscar Mayer products. Enough said. Idiotic.

Yep, most of the dogs are brands commonly available in supermarkets. That's what one would expect from an AOL taste test anyway. Some of the brands are highly regarded ones though.

I was surprised as anyone by the results. I notice they did not say anything about who was doing the ratings or what their qualifications were. Maybe they descended on a middle school lunch room and had them rate them. Who knows?

What was up with the little hot dogs?...Russ

yeah, that was bizarre.

I'd agree about an AOL rating being suspect. that being said, I'm not at all surprised that the top two (of those rated) were Kosher dogs.

I might vote for other (brand of)Kosher dogs over Hebrew National, but Kosher versus non? For my tastes, it's not even a point to ponder. Give me a garlicky beef Kosher(not who knows what scary piggy parts...)with some nice spicy mustard (Kosciusko Please!), and some kraut and chopped onions? Yum-a-licious!

As to the yellow mustard crowd? personally it's in my useless condiments category. If that's my only mustard choice for my dog, I'll go without.

I'm sure some folks love it and swear by it. That's fine too :) Whatever makes you happy is fine by me!

Ridiculous!

The Bear

Weird-O-Rama. I especially can't understand a reduced-fat product landing first place, even if it's my favorite brand, Hebrew National.

Charles,

I had to try the Hebrew National Reduced Fat Beef Franks, so I bought a pack and had two for lunch. I have had them before but it has been a while. While I would not rate them as the top dog, they were certainly very good and quite pleasant eating. Very good flavor and the reduced fat can make one feel somewhat virtuous. I did limit myself to two...but like the panel, I wanted more. Very good indeed, even plainly done. They are still not my favorite though.

Kosciusko mustard? I love it. A great mustard at a reasonable price. I would not discount French's yellow mustard though. That brilliant yellow color comes from turmeric which is very healthy for you as is the mustard itself. Maybe, next time I am at a traffic light and see someone else in an old Chevy, I will roll down the window and say " Pardon me, do you have any French's mustard?"

Thank you Charles, for supporting Roadfood as an Insider, please keep posting, looking forward to more interesting posts.

I read a review that had Bar-S beef as #1. Bar-Freaking-S!!!!!

I'm just going to try and make some myself. I make a mean Kielbasa.

gostillerz... If you make the Kielbasa from scratch, drop me an email with the recipe!
Also, I know there's regional tastes, but where these AOL taste testers up in the Antarctic or something? What a joke.

Yeah, it just was one of the strangest "top 20 lists" I've ever seen. It was so weird that up became down, and the Arctic became the Antarctic.

OK who did the tasting
I know for a fact that the hot dogs with natural casings and all beef, are all ways better
chicago dogs awesome, brats wow, so does the tasting panel have taste buds ???
If i boil my brats in beer you will know there is a great difference, I never buy regular Dogs
any more !!!!


Nuts totally Nuts

Coz,

I don't know where they got their panel from. I suspect it was a last minute project. Perhaps they culled people sleeping on the subway late at night in NYC. Could have been middle school children as well, as I originally suspected...who knows? We may ask, but I don't think they will tell.

Brats and other types of sausage were not part of the taste test and I do not see any reason why they should have been. It was a hot dog taste test, after all.

I have more to say, but I am already late for my Tuesday night literacy class. I am trying to learn how to write on the web in a sensible literate manner.

I found your post very sensible and fairly literate, G.Ghost.

There's another thread on here somewhere that covers another taste test that contridicts everything in this one. Our own Resident "KING of the WEENIES", John Fox, was on the panel. They came up with the Holy Grail of Weenies. I can't find that thread. I'm summoning John Fox to come to the mountain top to enlighten us on this very subject and put this issue to bed. Come forth John!

I checked futher into this Wal mart conducted the taste test Figures!!!
Gghost your right just Hot dogs but the Dietz & Watson is still better than there winner.
Hebrew national reduced fat, and I am jewish I Know...
COZ

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

There's another thread on here somewhere that covers another taste test that contridicts everything in this one. Our own Resident "KING of the WEENIES", John Fox, was on the panel. They came up with the Holy Grail of Weenies. I can't find that thread. I'm summoning John Fox to come to the mountain top to enlighten us on this very subject and put this issue to bed. Come forth John!

I have been summoned from the Mountain Top where I was enjoying a Tatra Polish beer. Don't know where the thread on Roadfood is, but here is a link to the tasting with more info than you might want.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/the-great-off-the-broiler-hot-dog-tasting-of-2007/

quote:

Originally posted by John Fox

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

There's another thread on here somewhere that covers another taste test that contridicts everything in this one. Our own Resident "KING of the WEENIES", John Fox, was on the panel. They came up with the Holy Grail of Weenies. I can't find that thread. I'm summoning John Fox to come to the mountain top to enlighten us on this very subject and put this issue to bed. Come forth John!

I have been summoned from the Mountain Top where I was enjoying a Tatra Polish beer. Don't know where the thread on Roadfood is, but here is a link to the tasting with more info than you might want.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/the-great-off-the-broiler-hot-dog-tasting-of-2007/

Thank You O "King of the Weenies" for your input. I knew you would come thru with your limitless knowledge and sage advice.

quote:

Foodbme say'es, "Thank You, O King of the Weenies"

Now that tickled me. ROTFLMAO

quote:

Originally posted by DougS

quote:

Foodbme say'es, "Thank You, O King of the Weenies"

Now that tickled me. ROTFLMAO

What the Hell does ROTFLMAO mean???? I grew up in an era when we speled things out!

All these text message letter short cuts make anyone over 35 feel old!!! Sorry I agree with Foodbme,I like words...not all those appreviations,but that's just me...or is that BTJM!

Another one of those "best pizza in the valley" articles. As for who was behind the article, it was Kat Kinsman, an editor at Slashfood/AOL Food. The article generated hundreds of comments to the blog referenced in the article, mostly of the "you're nuts" variety. However, those comments yield the names of dozens of regional brands of quality franks. Comment number 329, July 25, 2008, 10:55 AM came from Kat Kinsman herself. Kat defended her impartiality, but continued to remain very vague about the testing procedure.

To try to answer Greyghost's question, the taste test was done in the NYC Metro area. From reading Kat's other posts and determining where the brands selected are sold, it is quite obvious Kat is NY based. Nothing from Vienna Beef, Wisconsin, Connecticut, or upstate New York. The other issue is how much is AOL going to spend on a taste test? These are free, advertiser-supported web sites. They probbly don't want to spend any more than their writers' salaries.

The other thing I noticed between this test and the one referenced by John Fox is that the 'Off the Broiler' folks did some research and did not include any 'junk' brands of franks. As others have written, the AOL test just used stuff available in the supermarkets. We also don't know how the franks were prepared. If you read the threads here, the best hot dog places know the best way to cook the brands they sell. Maybe the cooking was all wrong?

I do give the writers credit for not using a headline such as "Americas Best Hot Dogs." But the article is as useful to the general public as the maintenance reports for the Greenpoint sewage treatment plant.

and as another "oldie but goodie" I agree with the abbreviations. However, since noone has yet defined it, it means "rolling on the floor laughing my [you can fill in that word] off

IGIDGI....I guess I don't get it.

[8D

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

IGIDGI....I guess I don't get it.

ME----Me Either!

Did you notice that all twenty weiners received glowing praise? I don't recall seeing any negatives.

My second thought was, "Do these people even like hot dogs?"

In regard to the methodology: Think, "English/Drama major designs scientific comparison".

Any test of Nyc?Nj dogs that doesn't include Shickhaus is not a good test!!!!!

Another sham sponsored by a corporation.
If the hot dog doesn't fill the bun, ( Ball Park, Oscar Mayer, etc),I won't buy them.
The best on that list is Sabbret.
one of the "tasters" didn't like one brand because the skin split. WAAH. don't go to Rutt's,he'll die.
Those Hillshire Farms little beef franks are great cooked in a pan of Bullseye BBQ sauce.
And gosillerz, eat the package the Bar- S comes in,it's better than anything they make.

I kind of thought the Roadfood folk would see this test as bogus from the beginning. There are some good brands in there though, but why they went unappreciated is a mystery.

Well, maybe not such a mystery...seems like the highest rated brands are the ones with the deepest pockets. Hmm... let me think about this. AOL is sinking like a stone in the marketplace, their "welcome page" gets more lurid by the day as the new advertising model fails. Could it be the results are based on payola?

I hope not, AOL has fallen far, but I hope not that far.

In considering the possibility of payola, I don't think it likely. For the record, Kat Kinsman defended her impartiality. What is not impossible is asking the manufacturers to ship samples to NYC. There are only two brands on that list of 20 that I don't know where to buy. One is Tony Packo's. Tony Packo's does ship franks cold from Toledo by mail, but they are also available in upstate New York. They could have been brought down. The other is Brat Hans. Their label indicates a Whole Foods connection, which are in Manhattan. Or they could have been shipped in cold from Chicago.

A few other points. The top of the Slashfood blog, as well as the homepage of AOL Grilling, indicates they started out testing 50 types of hot dogs. Yet only 20 brands are mentioned in the article. Did the panel taste any of these, or were they disqualified by the AOL editors? Were these the tofo, vegetarian, chicken, mystery meat/mystery animal dogs, or the ones you find at Jack's 99 cents store down on Herald Square? Or house brands from Pathmark, White Rose, Black Bear (Shoprite/D&W), Associated, Western Beef, Shoprite, Stop and Shop, etc. which have limited geographical distribution?

Looking over the Slashfood site indicates a Nicole Weston mounted a similar taste test in 2006:
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/05/21/slashfood-ate-8-best-hot-dogs/
That article generated 253 comments, mostly of the "you're nuts" variety.

Sadly, other online sites repeated the 2008 AOL Food article, as this one on the website of the Sacramento Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/dining/
Scroll down to the entry for July 1, 2008.

I see the problem as being that free media (weekly free newspapers and web sites) as well as features sections of print media (those freelancer articles carried in newspaper food sections) don't have the budget to mount a 'scientific comparison.'

I'm sure many of us in college were told to consider the source of anything we were quoting in our papers. We really should not start threads on bogus "best pizza in the valley" stories. But for people googling the subject, they will usually find our comments and rebuttals to the balderdash they are reading.

When aol first came online we joined up----after six months i was desperate to find another way to get on the web!!! that place just plain sucks! The day we got off AOL was the last time i visited them until i check this out---i was right--there is NOTHING on aol worth reading---they havent gotten anything right since the day the went online. Thanks for reminding me to stay the heck away from aol!

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

When aol first came online we joined up----after six months i was desperate to find another way to get on the web!!! that place just plain sucks! The day we got off AOL was the last time i visited them until i check this out---i was right--there is NOTHING on aol worth reading---they havent gotten anything right since the day the went online. Thanks for reminding me to stay the heck away from aol!

Yahoo! is a very close Second!

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

quote:

Originally posted by DougS

quote:

Foodbme say'es, "Thank You, O King of the Weenies"

Now that tickled me. ROTFLMAO

What the Hell does ROTFLMAO mean???? I grew up in an era when we speled things out!

It's the Age of the Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROTFLMAO

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

In considering the possibility of payola, I don't think it likely. For the record, Kat Kinsman defended her impartiality. What is not impossible is asking the manufacturers to ship samples to NYC. There are only two brands on that list of 20 that I don't know where to buy. One is Tony Packo's. Tony Packo's does ship franks cold from Toledo by mail, but they are also available in upstate New York. They could have been brought down. The other is Brat Hans. Their label indicates a Whole Foods connection, which are in Manhattan. Or they could have been shipped in cold from Chicago.

A few other points. The top of the Slashfood blog, as well as the homepage of AOL Grilling, indicates they started out testing 50 types of hot dogs. Yet only 20 brands are mentioned in the article. Did the panel taste any of these, or were they disqualified by the AOL editors? Were these the tofo, vegetarian, chicken, mystery meat/mystery animal dogs, or the ones you find at Jack's 99 cents store down on Herald Square? Or house brands from Pathmark, White Rose, Black Bear (Shoprite/D&W), Associated, Western Beef, Shoprite, Stop and Shop, etc. which have limited geographical distribution?

Looking over the Slashfood site indicates a Nicole Weston mounted a similar taste test in 2006:
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/05/21/slashfood-ate-8-best-hot-dogs/
That article generated 253 comments, mostly of the "you're nuts" variety.

Sadly, other online sites repeated the 2008 AOL Food article, as this one on the website of the Sacramento Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/dining/
Scroll down to the entry for July 1, 2008.

I see the problem as being that free media (weekly free newspapers and web sites) as well as features sections of print media (those freelancer articles carried in newspaper food sections) don't have the budget to mount a 'scientific comparison.'

I'm sure many of us in college were told to consider the source of anything we were quoting in our papers. We really should not start threads on bogus "best pizza in the valley" stories. But for people googling the subject, they will usually find our comments and rebuttals to the balderdash they are reading.

David,

Thanks for the links. I also agree that there was no payoff. I think that the editors, or whoever participated in the tasting, did taste and disqualify 30 brands. It's hard to argue with someone's taste and choices. On one hand, I think that people like us (Roadfooders) who love hot dogs and are discerning, would do a better job as far as reviewing hot dogs and commenting on them. On the other hand, any article written for a general audience might be better if the "tasters" were representative of that audience rather than hot dog aficionados. On the third hand, regardless of what criteria was used in selecting the tasters, more research should have gone into making the selections. Boars Head is a top quality hot dog that has close to, if not total, national distribution. Yet it was not included. A glaring oversight. Very good regional brands like Thumann's, Best's, Sahlen's, Hofmann's, Vienna, Usinger's, etc. were not included. All the editors had to do was search the net; especially Roadfood. Put "quality hot dogs" or something similar in a search engine and I'm sure they would have been led to places where there would be a lot of hot dog discussion and suggestions.

When we did our informal tasting for Off the Broiler, we bought franks that we knew would be good (with the exception of the uncured and organic stuff; some of which was outright horrible) and were available near us. Some of the brands were shipped to us from someone Jason knew who is from the Chicago area. I don't think conducting a tasting with a good selection of hot dogs would be expensive or put a dent in anyone's budget.

<<Tony Packo's does ship franks cold from Toledo by mail, but they are also available in upstate New York. They could have been brought down. The other is Brat Hans. Their label indicates a Whole Foods connection, which are in Manhattan. Or they could have been shipped in cold from Chicago.>>

Or, it easily could have been Kat Kinsman saying to her colleagues, "Hey I'm doing a hot dog taste test, who can bring me some out of town hot dogs?" And somebody from Toldeo and somebody from Chicago said, "Well, I'm going home for few days, I'll bring you some".

The whole test seems totally inexplicable. As for me, I make it a point never to eat the "Reduced Fat" or "Lite" version of anything. To me "Reduced Fat" = "Less Taste" and, often, "Higher Price".

And the same goes for beer. Lite beer is an abomination and I never buy or drink it. Yet I'm in the minority as Bud Light is the largest selling beer in the world and Coors Light is the top seller in N.J.

quote:

Originally posted by John Fox

And the same goes for beer. Lite beer is an abomination and I never buy or drink it. Yet I'm in the minority as Bud Light is the largest selling beer in the world and Coors Light is the top seller in N.J.

Your NOT alone, John!!!