2008 NJ Hot Dog Tour.. REPORT COMPLETED 9-27

Now that you have come to the end, I want to say thanks for making the effort to photograph the tour, and then to take the time to process the photos and write the commentary. Good work!

I see that both Jimmy Buff's and Bubba's have charbroiled long Best's hot dogs, and they both also have similar Italian hot dogs on the menu. Which did you prefer for each of the styles?

Someone mentioned there was not much taste to one of the NJ dogs...The deep fried all meat (mainly pork) hot dogs are not very seasoned. It's the condiments and the texture of the natural casing, deep fried or griddled, that enhance the taste...I guess it is an acquired taste.

An amazing road trip. I cannot believe all the participants! Thanks again Ellen for taking us along for the ride. Next time, maybe John Fox can get Sabrette or Thumans to sponsor the trip

What a great trip, Ellen thanks for taking the pictures and making the report.

It is great to see the "NEW" Benzee, again Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

Someone mentioned there was not much taste to one of the NJ dogs...The deep fried all meat (mainly pork) hot dogs are not very seasoned. It's the condiments and the texture of the natural casing, deep fried or griddled, that enhance the taste...I guess it is an acquired taste.

An amazing road trip. I cannot believe all the participants! Thanks again Ellen for taking us along for the ride. Next time, maybe John Fox can get Sabrette or Thumans to sponsor the trip

Now there's an idea! Getting one of the companies to sponsor the next Tour. I'll look into it. Good point also about the milder pork and beef franks. They may be an aquired taste for someone raised on the more well seasoned Eastern (or Jewish or Kosher) style franks where paprika and garlic dominate. The beef and pork dogs have a milder spicing (little or no garlic) and sometimes a wider range of subtler flavors. The spicing is different. Mace is one spice that you find in mixed meat dogs that I don't think is in beef dogs.

Although the milder dogs (especially those made for deep frying) lend themselves to toppings, I still enjoyed my Windmill dog with just mustard. These dogs, though milder than the beef franks we enjoyed have a good flavor and were perfectly prepared. The char and snap added to the overall experience. The Lutz dogs I had a few weeks ago would be considered mild, even bland by many, but they are true representatives of the German style according to butchers and certified judges who named them Grand Reserve Champion.

I had a Hofmann's German style frank I got from Wegmans, and it is very similar. I also had a Zweigle's Red Hot for the first time and a Thumann's. While the Hofmann's is a true German style frank (very similar to Lutz Pork Store's frank) I found the Thumann's to have a little more flavor (not spice) which was more to my liking. The Zweigle's Red Hot had a lot more flavor and spicing than the aforementioned 2. I liked it, but not as much. I also sampled some of my wife's White Hot. The spicing was just like that in the Red Hot although the ingredients and color were different. The White Hot is mostly pork based with some veal and a little beef. To me, I find no difference between this and a bratwurst.

I also find that when I eat a lot of the same style of dogs, I begin to crave the other. At home, I had a lot of Best's and Nathan's. By the time I finished them, the beef/pork dogs were a welcome change.

As usual John, a great analysis...and right on! Who on the tour served Thumanns,if any????

The only Thumann's dog was the deep fried "ripper" at Bubba's. Out of the 4 or 5 dogs offered, this is the one I chose topped with the delicious homemade chili.

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon


I see that both Jimmy Buff's and Bubba's have charbroiled long Best's hot dogs, and they both also have similar Italian hot dogs on the menu. Which did you prefer for each of the styles?

For the charbroiled long dogs, it was pretty much a tie.. both very similar and delicious.. Jimmy Buffs style is supposedly to add a little oil to the dog as well, though in all fairness, I did'nt notice the "oil effect", as I did'nt eat a full one myself (just a bite of Coney Island Lou's "long dog")

As far as the potatoes in the Italian Hot Dogs goes, this is where the differences come into play:
Jimmy Buff's does those round sliced potatoes; my sister LOVED them, but I found them a little too dry for my tastes; (I'd like them a tad juicier)

Bubba's does their potatoes in CHUNKS.... that was my favorite of the 2 places, mostly due to the dryness of the sliced ones.
However, I gave my sis a taste of Bubba's, and she proclaimed "I likes Jimmy Buff's much better!!"

So we've got some very subjective stuff going on here!

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben


An amazing road trip. I cannot believe all the participants! Thanks again Ellen for taking us along for the ride. Next time, maybe John Fox can get Sabrette or Thumans to sponsor the trip

So nice hearing from you again on my Hot Dog Thread, Baah Ben...
I think that's a great idea to try for sponsors!
Nothing to lose by asking, and it sounds like a win/win situation.
I guess we'd all have to wear T-shirts that say "Best's are the Best!", or the like...

The trip was already dirt CHEAP (it only cost $25 a person for the bus) , plus whatever personal $$ we spent on our hot dogs, etc.
But if Bests' wants to pay for our bus, and for whatever "Bests hot dogs" are on the next tour, that's an idea.
They could bring photographers from the news bureaus to film us stuffing our faces with double Italian hot dogs.
But the trip was so cheap, I don't mind paying on my own..

The national trips , like the Austin and Nashville Roadfood tours I went on, were more costly, as I had airfare, car rentals, hotels, etc. to pay for
The Austin Bus cost about $100 or so a person, for some reason (plus food costs) instead of the cheap $20 I paid for the NJ hot dog tour..
(the Jane and Michael Stern effect, I guess; as we all had the chance to hang with them all day and "break bread" together)

I'd be even more glad to see sponsors on that national tour.
I was disappointed that on the Nashville tour, the only kind of camera news crew we ever saw was some sort of German TV/movie station that was filming us a part of a documentary. That's wonderful, but I don't get German TV stations on my COMCAST cable!!!

Whew..... I am stuffed!

Thanks for the weenie, Screenbear!
Nice report.. That charbroiled foot long really called my name out!

Nice photos, its cool to put faces to names!...
See ya in Daytona, Ellen!

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

Originally posted by MiamiDon


Jimmy Buffs style is supposedly to add a little oil to the dog as well, though in all fairness, I did'nt notice the "oil effect", as I did'nt eat a full one myself (just a bite of Coney Island Lou's "long dog")

that sounds sooooo bad Ellen!

But seriously..

So many many great trip reports, so many great pics from our intrepid 'Lois Lane', Ellen, so there is really not too much that I can add folks - but I'll try!

John Fox did his usual amazing leg work again - EVERY place was not only ready for us, but was ENTHUSIASTIC about us being there! The free food at GHI...even though we clog their parking lot up on a Saturday! The ladies on Dee's truck, who dished up their Sabrett's (the best Sabrett's street dogs Ive ever had!) lightning quick. The great folks at The Windmill....Manny with his unbounded enthusiasm and generosity - FREE SHIRTS!! Jimmy Buff, again giving us free soda and brews, and a nice room all to ourselves! And the great people at Bubba's who managed to keep a group of 55 people already stuffed with various meat products enthused about eating ONE MORE DOG - and then getting us hungry when we saw, smelled and tasted those amazing hand cut fries of theirs - the fact that many of loved those fries so much, we scarfed them down like we hadn't eaten all day, is a tribute to their quality.

my dear pal Benzee, who, despite working untold hours each week trying to boost his pension, raising a son, doing a weekly radio show, and a dozen OTHER things, managed to keep this thing organized to a 't'. If you have never done this, try it someone and see how difficult it is just working normal hours on a normal job! And all this, despite the fact he couldn't eat a bite! There is NONE better than Erwin Benz, and I am PROUD to call him 'friend'...



HAR-RI-ET HAR-RI-ET, managed to keep her cool when all of John Hughes' 'dog pack' started 'serenading' her - it was so great seeing you again hun, and it was great to meet Brian - wheres those pics, Brian??

Signman - I felt soooo bad leaving his honor as one of the Dog Tour Originals off his name tag! Traveling all the way up from Bal'mer for this tour is no easy (or cheap) task these days!

Brooklyn Bill and Ginny...Screenbear...John Hughes and the 'dogpack'...one could name each and every one of the 55 GREAT people who help make this its usual memorable amazing event!

SPECIAL kudos to our intrepid drivers Dennis and Joan - shepherding us through the wilds of Union and Essex counties with nary a complaint! Special nod to Joan - working as a school bus driver must have been PERFECT training for putting up with the wild bunch on that second bus!

Only 363 days until Dog Tour Six!!

Did anyone try John Sagi's homemade chili? I did and it was fantastic. A thick, Texas Weiner or Coney Island type chili that was balanced and mild as opposed to spicy. Delicious! It reminded me of the chili at the Coney Island Restaurant in Middletown, N.Y.

Hello all ,

John I tried it also and loved it , I let him know in an email . You ar so correct in that the chili was balanced and it had a mild flavor . Too many places try to make their chili spicy or overpowering when it is not neccesary . Especially on a good dog .
Yes the taste is similar to Coney Island in Middletown .

Benzee

Glad to see everyone had a good time.

Ellen- I am amazed at the striking resemblance between you and your sister, . You're not twins are you?