Our intrepid pack of testers blind-chomped their way through fifty different franks, hot dogs and wieners in hot pursuit of the top tube steak in all the land. Not a single chicken, turkey or tofu dog made the final cut, while beef and pork reigned supreme. Did your favorite frank lead the pack?

Hot Dog Taste Test

This week, the Times is a little less pretentious and a little more...well, all-American.

Check out the interactive map of baseball stadiums across the country, and click on those featured for what to order and what to avoid at each.

The map is fun, as are the color photos of dishes at each stadium. But the quality of stadium food is highly debatable, especially if the food carries with it an air of nostalgia and tradition (ie: cheesesteaks in Philly or pizza in Chicago) or, y'know, if you've imbibed a bit too much (because let's be honest: after four beers, you won't care if the nachos are a little stale).

Although, I'll give it to the Times: the Philly cheesesteak shown in the photo was not a home run. Although I'll bet that somewhere out there, there's a diehard Phillies cheesesteak fan.

Ladies and gentlemen, appreciators of odd foods everywhere, meet the waffledog.

That's a hot dog wrapped in a waffle, doused in ketchup and eaten on a stick. Sound like a good idea to you? Me too.

In my opinion, the most surprising thing about this unusual treat is not the flavor combo (bacon and waffles are good, chicken and waffles are good, so why not hot dog and waffles?) but the fact that it was NOT made in America, proud home of so many foods-within-foods (think turducken - a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey - or mozzarella-stuffed pizza crust or cheesecake-stuffed chimichangas).

Nope, this baby was born in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, as reported on journalist Newley Purnell's blog. Apparently there are French fry-coated corn dogs to be had on the streets of Seoul, South Korea.

I wonder if I could replicate this with my waffle iron...

We don't usually hear or read too much about food cart vendors. You know the ones - everyone has grabbed lunch from them at some time or another - whether in an unfamiliar city with no immediate restaurant choices, on a quick break from a long meeting, food cart meals are the original "go-to meals," before the term "go-to meal" even existed.

But the anonymity of vendors has changed this week, as articles appeared in both The New York Times and The Washington Post about the food carts and the businesspeople who run them.

In New York, Latin food vendors who have served the players and fans at Brooklyn's Red Hook soccer fields for the past 33 years faced being ousted from their spots if the Department of Parks and Recreation succeeded in "regulating" its permit process. In the end, the vendors were all allowed to stay and were issued a new six-year permit. But despite vendor fees remaining about the same (about $10,500 per year), reps of the vendors worry that the permit's new rule of standardizing equipment will mean vendors paying hefty fees for updated ovens and plumbing.

In D.C., vendors are feeling similar pressure, but for a different reason: instead of cutting back, D.C. wants to expand, but not among the current food options. Instead, citing surveys of citizens who say they want a larger food selection, the city is opening up the market to companies like Zipcar, an electric car company that wants to expand into gourmet and healthy food vending.

In case there was ever any doubt, I've come across further proof that people really will do anything for a Chicago hot dog. The next time you get a craving, look no further than eBay. An enterprising individual recently sold a "Complete (non-eaten) Soldier Field Hot Dog (wrapper included)" along with a ticket stub from the NFC Championship. Wow, I am glad he specified that it was non-eaten.

Yes, the requisite question was asked. Q: Does this come with mustard, onions, relish, celery salt, and a pickle spear? Sadly, it didn't. Nothing but a bun and a wiener, so it is really only a pretend Chicago dog. However, the seller did have some friendly words of advice:

Who needs a wedding cake when you can have a hot dog from the 2007 NFC Championship Game to break out on special occasions?

Who indeed, dude? Who indeed? I'm fairly certain most prospective brides would completely agree with you too.

In case you were wondering (and I know you were), the item sold for $6.49 plus a $20.00 charge for overnight shipping. The hot dog was to be frozen and shipped out late in the day to minimize thawing time. Whew, that's a load off my mind. Wouldn't want it to go bad or anything.

No, that's not some euphemism for playing football or for having sex, it's the attempt to eat the specialty dish at Mulligan's Bar in Decatur, Georgia, the HamDog. It's a hot dog wrapped in a hamburger patty, deep fried, covered in chili, cheese, and onions. Oh, and toss a fried egg and some french fries on there too.

Somewhere, Homer Simpson is drooling.

As the article says, it's not the healthiest of meals, and the South has become known as "The Stroke Belt," sort of the headquarters of the national obesity epidemic around the country. But everything in moderation I guess. It's not something you'd eat every single day, or maybe more than once a month, but it's certainly something I'll tackle if I'm ever in the area.

Did you know that a place that sells hot dogs is called a "doggerie"? Neither did I, until I heard writer Paul Lukas use the term to describe hot dog vendors in his quest for the best hot dogs in New York City. He feels that hot doggeries are steadily becoming more common, as more New Yorkers accept that a great hot dog can be a whole meal, not just "a snack to be eaten on the run." His quest was designed to help hot dog lovers in the big city find their way to the most satisfying dogs.

He set a few ground rules: all-beef with natural casing for the dogs, and toppings had to be either mustard and/or diced onions. He found a lot of dogs, but not all of them were up to snuff. Here are some of the best:

• Brooklyn Diner USA - Really good, and really huge, dogs. Their "15-Bite Hot Dog" measures 15-inches in length and 5 inches around!
• Crif Dogs - Skip their signature deep-fried dog and go for the all-beef, which is crisp and delicious, especially when washed down with a shot of Jägermeister.
• Katz's - Super beefy, these dogs deserve the name "tube steaks." The buns aren't as good as the dogs, but you'll get over it once you start to dig in.

The driving force behind the changes that Dunkin Donuts has gone through in the past year seems to come from the three private firms that bought the company last year, steering it away from tradition and into new markets. Some changes, like adding smoothies and better coffees, are minor, but others are big. The chain does 70% of its business before 11am but several locations will now begin offering more savory lunch and dinner menu items in an attempt to attract customers throughout the day.

So far, at least three of these concept stores are planned, mostly to be in existing locations. They will offer foods such as hot dogs wrapped in pastry and flatbread sandwiches. The stores will also have a design makeover, with wooden chairs instead of plastic swivel ones, and with more liberal use of the chain's signature orange and maroon colors.

Since one previous attempt to sell sandwiches and soups was not a success, the Dunkin' executives have to hope that the new concept catches on with "the Dunkin' tribe," or they'll simply have to go back to the drawing board yet again.

All the Chicago beef and hot dog fans out there should appreciate this one. GreaseFreak.com is a photographic survey of meaty Chicago fare like beef sandwiches, hot dogs, chili, Italian subs, burgers and (shrug) turkey clubs. While the site's host, Peter Strazzabosco, claims to not be a fast food expert, he does a good job of outlining the qualities one should look for in aforementioned foods. He also rates each of his "intimate shots of greasy edibles" with stars for taste, presentation and ambiance. As you might imagine, the list of hot dog places is quite extensive.

In the movie Grease, Danny Zuko gets stranded at the drive-in theater when Sandy storms out on him. As he sings a strange advertisement for the snack stand rolls on the screen behind him, complete with dancing sodas and trick-trained hot dogs. The song is great, but it is hard to tear your eyes away from those anthropomorphized snacks. I saw this video of about one of those snacks, giving a little backstory and spinning out a rather clever little tale of what happened to Jerome, the Marching Gumdrop, when he left "The Lobby Gang" - featuring Pops Corn, Bonnie Bon Bon, Smokey (a pack of cigarettes isn't exactly refreshing, but whatever), Hot Doggy and Sodey Pop - and struck out on his own.

It's strange, it's funny and, as if that weren't enough, it stars a talking gumdrop.

[via tgwae]

The folks over at Gothamist decided to liveblog the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog contest, which is fortunate for everyone who wasn't able to make it out to Coney Island today to watch in person. They reported that, after a grueling 12 minute battle, Takeru Kobayashi emerged victorious with a new world record of 54 hot dogs! That breaks his previous record of 53 1/2.

If you recall from earlier, this means that Kobayashi ate more than 16,500 calories in that short time period. Is it worth it? Well, not only does the winner get the glory of being the most recognized eater in the world, but he (Kobayashi, in this case) gets to take home the mustard-yellow championship belt for another year.

Update: You can view a videoclip here.

The Nathan's Famous annual hot dog eating competition is today at Coney Island, where all qualifying competitive eaters will stuff-their-faces off in pursuit of the yellow prize belt, a new world record and the chance to beat the number one ranked eater in the world, Takeru Kobayashi. Kobayashi's record stands at 53.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Nutritionally speaking, that comes out to be a week's worth of calories in those few minutes. Mark, who runs CalorieLab, sent me this intriguing nutritional label that breaks down exactly what the eaters will be trying to consume to break that record: 16,532 calories; 1,077 grams of fat (415g saturated); 1,605mg cholesterol and 36,596mg sodium. On the plus side, the eaters will be getting a fair amount of fiber, calcium and iron in those few minutes.

Check out the whole piece, with further details, at CalorieLab news.

As disturbed as I am at the thought of eating that much food in one sitting, I'm still curious to see who wins. Very curious. If I had to guess, I think that it will be Kobayashi again. I'm still pulling for the up-and-coming Joey Chestnut, whose participation will make for a very interesting match because he managed to set a new American record by eating 50 hot dogs in his qualifier.

Anyone else care to hazard any guesses about the winner?

Sarah asked how your dressed your dogs - mustard? relish? chili? Personally, while I enjoy dogs dressed with all kinds of things, my very favorite way to eat them is with ketchup. I know it's boring compared to a loaded dog, but I also know I'm not the only one who likes them that way. My ketchup of choice is Heinz .

Heinz Ketchup is celebrating its 130th birthday this year and more the 50% of the Ketchup sold in the US is made by Heinz. Out of the many ketchups I've tried -including those ghastly green and purple monstrosities from Heinz, various "natural" ketchups and homemade ketchup - I've found that classic Heinz generally tastes the best. It has a sweetness that complements a slightly spicy dog, a little bite from vinegar and salt and a smooth texture. Of course, the texture of classic comes from the high fructose corn syrup that is in it and, because I generally try to avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup, I was delighted to discover that Heinz Organic doesn't have any! Granted, it came out in 2002, but old habits are hard to break. It tastes a little fresher and has a little more body than the classic Heinz, which actually makes it tastier than the classic - and it still goes perfectly on any hot dog (or fries, burgers, etc.).

The Seattle Times Food and Wine section yeterday had a feature all about hot dogs, in preparation for the extended Fourth of July weekend. They have broken down how different regions of the United States "dress" their dogs.

Chicago does something called "dragging it through the garden," topping their dogs with mustard, relish, onions, tomato wedges, a pickle spear, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt. In New York, where they consumed more hot dogs last year than any place else in the country, they go "street cart style" or "deli-style." The South piles on coleslaw, LA does chili and cheese, and Seattle - well, they don't dogs too much, but if they do, it's...cream cheese?

We do it in lots of ways,but we want to know, how do you dress you dog? Mustard? Ketchup? Something totally weird and unique?

I like my hamburger and hot dog buns to be lightly toasted when possible. Usually, I will simply open them up and toss them onto the grill while the dogs cook. If I'm not grilling, I just eat the buns plain. I have never put a hot dog bun into the microwave to attempt to achieve a "bakery-fresh" texture and, even if I did so, I would certainly not put the hot dog in the bun before microwaving it. In my experience, microwaving does nothing to improve the texture of bread and having an unheated hot dog in it would help even less.

As such, I fail to see the appeal of Oscar Meyer's newest product: Fast Franks. Three hot dogs are packaged in buns and, when you're read to eat, you just put the whole thing in the microwave. Oscar Meyer says that Fast Franks are "mouthwatering to imagine." I'm imagining, and I have to disagree.