Hot Dog Cook-off Rules
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop me an email.
- There will be 5 official judges for the competition. These will be determined on the 12th. Between 2:00 and 2:30 that afternoon, everyone who wants to be a judge can put their name in a hat, and 5 will be pulled out. Cooks cannot enter to be judges, but your friends can- so make sure they get there on time!
- There are three categories for the competition: Chili Dog, Veggie Dog and Neither of the Above Dog. Also there's a Best in Show Dog and an Audience Favorite Dog which can come from any of the three categories. Meat dogs must be hot dogs, no chorizo or sausage this year. Veggie dogs must be vegetarian dogs
topped with veggie-friendly toppings. And any buns can be used for all three categories
- The dogs will be judged on the following criteria: 2/3 TASTE & 1/3 PRESENTATION
- The Audience Favorite Dog category will be judged by the guests. Each dog will have a jar on display with the name of their dog on it. Guests can support their favorite dog by putting money in their favorite dog’s jar. I know this isn’t exactly democratic… but it’s a fundraiser!
- The prize for the winning dogs will mostly be bragging rights, but we’ll have some other goodies too. Yay!
- The cooking/serving of dogs will take place in heats (this way everyone’s not fighting over the grill space at once.) The first heat will present their dogs at 2:30, the next heat will be 3:00, the next at 3:30… and so on based on the number of competitors. If you have any special timing requirements, let us know, we’ll be making the cooking schedule a few days ahead.
- You need to make a minimum of 5 ‘competition ready’ dogs. These are for the judges, but then you should be prepared to make more for the rest of the crowd. Last year, some chefs cut their dogs in half when then served them to the crowd, this way everyone didn’t zonk out after tasting just the first 2 or 3 dogs. There will be about 100 guests. You don’t have to make a dog for everyone, but the more you make, the happier people will be… and maybe more votes for the crowd favorite. We’d suggest being prepared to make minimum of 25 extra dogs, but its your call. The extra dogs can be a stripped down version of your competition dogs if ingredients are expensive or something.
- Bring any ingredients you think you might need. We’ll have mustard and ketchup… but if you think you really need something, be safe and bring it. I’ll have some fridge space, but feel free to bring coolers if you’d like.
- There will be 3 charcoal grills. The kitchen is available for any cooking or prep work. Its pretty standard- stovetop, oven, toaster oven, microwave, blender, frying pans, pots, cutting boards, work space, etc. If you need any special equipment, let us know, or if you have something you want to use, just bring it. Someone brought a deep fryer once!