Unbelievable!

photo by Wendy Ploger

We totally rocked it again this year! Despite the sweltering heat and humidity, twenty-one chefs, five fancy judges, more than fifty volunteers and almost six hundred (!) hungry hot dog lovers came out to Kelso Beer Company for the 6th Annual Great Hot Dog Cookoff!

I have to admit, I had my doubts that it was going to work. As a co-organizer for the third year in a row, I was sweating it – literally. The temperature on the forecast for our set-in-stone event date kept rising and the whole week leading up was hotter than heck. There were severe weather alerts advising against prolonged exposure outside. And we were asking our chefs to yes, please come outside and oh, by the way, stand next to a six-foot grill filled with hot coals all day.

What can I say about the chefs? My amazing chefs! This year the bar was raised. These people put thought and care and creativity into their work and then executed on-site to delicious results. Plus, they showed up! My eternal thanks.

photo by Wendy Ploger

 

Our expert judges had a lot of tough choices to make, but this group knows hot dogs for sure. We had butchers Sara Bigelow from The Meat Hook and T.J. Burnham from Marlow & Daughters, Rich Crosby of Bark Hot Dogs, Pnina Peled, a chef and Chopped champion, and Scott Gold, food writer and author of The Shameless Carnivore. Trust me, this groups knows a thing or two about hot dogs.

photo by Wendy Ploger

 

It wouldn’t be TGHDCO without our charming and entertaining MC, George Duran, and our amazing DJ – Rabbi Darkside. The two had the crowd laughing and dancing all day.

photo by Wendy Ploger

 

Of course we couldn’t have done it without our amazing group of volunteers and sponsors – both our loyal friends from previous years and our new friends who volunteer with the Food Bank for New York City. Again, props for just being there, and kudos for the hard work. (By the way, that’s my mom in the hat. Thanks for coming, mom!)

photo by Wendy Ploger

 

Please remember to visit our sponsors and try their products – you won’t be disappointed. Kelso served up thirst-quenching beers all day, Applegate provided their aptly named Great Organic Hot Dogs, Sodastream and P&H Soda teamed up again to offer sodas and there was ice cream from SoCo Creamery. Folks enjoyed samples from our condiment crew: My Friend’s Mustard, Sol Sauce and Rick’s Picks. Lovely raffle items and prizes came from: Wustof, Le Creuset, Bulldog Gin, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Illy Coffee, Crif Dogs and Olivino Wines.

Did I mention that we raised $12,000 for the Food Bank? That’s right – all the hard work and contributions of the chefs, volunteers, sponsors and organizers go towards our goal of supporting organizations that work locally to combat hunger and provide nutrition education and advocacy for the food impoverished. We weren’t sure we’d hit our goal, but we did – more than double from the previous year! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

photo by Wendy Ploger

We come together once a year for the love of hot dogs, beer, music, fun and fundraising, of course, but there’s also the element of competition. Our chefs all concocted amazing hot dogs, but at the end of the day, some tough decisions had to be made. So here are this year’s ribbon winners, but of course you are all winners in my recipe book!

Judge’s Awards:

Blue Ribbon (Best in Show):  You’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat – David & Danielle Estorino

Red Ribbon (2nd Place): The Dustin Dog – Tailgate Joe & Sal Caluccio

Yellow Ribbon (3rd Place): The 8 Fat Fat 8 Lucky Dog

Audience Awards:

Blue Ribbon (Top Dog): Southwest Harlem Corn Dog – Adam Nalawajek & Carolyn Gamanos

Red Ribbon (2nd Place): Seoul Thriller – Sung Lee & David Kim

Yellow Ribbon (3rd Place): Zia Dog – Marcos Salazar & Paul Smalera

Here are photos and write-ups to keep you busy for a while. Are there any pics of you? Are you dancing? Running through a sprinkler? Shoving a hot dog in your face? Awesome! Thanks for coming and see you next year!

The Great Hot Dog Cookoff on Facebook

The Great Hot Dog Cookoff Official Photographer – Wendy Ploger

NYT – The Local

Donuts 4 Dinner

Brooklynauts

The Hot Dog I Ate

Local Bozo

Kelso’s Cookoff Video

The Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn Exposed

Judge’s Awards:

Blue Ribbon (Best in Show):  You’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat – David & Danielle Estorino

Red Ribbon (2nd Place): The Dustin Dog – Tailgate Joe & Sal Caluccio

Yellow Ribbon (3rd Place): The 8 Fat Fat 8 Lucky Dog

Audience Awards:

Blue Ribbon (Top Dog): Southwest Harlem Corn Dog – Adam Nalawajek & Carolyn Gamanos

Red Ribbon (2nd Place): Seoul Thriller – Sung Lee & David Kim

Yellow Ribbon (3rd Place): Zia Dog – Marcos Salazar & Paul Smalera

Photo by Wendy Ploger

Food Bank For New York City recognizes 28 years as the city’s major hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs.  As the city’s hub for integrated food poverty assistance, the Food Bank tackles the hunger issue on three fronts — food distribution, income support and nutrition education — all strategically guided by its research. Through its network of approximately 1,000 community-based member programs citywide, the Food Bank helps provide 400,000 free meals a day for New Yorkers in need.

The Food Bank’s hands-on nutrition education program in the public schools reaches thousands of children, teens and adults. Income support services including food stamps, free tax assistance for the working poor and the Earned Income Tax Credit put millions of dollars back in the pockets of low-income New Yorkers, helping them to achieve greater dignity and independence. 94% of donations go directly toward food distribution, acquisition and programs in all five boroughs of New York City.

We look forward to a great event that will give back to our fellow New Yorkers.

BETA DOG: Tailgate Joe

BEST WORKING DOG: Eric Friedman & Emily Rubenstein

BEST TOY DOG: Annie Conway

TOP DOG: David Estorino & Adam Arce

View the full chef rundown»

Ok, I’m prone to hyperbole, but really, there WERE people dancing in the streets by the end. At a hot dog cookoff, no less. As one of the three organizers, I’m pretty pleased with myself with how it all went down. We increased ticket sales by 50% this year, brought in product samples from P&H Soda using SodaStream and ice cream from Adirondack Creamery, teamed up with Kelso Brewery, and garnered prize donations from Le Creuset, Wusthof, the Brooklyn Kitchen, SodaStream, Early Bird Granola, Olivino Wines and Sigg. We found a kindred spirit in our MC for the event, Mr. George Duran, who did a great job. In the end we, raised almost $6,000 for City Harvest, New York’s only food rescue program. Did I mention that Hummel Brothers generously donated all the hot dogs for the competitors?? How awesome is that?!

I wish I had some great pics of the truly creative and inspired hot dogs of the day. But I was running around like a crazy person making sure the trash got emptied, the grills had charcoal and the chefs had beer. I didn’t snap a single pic until the after party at nearby Hot Bird (which is a pretty cool place!) So allow me to direct you to some of the great slide shows and write-ups we’ve found out there on the interwebs:

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who came to the event! See you at TGHDCO 2011!