Rules

There are several categories of awards: BEST IN SHOW, BETA DOG (2nd Place,) BEST WORKING DOG, BEST TOY DOG, AND TOP DOG (CROWD FAVORITE.) There is NO VEGGIE DOG award category this year, although you may make a veggie dog. Sausages and chorizo are not allowed, so if you plan to make your own wiener, keep in mind that the judges are advised of this.

Category Details

Working dog: This is a dog that may not be so flashy, but is recognizable as a hot dog and tastes great. This is one you can see yourself eating as a full size version.

Toy Dog: This is the fancy dog – with all the bells & whistles, probably pretty rich and decadent, and while it tastes great, you might not be able to imagine eating a whole dog’s worth.

Judges

The 6 judges will be picked randomly from the crowd at the start of the cookoff event. Dogs will be judged on taste and presentation and per the guidelines for categories. All guests will be able to cast one vote in the Crowd Favorite category.

The Cooking

Chefs are to prepare one full size dog for aesthetic presentation to the judges and photographer, and 300 “bite-sized” portions for the crowd. We recommend cutting each dog into thirds. There will be 300+ guests. The more you serve, the better chance you have at pleasing the crowd and winning the Crowd Favorite Award. You have the option this year of using hot dogs donated by Hummel Bros. Quality Meats. You can choose either all-beef or a beef/pork blend. These will be available about a week prior to the event if you want to experiment with them, or you can choose for them to be stored at Kelso until the day of.

Chefs can do any amount of prep work ahead of time. We recommend that chefs bring one sous chef to help out. So, teams of two. Both people get into the event for free. Other helpers must purchase a ticket and cannot be inside the tent due to space constraints. Each chef will have a minute or two to introduce their dog over the mic to the crowd. The hot dogs will be served from the kitchens and the crowd will be signaled by a flag when you have dogs available. You may choose to serve as you go or all at once.

Each chef team will be assigned to a “kitchen” which is half of a 10’x10 foot pop tent. Kitchens include a prep table, serving area, and half of the 6’ grill. Each tent will have a volunteer helper who will assist them as needed (help clean the workspace, get you beer, control the crowds, etc.) There are 20 chef teams and we’ll be staggering the cooking so that food will be served continuously throughout the event (this is different than previous years.) Every chef will have 90 minutes total in their kitchens to use however they like (ie. you can cook all your dogs and prep them for the first hour and serve them all at once or maybe you want to serve your dogs as they’re done instead of waiting til all are prepped.) Charcoal, one set of tongs, aluminum serving trays and small paper individual bite serving boats will be provided, but all other prep and service items should be supplied by the chefs. (You will want to bring things like coolers, cutting boards, knives, aprons, ladles, aluminum foil, any special serving dishes you might need, etc…)

The Prizes

In addition to the great feeling you’ll get from knowing that you helped raise money for City Harvest, there’s over $4,000 worth of great prizes for the chefs including: