Welcome to the TVWGG Hot Dog Taste-Off!
This is the fourth round in our summer hot dog taste-off. If this is your first visit to the taste-off, make sure to read the first installment for details on how we’re selecting and judging the hot dogs.
Last time, Oscar Mayer Selects whipped Open Nature in the Almost Organic Division taste-off. This week, we take on the most sincere hot dog category of all.
The Organic Division
These hot dogs are labeled “uncured”, meaning that they’ve been cured using the sodium nitrate that occurs naturally in sea salt and celery juice or celery powder. They contain certified organic, grass-fed beef from cattle that have never been administered antibiotics or hormones and have been humanely raised.
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured: $8.69
- Organic Prairie Organic Uncured: $8.99
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Stadium: $8.99
- Wellshire Organic Uncured: $5.99
(Note that in these photos, the hot dogs are always shown in the order listed above.)
The hot dogs were grilled together and served to the judges.
Once the hot dogs were grilled but not overly cooked, they were brought indoors and immediately judged on appearance, then sampled and judged on taste and tenderness/texture.
The Results
Applegate The Great Organic Uncured beat its sibling Applegate The Great Organic Stadium by 4.5 points, mowed-down Open Prairie by 9 points, and took Wellshire Organic to the woodshed with a spanking of 14 points. In fact, with a sub-50 point score, Wellshire Organic holds the distinction of being our lowest scoring hot dog in four rounds of taste testing to date.
Here are the weighted scores:
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured: 61.7028
- Organic Prairie Organic Uncured: 52.5372
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Stadium: 57.1428
- Wellshire Organic Uncured: 47.3828
It’s interesting to note that in terms of appearance, taste and tenderness/texture, the Applegate The Great Organic Uncured hot dog did as well or better than many of the big brand and premium dogs we’ve tested in other divisions…but at a cost of $5-6 more per package.
Judges’ Comment Cards
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured: Plump, shiny, very good flavor, very good texture
- Organic Prairie Organic Uncured: Plump, good sheen, springy texture, sausage flavor
- Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Stadium: Pale, chewy texture, above average flavor
- Wellshire Organic Uncured: Thin, bland, chewy, texture a bit hard
So Applegate The Great Organic Uncured is the winner of the Organic Division! Stay tuned for our last division contest of 2014: The Stray Dog Division.