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MORE THAN TEN?
Although these are the top ten hot dog vendor questions, I have the top 40 that new vendors ask ' you can read it here.
I also have a short list of the most asked questions that I receive from BensCarts.com ' Please check that out here.
Those contemplating becoming a hot dog vendor have many questions. As they learn it often spawns more questions. This time of year I get deluged with questions and so I wanted to list them here so that I can serve more people. I'm limited to how many calls I can answer, emails I can respond to, so hopefully some of you will share these on the many forums, blogs and Facebook groups. These are the top ten hot dog vendor questions I get. Simply put a link to this page on any site and share away. https://learnhotdogs.com/top-ten-hot-dog-vendor-questions/ (copy and paste)
1. What kind of cart do I need for my business?
Before your search begins on a cart, make sure you have checked with the health inspector for your area, find out if what your planning on serving is allowed. Check with the zoning division or city/county and find out if they have any restrictions on vendors. Most don't, but you don't want any surprises. Once you have those answers then you can start cart hunting. Get online and search; hot dog carts. You will find many options and choices and manufacturers but before you buy you should consider what cooking set up you'll need for your menu. Most of us use a standard steam table and some of those are capable of boiling and steaming. A cart with the ability to steam and boil will really make life easier. A small steam table can limit the variety on your menu where a large steam table can handle direct heating, boiling and steaming all at the same time. It's why our Big Dog Hot Dog Cart is so popular. You can see it here.
2. I don't understand steam pans, direct heat and the different set ups. Can you explain?
This won't take long because I have pictures and video. How's that for fancy learning? It's straight from Chapter 17 of my course/book: Hot Dogs Saved My Life. Watch this video:
3. Can you put a deep fryer on a hot dog cart?
Well of course you can, you can put a sausage grinding machine, a pastry oven and a meat slicer too. The question is, CAN YOU OPERATE IT LEGALLY WITH THOSE OPTIONS? Probably not. It's why most carts you hear about are hot dog carts.
4. What kind of license do I need?
Because you're going to be serving food to the public you will need to be licensed with the State. Some states you would just need to contact your local health department as the inspectors usually work from there. Other states call it environmental safety division or some version of that. You can call your state's information line and tell them you need to find the department that handles food vendors and restaurants. The other license you will most certainly be required is a business license, resale license and hawker or vendors license. For example, in TN, I must have my state health permit, my business license for the county in which I'm based and in some other cities I must have a license to work there too. All of this is pretty easy to do. The one that can take the longest is the health department permit. Here is a link to an article I did on setting up your business. It also includes information on setting up as a LLC, Inc., Sole Proprietor and more.
5. Do I steam, boil or grill the hot dogs?
Great question and I have written a lot about this one. I even have an entire section in my book / course; 'hot dogs saved my life'. Here is a video I did.
Before moving on, check out this article I wrote on the the Pros' and Cons' of each.
6. What hot dog brand do most vendors use?
I wish there was one brand I could give you but there isn't. Different regions feature and have a following for different brands. For example in Florida, due to the number of retirees from up north, a popular brand is Sabretts. Nathans hot dogs are a popular one as well. I use Bakers and Chefs brand from Sams Club and have for years. They are all beef, very inexpensive and taste great. Other popular brands include Vienna, Chicago Red Hots and of course there are regional brands that are wonderful. I recommend in my course and on my videos and on my radio show to do a taste test in your area. Gather up the family and friends and do a taste test. If I had my choice and could get them easily, I would serve Vienna all beef hot dogs. They are my favorite by far. Some vendors use no-name brands and season the water to make them taste like a gourmet hot dog. I do a little trick or two with mine as well.
7. What condiments should I offer?
Like the brand hot dog you should serve, the options are many and it will depend on your area. Definitely you want to offer the basics, ketchup, mustard, onions and relish, but you will be wise to offer some more. In your area they may love jalapeños or pickles or tomatoes or chili. I know vendors that have many types of mustard or exotic toppings. For example, in my area a Chicago dog is not appealing to my customers. They think it's a salad on a hot dog, which it is. But I love them. While were on it, chili can be challenging in some areas. Some states don't allow it or they allow only vegetarian chili. I have to use vegetarian chili on my cart. A good place to get that is www.chillimans.com They have an award winning vegetarian chili. Always check with your inspector on what other items you can carry. Some may be off limits to you.
8. How do I know how much food to take?
Another great question but without a solid answer. This will come with experience, but if you are setting up in one of the many many places I tell you about in my course, then you will want to take enough to serve 50 meals. That means about 100 hot dogs and an equal number of chips and drinks. If you sell out then you will know to take more the next day. All places can be different, but if your not selling at least the 50 meals a day, then you need a new location. If your using the meal deal advice from my course, you will with 50 meals a day be making around $175 in net profit, which is the least I would want to make at a location per day. I have made less, but I learned to find the best days of the week, the best times of day or I changed locations.
9. How do I get a commissary and a location to set up?
I have a video below on commissaries and have done numerous writings on locations. Be sure to check out the past radio show archives. https://learnhotdogs.com/category/podcast/ We talk locations and advice in almost every one of them. Here are two links to two different commissary articles. Here and Here. Forward to time stamp 1:51 of this video for the start of the commissary info.
Keep in mind, video 5 and 6 cover locations and how to get them. You can watch all those Here.
10. How much does it take to get started and how much time?
This is another question that is relative to what state you're in and what you plan on buying to get started. Are you building a cart? If so you could get started for less than $. Licensing and permits can be costly in some states, but even if your buying a used cart or building one with our plans at www.BuildaCart.com, you should be out no more than $ in the worst states. Buying a used cart can be a great way to start but can also cause you some headaches, be sure to do your due diligence before buying used. I have an entire chapter on it in my course book. It will keep you from making a mistake when buying a used cart.
Well that was the top ten hot dog vendor questions I get daily. Of course there are many other questions and most are answered in my free videos and my blog and radio show. Be sure to take advantage of all the great info and you will be miles ahead of the others.
Remember to come on over to BensCarts Facebook page and start chatting with other vendors. What was your biggest question when you got started? Do you have a question? Send it to me at Ask Ben.
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If you absolutely have to feed dry food, for whatever reason, then it really doesn't matter who is making or selling your 'complete' dry food of choice, as there's so little between these brands, bar marketing budget. So here's a few top tips for buying the best dry dog food before you hand over that hard earned cash'
Wheat is the number one antigen in dogs by FAR. Dogs are one of the most wheat gluten sensitive animals out there. They can't digest it. If you feed it to them then, asides suffering malabsorption they are likely to end up with recurring skin, ear or gut conditions. It is the chief suspect in arthritis in dogs as well as epilepsy. Choose a wheat free dry food. That said, studies show that even
That said, studies show that even dry foods that pride themselves on being wheat-gluten free, single protein or even the magic hydrolysed stuff from the vet are found to contain antigens not listed on the label, including wheat gluten, as they're made in the same factory, so if your dogs has a recurring skin or gut condition and you suspect wheat, all dry food is off the menu.
After wheat please make sure you avoid corn too. Pure diabetes inducing crap.
You want meat to be the number one ingredient. However, if that meat goes into their mix fresh you should remember that the next three or four cheap filler items (usually cereal) are going in dry. In other words, they are comparing a product full of water (meat) and comparing it to dry products (water removed) when listing their products by weight. A sly trick. It means, by the time they cook up and dry out the product, there can be very little meat in the product, despite it being the number one ingredient. Meat might actually be less than 10% of the cereal-product you buy by the time it is pelleted up. Just one of many, many sly tricks they use to reduce the amount of meat they have to include and con you out of your money.
Meat meal is a by-product of the charming rendering industry. It is formed when a rendering plant takes in various meat and food items, animals that couldn't be used in the food chain (dead, diseased, dying, disabled animals), road kill, restaurant grease, among many other delectable items permitted. These are stewed up under high pressure and temperature, fat floats to the bottom and protein sinks to the bottom. This grey goo is scraped off the bottom, died (under temperature again) and sold to dry food companies as a grey flour or 'meal'. Dry food manufacturers use this in their mix (again it is cooked up under high temperature and pressure) and their grey mix is coloured brown with carotene as that's the colour you guys want to see.
Your dry food manufacturer might be able to explain how a terribly processed meat meal powder is actually not safe for dogs but of use to them but I can't, nor could any other independent nutritionist or dietitian.
If you have to buy a product with meal in it please make sure it names the animal they use, e.g. chicken meal, as opposed to the generic meat meal, where they can't tell you what exactly went in there.
The same goes for 'animal fat'. What animal?! They don't know. You need the animal named.
If you take for example chicken byproduct, this is the bits and pieces left after the processor has removed the breast, legs, thighs and wings for use in the human food sector. Thus it is permitted to contain beaks, guts, feet, feathers, combs etc. It's possible some higher quality bits will go in there, such as hearts or gizzards, but as the whole mix is likely to contain so much non-meat junk, you need to avoid it all together.
Good quality protein is vital for everything. It's safe to say a cow's toenail stewed into flour last year and cooked again during the manufacturing of a pellet is not high-quality protein. Another sly trick of manufacturers is to include meat (good) but also a heap of other nutritionally defunct, almost impossible to digest plant by-products to artificially boost the labels protein level. These ingredients include wheat and corn gluten (left over from corn processing), beet bulp (left over from wheat manufacturing).
Let's assume a dog's normal meal is a rabbit and rabbits, for the sake of the argument, are approximately 66% protein and 33% fat, once you suck all the water out. Most dry foods sold by vets are at the minimum required for growth, the legal floor they are permitted to include and call the product 'complete' dog food. The higher this figure is, generally, the better off your dogs are shown to be. Of course, there is another argument that states this protein can of such poor quality that your dogs shouldn't eat too much of it. So you're in a bit of a pickle there.
Even worse you might here that dogs can have too much protein . This is a carefully established myth that even our poor old vets are now spreading. Your dog is a carnivore, a protein eating machine. They can't have too much of it (unless you were decided to feed your dog just chicken breast for months, in which case then yes, possibly!).For more on the 'too much protein myth', please follow the link.
All dry food is coloured, otherwise it would be grey. I'm talking about the red and yellow and pea like crap. Positively avoid.
Ever wonder why the brands of dry dog food your vet sells score so badly on dog food comparison site such as Dog Food Advisor? It's because most are based on the awful ingredients above. Just because your vet sells it does not make it good. At all. It simple has been targetted at them and you pay more for the privellage. Go to DFA and plug in your dry dog food of choice, they'll tell you what's good and bad about it!
I'm often asked this question. Regarding dry dog food you have 2 options depending on your budget:
There is a third option. Feed them fresh food. You can buy premade, meat-based raw dog food for '3.20/kg delivered to your door. Or you can make it yourself costing as little as '1.50/kg. Twice as nice at half the price.
There is no alternative to fresh food, in them or us.
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