Author: Steve

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Sliding doors, flip down table, condiment pans… Man, this hot dog cart has a lot of custom touches!

Dale writes…

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Hi Steve, my E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart is ready to go. Thanks for the instructions on building the cart,   I couldn’t have done it without your DVDs and blueprint. Well worth it.

I installed the fresh water tank down in the cart to free up the tower for buns and storage. I put in sliding plastic doors and a lock to keep things secure. I also moved the sink to the side so that I could have my fold down table in the front.  When down, the table has pan inserts for ice and condiments. I plan on having my Grand Opening May 1st and selling my dawgs for only $1.00 for the day. After that…. $3.00.  I will be setting up by the court house in Reno, NV.  Come see me if you make it to Reno!

Happy Hotdogin!
– Dale, Lucky Dawg

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Nice job Dale! I love the signs and decals that you put on your cart. It really draws the eye and grabs attention. Your workmanship is first class too. The fold down table on the front of the cart is a great idea, especially with the steam pans for ice and condiments.

I get a big kick out of seeing the many different ways that my customers modify their E-Z Built Hot Dog Carts. I designed it from the beginning to be easy to build and easy to customize. You can equip it any way you want to serve any foods you desire.

Let’s hear it for Dale and his Lucky Dawg Hot Dog Cart in the comments!

-Steve

P.S. Dale, if I get to Reno I will look you up for sure!

click the picture for a larger version…

 

Top Dawgs

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Hey Jen and Susan,

First let me congratulate you on opening your cart at Lowes! How exciting!!! Send me some pictures.

Hot dogs will keep a lot longer in a steamer than they will in hot water. I put my dogs in hot water for about seven minutes then move them to the steamer. Here is the pan set up on my personal E-Z Built cart.

If you don’t have a steamer on your cart here is what I suggest. Different brands hold up differently in hot water so do an experiment. Bring your water up to temperature and put four hot dogs in the water. Take the first one out at 15 minutes and try it, try the second at 30 minutes, try the third at 45 minutes, and try the the fourth at one hour. You will definitely be able to tell the point at which the flavor leaves the dog.

Saves flavor. If you hot hold them in a steam table the flavor won’t depart from the dog but the fats in the hot dog will start to turn it dark. The longer you hold them, the darker they get so it’s not really an issue of flavor as much as appearance.

I like to serve the freshest product that I can so I package my condiments in tupperware containers, keep them in the cooler, and refill from them throughout the day. That way I never have a lot of any one condiment to discard at the end of the day.

I hope this helps!

-Steve

P.S. Let’s hear your comments on the subject my slingers. Chime in below, we’d love to hear what you have to say!

 

Enjoy your Saturday Night!

-Steve

THIS SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL HAS EXPIRED.

Every once in a while I get an email from a reader that truly warms my heart. Actually it happens quite a lot. That’s one of the many reasons why I love publishing this newsletter for you. (Pictures below)

Ed writes…

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Steve,

As you can see from the pictures, Yankee Doodle Doggie is up and running. I am still working my Monday through Friday job so this will be weekend work for me and I love it! When my wife saw the paint job of red white and blue, she suggested the name.

One day a few weeks ago before the health department inspection, she told me she said a prayer for the success of the hot dog cart business and looking for a sign that things would work out. That same day, after I got home from work, I pulled the cart out of the garage to put on some finishing touches for the inspection. Our county assessor was out knocking doors for his re-election campaign, was driving by and had to stop when he saw the cart. He told me he was having his meet and greet with a few others running for office for their campaign headquarters and they thought they would just order pizza. He told me he didn’t want pizza; he wanted HOT DOGS and was wondering if there was any way at all for me to be there. Well I was there, and it was a great hit and I made a little money in the process. My wife’s prayer was answered quickly!

I’ve also been to a nearby flea market on Saturday and will continue that for the moment. I have help with my son in law David and my granddaughter Gigi.

Thanks for all your support and help in getting this up and running!

Ed Sweeden
Yankee Doodle Doggie

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Ed, you did a beautiful job on the cart and I really LOVE the patriotic color scheme. As you may know I am very proud of my country and of those who protect and serve her. I’m also crazy about you folks who work hard each day to create new businesses and opportunities for yourselves and others.

And today I’m especially proud of YOU Ed.

Your E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart really came out nice and it’s also a great lesson in branding. Think about it. That paint job literally made a man stop in his tracks, approach you, and offer to pay you. How cool is that?

You are also blessed to have such a wonderful family who supports you in your slingin’ biz. Your son in law and granddaughter really look happy in these pictures. You are a lucky man indeed Ed.

Thanks for sharing your story with me. Please let me know how else I can help you. And that applies to all of you, dear readers,

-Steve

P.S. Let’s hear it for Ed, David, and Gigi in the comments!

click on the picture below for a larger image

 

Hey Steve,

Please keep me and my location anonymous on this one if you share it.

I’ve been reading your emails with all the great tips, etc. I wanted to share with you and maybe your readers a recent discovery. I am going in to my first full year with a cart. Last fall was more or less a test run with a couple of events and flea markets. I have been looking for a full time place to set up.

There is a guy here in town that has a great location. I constantly hear from folks who frequent his cart and/or talk about how great he is doing. Gotta say that I was intimidated by this hot dog legend and worried that I just wouldn’t “cut the mustard”. I had driven by a few times, he did seem busy and he really does have the location squared away. How in the world could I compete with this guy?

Yesterday a friend and I stopped by to have a dog and see what was so great about this cart. With much consternation on my part we pulled in for the research run. What did this fellow have? Besides the location, nothing. In fact the cart was filthy. There was a small table (looked like a cheap living room coffee table), with various bottles of unlabeled condiments, it also was dirty. The person serving us reached in with bare hands and grabbed a bun to place the dog in it, no glove, tongs…etc. In fact the tongs were only used for the heated items. Of course without washing they also took the money and made change. At four bucks for the basic dog, which did include heated onions and kraut if you dared, you would expect greatness.
Despite what appeared to be the health risk, I had to try the dog. I tasted a day+ old bun, and a mediocre dog. I was finished.

Two things that I learned:
1) Don’t let the competition beat you before you even start.
2) Location, location, location.

This guy had me beat by word of mouth alone. The bar is set so low that I couldn’t limbo under it if I was twenty five years younger and double jointed!

If you decide to share this, maybe there are some stories from your readers about the big dog in town that they thought you couldn’t possibly compete with will inspire someone to just get out and do it!

I gotta go for a drive and find that perfect spot…….see ya!

Thanks for what you do,

Mr. X

How about this for a small world. I got an email from a customer named Anthony telling me how happy he is with his all metal E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart. After seeing his address and sending a few more emails back and forth, I found out that Anthony used to own the pizza place where I got dinner for my family at least twice a week when I lived in Chicago. It was awesome – SPICY sausage!!! I miss that Chicago pizza (sigh).

Anthony writes…

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Here are some pics of my all-metal E-Z Built hot dog cart.

It is all galvanized metal. I wanted to keep cost down that’s why I went with galvanized. With DTM paint (Direct to metal). But if I did it again I would use a sheet and a half of diamond plate aluminum.

I do plan on building a 8×10 all metal aluminum cart. just for fests… Using your plans made this project come together. The cost of this cart by the way was $882.38. If i would of used aluminum it would of cost around $755.

Thanks Steve!

Anthony Hostetler

P.S. I already read twice, but its time to dig up The hot dog Bible you sent me 🙂 if i can find it…lol

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Fantastic job Anthony. If your dogs are half as good as your pizza you will do very very, well my friend!

Let’s hear it for Anthony in the comments!

-Steve

 

Travis wants to know more about veggie dogs and I’m going to defer to the HDCN readership for your expertise. I sling dogs in the mid west where folks like meat, meat, and more meat. I have to be honest with you, I’ve never served a vegetarian hot dog so I don’t have any experience with them. But I know a lot of you do.

By the way, I know that cross contamination is a big no-no so if you are serving meat hot dogs along with vegan dogs you MUST set up your cart to keep thing separate. Here are some great videos from our own Dale Schroeder on steam table set ups…

 

Travis writes,

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Hi. I’m thinking of starting up a cart that only serves veggie dogs. What do you guys think about this? I am new to the business and I know that my location would be critical if I’m to find vegetarian customers. Any feedback would be great.

Thanks,
Travis Moore
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All right people, let’s get veggie in the comments section below. What are some good brands? What kinds of condiments go over well? What makes a good location where veggie dogs are in demand? What are we forgetting?

Veg out!

-Steve