Condiments for Hot Dogs

[HBMTN]

Been in business 9 years and have never served hot dogs at a catering event (go figure). I'll be offering up 300 hot dogs at an event this coming weekend and will have chopped onions, relish, ketchup and mustard for guests to dress their dogs. How much of each condiment should I have on hand for 300 hot dogs after you take into account not everyone will use every condiment? It will be for adults and kids from all walks of life.

[ynotfehc]

Mustard and ketchup could do packets or squeeze bottles, less mess and waste, not as nice of a presentation. I think they may even do relish is squeeze bottles too. Diced onions I would think 1/3oz per person maybe, about 6-7lbs total. If you wanted to relish bulk, I think less than the onion, 4-5lbs.

[HBMTN]

Originally Posted by ynotfehc

Mustard and ketchup could do packets or squeeze bottles, less mess and waste, not as nice of a presentation. I think they may even do relish is squeeze bottles too. Diced onions I would think 1/3oz per person maybe, about 6-7lbs total. If you wanted to relish bulk, I think less than the onion, 4-5lbs.

I plan to have all condiments in bowls with spoons. I have 4 of gallon jugs of ketchup and mustard on hand and I don't think I'd go through more than that. I ordered one gallon of relish (hope that is enough). The onions I'm unsure of, I hate to dice too many. I bought a 10lb bag and think I'll take your suggestion of 7lbs unless someone chimes in with advice of something different. Thanks!!

[PatAttack]

Originally Posted by HBMTN

I plan to have all condiments in bowls with spoons. I have 4 of gallon jugs of ketchup and mustard on hand and I don't think I'd go through more than that. I ordered one gallon of relish (hope that is enough). The onions I'm unsure of, I hate to dice too many. I bought a 10lb bag and think I'll take your suggestion of 7lbs unless someone chimes in with advice of something different. Thanks!!

You could always use those chopped onions in something else. Just chop them up and keep enough in the bowl as deemed necessary. Use leftover onions in chili, soup or anything else.

[gtr]

I've been cooking hotdogs for an annual event for 4-5 years and it'll be anywhere from 1400-2000 hotdogs, and one thing I've learned is that I never get the amount of condiments right. I take notes, refer to them, etc. and alway seem to have at least a couple gallons of mustard and ketchup left over (probably 'cause I'm always scared of running out) and I'll go from having too much relish to not enough. So in other words, I don't know.

You have plenty of ketchup and mustard, that's for sure, 'cause I use somewhere around those amounts for the events I do. You could probably get by with half that...but just to be safe...

We have a store out here called Smart and Final where you can get gallons of mustard and ketchup with pumps on them, which are great. You can also get gallons plus the pumps you can add on, but they're a pain when it comes time to change 'em out and you're in the middle of a bunch of other things you need to do. Obviously it's much easier just to switch out the whole deal. Not sure if you have an equivalent store out your way, but something like that should be available in your area, methinks.

And, like the other condiments, I have no clue about the onions - not everybody will use them, so it's a tough call.

Also - not sure how you're cooking them, but if you're using your smoker or grill, wire donut baskets are fantastic. On the WSM I'll just have the bottom grate on and stack these crosswise to each other several high.

[HBMTN]

To cook them I have a very large pot and stainer we use for large low country boils and I plan to fire the burner and drop the dogs in 10lbs at a time and then finish them on the grill for some grill marks. I threw the hotdogs in on the gig for free so it's no biggy even if I get the condiments wrong. I'll just take 4 gallons each of ketchup and mustard from my inventory and if I run out of relish and onions oh well. Thanks for the advice!!

[HBMTN]

So the event went great, they paid me to cook for 300 and we did so. Served from 11am to 1:30pm and there might have been 150-170 guests there during that amount of time. I cooked 4 cases of 8 to 1 hotdogs so that is 320 dogs and we went through half of them. I dropped them into boiling water for about 3 minutes then finished them on the grill a case at a time and it worked great. Maybe used a pint and a half of each condiment. I diced 10lbs of jumbo white onions and that made 7qts of diced onions. Thanks for all the help, just thought I'd update on the results in case someone in the future runs into the same issue.

[gtr]

I've never tried doing 'em in water first on a large scale, but I may try that this year (annual Mother's Day event). We learned real quick the first year that moisture is your friend - those farkers shrink up quick! We adjusted with spray bottles, water pans in the cookers etc. and have had success with that, but it might be nice to mix things up a little this year to see how it goes. I've got 40qt and 20qt stockpots. With less grill time I might be able to get by with just the Ranch Kettle, but I'll probably bring along another cooker just to be safe.

Glad to hear it went well - thanks for the update!

[HBMTN]

Originally Posted by gtr

I've never tried doing 'em in water first on a large scale, but I may try that this year

I have a 50qt stockpot with a strainer basket in it. I put 3-4 gallons of water in it and brought it to a boil then I dropped a case of hotdogs 80 count in for about 4 to 5 minutes. Then pulled the basket and straight to the grill. I have a Sams Club caterers grill and could get a case on half of it. With the grill heat cranked to high, it only took a few minutes to get a charr on them and know they were hot inside too.