Taste Test: Comparison of Ball Park Hot Dogs

It's Friday, so let's cover something other than Autodesk Forge.

Like most Americans, I enjoy a good hot dog now and then. Over the years, I have noticed that there is quite a variety of tastes among hot dogs. I recall that Ball Park hot dogs are my favorite, but I couldn't recall which type. So in the tradition of experiments like:

• Will It Flush?
• Taste Test: Sugared Hot Chocolate versus No Sugar Added Hot Chocolate
• Norelco: Newer but not better?
• Experiment: A Real Decant-do Attitude
• Taste Test: Entenmann's Popettes versus Hostess Donettes
• Decanter Cleaning with Metal Beads

I decided to conduct a test, in this case, another taste test.

Here is the data with differences in red:

	Ball Park Franks	Ball Park Angus Franks
Serving Size (one frank)	53 grams	50 grams
Calories	160	150
Fat Calories	120	120
Total Fat	13 grams	13 grams
Saturated Fat	4 grams	6 grams
Trans Fat	0 grams	0.5 grams
Cholesterol	25 milligrams	30 milligrams
Sodium	480 milligrams	490 milligrams
Potassium	350 milligrams	330 milligrams
Total Carbs	4 grams	2 grams
Fiber	0 grams	0 grams
Sugars	0 grams	0 grams
Protein	6 grams	6 grams
Vitamin A	0%	0%
Vitamin C	0%	0%
Calcium	4%	0%
Iron	2%	4%
Ingredients	mechanically separated chicken pork water corn syrup potassium lactate salt sodium phosphate natural flavor beef stock sodium diacetate sodium erythorbate maltodextrum paprika extract sodium nitrite	Angus beef water corn syrup salt potassium lactate flavorings monosodium glutamate sodium phosphate sodium diacetate ascorbic acid (vitamin C) paprika extract sodium nitrite

Visually, the raw hot dogs look the same:

I placed them on the grill with the franks on the left and the Angus on the right:

Both types of hot dogs cook up the same (with even grill temperatures) with the franks being a little plumper:

The franks are the back left, and the Angus dogs are in the front right:

Both types of hot dogs tasted pretty much the same. I would be hard-pressed to distinguish them in a blind taste test. Some people adorn their hot dogs with mustard or relish, but I eat mine plain. I think I preferred the franks slightly more. My wife, Sheryl, had a slight preference for the Angus dogs as she said they tasted "a little bit meatier," but all in all, either hot dog is fine. So unlike in previous taste tests, this one was a wash.

Hot dogs are alive in the lab.