Pluggers by Rick McKee for September 02, 2022

Joey Chestnut much?

Eating contest? Lemme in!

It took us months to finish a Costco box of corn-dogs. So glad their gone. Darn it though, the wife just bought the cornucopia of Costco frankfurters. I get indigestion just thinking about it……but it helps the Social Security/inflation dilemma.

Just for variety, the next time the dog trees a squirrel, I just might harvest that tree rodent…..

Never done that, but I’m sure I could do it if it was in the Costco food court…

Hot dog eating contests are not typical plugger-age appropriate activities. Yes, I like big 7-11 Big Bite hot dogs, but mostly I content myself with the occasional Impossible Burger, less the cheese and half the bread.

Never did that one …

I ate 17 cheese coneys one night….won 500 bucks!

you’re a plugger if your cardiologist can’t believe you are still breathing

My personal record is two hotdogs. I don’t go to “All you can eat” places.

The Dubuque All Beef Plumper was a great hot dog. It actually did plump and it didn’t leave an aftertaste like so many current brands do. It was produced by FDL Foods in Iowa for many, many years. And was readily available at least throughout the Midwest.

In 1985, FDL formed a marketing/distribution agreement with Hormel Foods Corp., which was renewed until 1993, when Hormel bought FDL’s brands and trademarks. Suddenly, Plumpers weren’t so readily available — only certain stores carried them. We lived in a small town near Kansas City and when we wanted to get some for our summer picnics, we had to drive over an hour to a store.

In 2008, we moved to Colorado and I would take a cooler when we went back home for Memorial Day so I could stock up for the year. But I discovered that other people had the same idea — stores would had tons of hot dogs but the Dubuque Plumpers would be sold out. So I approached a local store affiliated with the major chain that had been carrying them and for several years, I could order a case.

In 2015, Hormel Foods Corp stopped producing them: “We routinely review the performance of each item, and, at times, that includes making the decision to cut a product from our portfolio.”

According to Encyclopedia Dubuque, the Dubuque Plumpers had been the best-selling hot dogs of FDL Foods, successor to Dubuque Packing Co. with an annual production of 250 million hotdogs, with daily production reaching 96,000 per hour. FDL Foods had been among the nation’s major meatpackers. That was before Hormel bought them out. It’s a shame — they were great. But I guess it’s better for my health not to have them at family picnics. Doggone it!

Last Tuesday was dollar dog night at the Twins game. We ordered 4, but the bill was almost $12 when we added one Diet Pepsi. (Beat Boston 10-5, go Twins!)

I can only eat one Costco hot dog. However, I live in Chicago, the home of the perfect hot dog. Most joints have a two dogs, fries and fountain drink deal, I eat two Chicago dogs. No ketchup, ever.

These eating contests and the ‘all you can eat buffets’ are one of the reasons a lot of people are obese.

Read that each hot dog you eat takes 20 minutes off your life-salt/fat/sodium nitrate-yum.

I’ve never participated in a similar contest. I had a brother, however, who won the high school pie-eating contest. That sounds like more of my type of contest, though I wasn’t there, LOL.