Batter Up

I decided to taste test one of my favorite foods, corn dogs. The three brands I decided to taste test were Bar S, Hill Country Fair, and State Fair. As a corn dog lover there are a few features I would like my corn dog to obtain. For one, my corn dog must have a crispy, crunchy outside crust. I do not want it to be crispy through and through, but just on the outside. I like the batter to be nice, warm, and gooey on the inside. The hot dog must be able to be tasted when I take a bite so the batter cannot be caked on too thick. The hot dog flavor itself must have a harmonious relationship with the batter to where neither is overpowering each other in taste. The corn dogs that I bought all contained real honey in the batter and were the original corn dogs, not the all beef corn dogs.

                I decided to conceal the brands that I was testing, one because I did not want to be bias and two because I bet my boyfriend that I could guess which corn dog belonged to which brand. I had him set up the pan to put in the oven and mark the corn dogs 1, 2, and 3. The first thing we noticed when the corn dogs came out was that all three were all different sizes. Who knew hot dogs came in three different sizes? Of the three, the longest corn dog also happened to be the lightest in color. I expected this one to have more of the honey taste than the others. I decided that I was going to take three bites from each corn dog, give my assessment the flavors, drink a few gulps of water in between, and then make my guesses.

                Corn dog number 1 was the longest one on the plate. I took a bite and immediately, as I predicted, I could taste the honey in the batter. In my opinion, the honey was too overpowering for the corn dog. The batter was not crispy at all and very thick on the hot dog. I could not taste the hot dog very well with all the batter.  Corn dog number 2 was almost perfect in my opinion. The batter itself was perfect! It was nice a crispy on the outside with the great, warm, gooey inside. The hot dog itself however had a strange taste to it. It cut right through the batter so I think it was overpowering over the batter. The final corn dog was perfect. The batter was perfect. The hot dog was perfect. The two had a great harmonious relationship. The batter was nice and crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside. I could taste the hint of honey without it overpowering the batter. Number 3 was by far my favorite corn dog on the plate.

                As for which corn dog was which brand, I guessed number one was Bar S, two was Hill Country Fair, and three was State Fair, all of which were correct. The Bar S was a strikeout. It did not appeal to me at all. The honey was too much for me and the batter was not crispy at all. As for the Hill Country Fair brand, I would not prefer to buy it, but I would not mind eating it again sometime. I would have to say State Fair corn dogs are a home run because they are everything I look for in a corn dog, especially with the batter, and taste even better with mustard.