We acquired our first cart in the late spring of 2018. It was custom built to our specifications from a concession equipment manufacturer in Tennessee. We are proud to have purchased an American built cart from American Stainless Steel, some parts are imported as they aren’t made in the USA anymore. Graphics were printed and installed by Sign D’Zyn of Minot, after being designed by Fun On A Bun.
The cart features a hand wash sink for the operator, with a on-board tank-less hot water heater. The cart hold 5 gallons of fresh water and has a 7 gallon grey water tank. The water pump is powered by a small 12 volt battery in the cart that is charged every night.
Our Cloverdale all-beef hot dogs and premium sausages are held in an on-board cooler that contains a large ice pack to maintain proper temps. Food safety is very important to everyone, so we have chosen to travel with our hot dogs still frozen, as this guarantees they will maintain the appropriate temperature while on the road.
The cart has 2 direct fire burners that heat a 1/2 and 1/3 size 6 inch hotel pans respectfully, with a full size water pan that is used sometimes for hot-holding of premium toppings. It can also be covered when not in use for storage or holding buns on windy days.
The back of the cart features a topping bar to hold five 1/9 size pans in an ice well, or dry. We place our topping bottles in these pans and larger pump jugs of ketchup and yellow mustard on the ends of the bar. You are free to top your all-beef hot dog which ever you choose from the available condiments on the bar, a few are held in the cooler for safety and waste reasons, just ask for those.
We wrap our dogs in foil sheets, after trying trays and waxed paper, foil sheets were found to be the best for eats on the go. They keep your lunch warmer and make it easier to wrap one end up so you don’t wear your lunch back to the office.
Since we have an open-air cart, we are limited to fair-weather days, as standing in 40 degree weather for 4 hours gets to be pretty brutal. We are currently exploring options for an enclosed stand, hoping to have a plan by mid-season 2021.