Mustard and hot dogs just seem to go together — but which mustard? There are so many. The National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wis., has 5,975 mustards in its collection — and sells more than 450 of them.
But then there are a lot of dogs out there waiting to be slathered with mustard. Americans will eat 150 million hot dots on July Fourth alone, according to an estimate by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group.
Twelve mustards were put to a blind comparison, starting with yellow mustard, the traditional go-to for hot dogs. Then we added brown, Dijon and deli mustards because they represent popular varieties.
This was a blind tasting, meaning those who took part didn’t know which mustard was which. Each taster was asked to sample and rate each mustard on its own, assessing appearance, aroma, texture and flavor. They were then asked to rate the mustards with a hot dog. We used a top-selling national brand, Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners, made with chicken, turkey and pork.
