Tiefenthaler No Mess Chili Dogs

A special shout out to my friend, Chuck Ellis, who is the meat department manager at one of the Hy-Vee Food Stores in Omaha. 

I saw Chuck just after the Iowa/Wisconsin football game recently in Iowa City and we were talking about this and that.  He had the grill fired up and was getting ready to throw some hot dogs on.  I asked if they were going to be the Tom Boy dogs that he turned me on to before.  He said, "No, these are No Mess Chili Dogs."

I said, "No mess chili dogs?  What?"

He showed me a package of the Tiefenthaler No Mess Chili Dogs - hot dogs that had the cheese and chili flavoring added to them during the manufacturing process.  He said, "They're from some small meat locker in western Iowa." 

Chuck said, "Here, I have an extra pack.  Take 'em with you and try 'em out.  I think you'll like 'em." 

So I did and a couple weeks ago I got them out of the fridge and made up a couple.  As a chili dog connoisseur, I was very skeptical.  My skepticism went away after the first couple of bites  They were unbelievably very good!  They really did taste like chili and cheese dogs, without the mess! 

I got to looking into the Tiefenthaler meat locker in Holstein, Iowa in NW Iowa, about 35 miles east of Sioux City (see map).  Actually, it's called the Holstein Food Locker Service.  It's owned by John and Shelley Tiefenthaler who bought the business in the early 90's after John had worked there since he got out of high school in the early 80's.  They sell their packaged meats under the name of Tiefenthaler Quality Meats.

The story has it that Shelley Tiefenthaler dreamt about the No Mess Chili Dog concept one night and then encouraged her husband to work on it the next morning.  It took about seven months for John Tiefenthaler to come up with the right mix of ground beef, seasonings, chili beans and cheddar cheese to make the first true No Mess Chili Dog.

The No Mess Chili Dog made it's debut at the Iowa State Fair in 2005 as a "No Mess Chili Dog on a Stick".  (There's more things you can eat on a stick at the Iowa State Fair than you can shake a stick at.)  Soon after, the awards began to come in for the Tiefenthaler's No Mess Chili Dog.  The Iowa Meat Processor's Association awarded No Mess Chili Dog the top honor for  the "New Innovative Beef Product" category.  And in a national competition of meat packers and processors, it was named the Reserve Grand Champion for new and innovative products.

I'm not kidding you, the No Mess Chili Dog is very good.  The only problem is that they're not available in Eastern Iowa.   Hy-Vee food stores in Western Iowa and in the Omaha area carry them, but Chuck told me he could get the order code for the No Mess Chili Dogs and the local Hy-Vee's in the Quad Cities order them up for me on a special order basis.

Now, I know the idea of eating a hot dog repulses some people, but if you get a chance to find the Tiefenthaler No Mess Chili Dogs, pick up a pack and see for yourself.  It's pretty remarkable. 

Comments

[Charles Spong]

They are the first hot dogs I've eaten on a regular basis in 50 years, since my mid twenties, but only for one reason; they are incredibly good! I live in West Des Moines, where they are sold by Fareway grocery stores. They are the BEST!