Our Story

Our church youth group was camping one summer in Cook Forest State Park. John Twerdok, the chaperone, and Daniel Brodland, the oldest member of the group, had just started cooking a breakfast of pancakes and hot dogs. As the younger kids began to gather around the picnic table, Daniel decided to have a little fun with the meal. He pulled out his pocket knife and began cutting one of the hot dogs into the shape of a little man. Daniel then placed it on the grill, and in moments the once plain hot dog had sprouted arms and legs, and to the children’s delight, its eyes opened and a smile appeared on its face. All of the kids now wanted their own hot dog man to play with and eat. Daniel kept cutting more and more hot dogs, but could barely keep up with the many requests. He had just finished cutting the last hot dog when John said to him, “Wouldn’t it be great if you had a device that could stamp out a lot of these quickly?”

            John worked on designing such a device, and then found an opportunity to work with the University of Pittsburgh to create a physical prototype of the FrankFormer. He contacted Daniel, and the two began the long process of creating the world’s first hot dog cutter.

            Now after many years of design, market research, patent development, testing, and input from mothers and children, we at Frankformer LLC believe that we have created a fun new way for you to enjoy your hot dogs. We hope that the FrankFormer inspires all of you to have fun with your food!