The Best Grilled Hot Dogs

Serves: 4

I love grilled hot dogs, but they've got to be done right. When cooked perfectly, they should be snappy and smoky on the outside and hot and juicy inside. Here's how to do it:

Yield: Serves 4-8
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Total Time:

Ingredients:

8 good quality hot dogs
8 fresh hot dog buns
Condiments: mustard
ketchup
pickle relish
Cheddar cheese
sauerkraut
grilled bell pepper and onions

Directions:

How to grill the best hot dogs: First, know what you're trying to avoid. You don't want the hot dogs to burn and shrivel. They'll taste like dirty ashes and be tough as jerky. You also don't want them to burn and split open, spilling out their tasty juices. And you don't want them nicely charred on the outside and ice cold inside. The culprit in all three cases is cooking them over high heat. If the fire's too hot, the outsides will burn like this before the insides heat to a safe temperature.

But you can't use low heat either. They just take too long and won't develop a nice crust. Medium heat is just right. Get half the grill medium hot and keep the other half unheated. On a charcoal grill, that means banking the coals to one side; on gas, turning on half the burners.

Place the hot dogs over the heat and don't walk away! Keep turning them to get grill marks all around and watch them carefully. When they start to expand but before they start sputtering, they're done. Roll them over to the unheated part of the grill, then toast your buns over the burners. The buns take about a minute--just enough time for your hot dogs to not be burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot, but still be juicy-hot. Immediately pop the dogs into the buns, so any wayward juices go right into the bread. Serve 'em from the grill with your favorite condiments.

Source: goodhousekeeping.com



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