Stop ruining the hot dog before your next cookout

It was a classic backyard scene: Grill was hot, buns were soft, spices were in line and prepared. And yet, Hot Dog – Mere Paises Day Resistance – Visible, Wrinkled … Unholy. Plump, instead of a fierce franx, I had leather tubes. How did I have something wrong so foolish?

It turns out that hot dogs are more fine than grilling, until they “look good.” That feeling hit me a mid-kukout, and it sent me to a mission to find out how to keep my hot dogs juicy and stagger every time.

It was years ago, before I wrote Grilling Cookbook and developed several grilling dishes as an editor in the US Test kitchen. After this experience, I got Joshua Basel Hot dog method On severe food. This has completely changed my hot dog grilling game and I still use this technology.

Why shrink on hot dog grill

Let’s remove one thing from the way: Most hot dogs are fully cooked when you buy them. But this does not mean that they are ready to eat out of the package directly or grill them as simple as it seems.

The biggest criminal? Direct, high heat. When you throw a frank directly on a warm grill, it may look great during cooking – plump and shiny. But once you remove it from the heat, it is like an old balloon. The exterior dries rapidly, leaves you with a chewing, leather skin that you want to tender instead of snap.

The problem is how the heat affects the structure and moisture of hot dogs. Both skinless hot dogs and natural-cassing franks are insecure, but in different ways.

Skinless Hot Dog

Skin -free dogs are particularly weak because they lack a protective outer cover. They are formed in synthetic molds, then peeled before packaging, which exposes the meat. Unlike their natural-cassing counterparts, they have an outer membrane deficiency to have moisture. When you place them directly on high heat, especially on the thunder flames or burnt coals, the outer layers of the acute temperature sausage causes ripening very quickly.

They squeeze moisture and fat, as the surface rejection and protein near the contract (mainly myosin and actin). Because the hot dog is already cooked, there is no raw structure left to trap or implicate those juices. The center remains relatively cool, while the outer layers dehydrate and tighten, forming a wrinkles, chubi shell – such as an overcked scramble eggs pulling from a pan.

This rapid surface dehydration is one that gives Frank its crust, leather skin. Above it, without a cover to buffer or trap, internal pressure makes unevenly. When that pressure is eventually released (ie, when the dog is removed from the grill), the hot dog deflates. Think of it as a food balloon that has lost its air.

Natural-Casing Hot Dog

On the other hand, natural-cassing hot dogs are filled in the intestines of sheep, which behave a lot like sausage casing-they are elastic, semi-permeable and capable of maintaining juice. This cover makes a barrier for both heat and moisture, so the internal temperature increases more slowly and evenly, protecting the meat inside premature drying. As a result, Cassed dogs are more forgiven on the grill and less likely to shrink.

However, they are not completely invincible. If you explode them on stunning-hot coals, the pressure of expansion of steam and liquefied fat can cause the covering or breakdown, especially if there is no vent or weak location to release the pressure. Once the casing bursts, all of that delicious juice goes out – and you leave with a dog that is dry and lame instead of flashy and juicy.

In short, both types of hot dogs have weaknesses when encountered with high, direct heat:

• Skinless: The moisture quickly loses without a cover.
• Cassad: The moisture keeps better, but can burst if overheat is overheated.

This is why a small technique can travel a long way towards grilling perfection.

Simple tricks for better skinless hot dogs

Enter the technique of bousel: Slash your hot dog before hitting the grille.

For skinless warm dogs, some shallow, diagonal cuts on two opposite edges of each frank help to distribute heat more equally. Those slits expand during cooking, helping the center to heat rapidly and reduce the overall cook time. Result? Plump, juicy hot dogs that do not shrink and are lightly crisp with correct cutting.

You can also get fancy and try the spiral-cut method. Grind the-hot dog and cut it as a single constant cut. It is the eye catcher and connects the surface area for excess browning, but it is also easy to overcome it. For me, simple slash is sharp, silly, and simply delicious.

How to keep cassed franks with burst

If you are lucky enough to score a natural-cassing hot dog, this method changes a bit (and you are the easiest way to upgrade your hot dog game). They add casing protection, prevent meat from drying. But as described above, they can still divide under high heat, which means that you can lose all those delicious juices.

To avoid this, Basel Kenji borrows a trick from Lopez-Alt’s sausage playbook: start with a grill-side hot-dog hot tub.

A raw iron skillet (or in a disposable aluminum pan if you are out and are traveling to light), boil your cashed dogs in a mixture of beer and either sorchrot or student onion. This indirect cooking phase gently brings them to the temperature. Then, take them directly to a quick four to heat. This two-step method is locked in the juice and gives you to that reputed snap without risking a burst.

Bottom line

Grilling hot dogs may not look like rocket science, but some slight twicks may be a difference between a cookout hero and a saogi disappointment.

• Slash skinless dogs before grilling for cooking and plump texture.
• Boil dogs in a delicious liquid before finishing on high heat to keep them juicy and intact.

Now, whenever I set fire to the grill, I know that my hot dogs will not disappoint me. There is no more regrets regretting – just juicy franks, sizzling buns, and happy guests.