How Long To Grill Hot Dogs?

If you got yourself a new grill, you must be curious about cooking anything on it.

The good news is that you can cook almost any food on it, but you need to know that each food would have a different princess and cooking time.

In fact, according to PR Newswire, 75% people say grilling is their favorite way to cook a hot dog.

So if you’ve just decided that your next recipe is hot dogs, you certainly need to know how long to grill hot dogs. 

In this article, we’re providing you with this piece of information and more.

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Key Takeaways

• The cooking of the meat kills any bacteria or pathogens in the meat.
• Eating raw hot dogs can cause vomiting, nausea, headache, etc.
• Cooking time of six minutes is enought to kill the pathogens in the meat, but for cooking the meat perfectly you should leave it for at least 10 minutes.
• If you let your hot dog sit on the grill for more than 15 minutes, then it will burn.
• Grilling is one of the quickest cooking methods.

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Why is hot dog cooking time important?

The main reason why hot dog cooking time is so important is that you don’t want to eat a raw hot dog.

First of all, it won’t taste good; second, eating raw meat, especially a hot dog, can be dangerous.

The cooking process kills any possible bacteria, viruses, or pathogens on the meat.

Instead, when you eat raw hot dogs, you expose yourself to food poisoning, and you could vomit, fever, nausea, diarrhea, and headache. ¹

Check Out 10 Best Rated Portable Charcoal Grills 

Also Check Out How Long To Grill Hot Dogs?

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How long to grill hot dogs?

So, the information about how long to grill hot dogs is more important than you thought, isn’t it?

As you may know, grilling is one of the quickest cooking methods. You want some balance to avoid putting raw meat on your hot dog, but still, you want quick cooking. 

So, before speaking about how long you should leave the hot dogs on your grill, you should know that the grill, at the moment you lay the meat on it, must already be hot.

So, turn it on or light the charcoal (depending on whether you have a gas or charcoal grill) at least 20 minutes before cooking the meat.

After this time, lay your meat for your hot dogs on the grill and let it stay for a minimum of 6 minutes. 

With this time (6 minutes), you’ll make sure you’ve killed pathogens, your meat isn’t raw, but this still can be considered a rare cook. 

If you want the meat to be more cooked, you can leave it on the grill for up to 10 minutes.

How Reddit users do it?

Just how do you grill hot dogs??
by u/Eli_Freysson in Cooking

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What is the Maximum Time Frame For grilling hot dogs?

We’ve spoken about what happens if you eat raw meat, but what if you leave hot dogs on the grill for too long?

If the meat doesn’t burn, you’ll get hot dogs that taste like nothing if you’re lucky; if you’re not lucky, they’ll taste like burned shoes.

So, knowing how long you can grill your hot dog at max is just as important as knowing the minimum amount of required time.

After 15 minutes, make sure you take your hot dogs away from the grill. ¹

Also Check Out 8 Best Kingsford Charcoal Grills Alternatives On Amazon

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How Often Should You Turn Hot Dogs On The Grill?

Although for most grilling recipes, you are often advised not to move the food item much, in the case of hot dogs, it is quite the opposite.

To avoid the hot dogs from burning and breaking, it is advised to rotate them every two minutes.

Another great trick is to move the hot dog to a hotter part of the grill for a few minutes and then move it back to a cooler place. By doing this, you can ensure that your hot dogs remain tender and moist.

However, none of these techniques would work if you buy a low-quality hot dog.

The key to cooking the perfect hot dog lies in buying good quality sausages coupled with the correct cooking techniques.

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How to Grill The Best Hot Dogs?

Here’s a step-by-step method on how to grill hot dogs:

• The first step is to prep the grill and ensures your grate is clean and free of the leftovers from the last cook.
• Next, spray some cooking oil onto the grates to prevent the sausages from sticking.
• Now, preheat the grill. If it’s a charcoal grill, wait for the coals to get white. If it’s a propane grill, then wait for 10-15 minutes. For gas grills, bring the temperature to medium heat for standard sausages and to low heat for low-fat sausages.
• Place the hot dogs perpendicular to the grates and keep flipping them every now and then using tongs.
• Grill the hot dogs till they turn brown and curl up a little.
• The last step is to roast the buns, add your favorite dressing with the sausage and enjoy your hot dog. ³

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After you’ve grilled the hot dogs

Just after you’ve grilled your hot dogs with the right timing, you also want to clean with the right timing.

And the right time for cleaning is when the grill is still hot because all the debris will come away easily. 

If you want to wait after dinner, know that you’ll need to turn the grill on to heat it at least a little bit.

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Mistakes To Avoid While Grilling Hot Dogs

Burning, breaking, and cooking not-so-tender hot dogs are pretty common mistakes that most people make.

So to make the most perfect and juicy hot dogs, here are some tips to take note of.

• If you want to retain the flavor of your hot dog to its fullest, then do not boil it before grilling it. Instead, you should poach them for 1-2 minutes by covering them in a saucepan.
• Avoid poking or piercing the knife in the hot dog during or before cooking it to avoid spilling the juices out of it. This is because most of the sausages come pre-cooked already, so poking can and should be avoided.
• Do not grill your hot dogs on high or direct heat. Otherwise, they might get burned because of their delicate nature and small size. Instead, cook them on indirect heat and keep turning them frequently. ⁴

Some More Mistakes to Avoid!

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Wrapping Up

Cooking the perfect hot dog does not require much. Knowing when to flip, how long to grill hot dogs, what kind of sausage to buy, and avoiding come most common mistakes is enough. We hope this guide was helpful.

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FAQ’s

How to tell if a hot dog is done cooking?

You will see excellent grill marks, and your sausage will curl a bit and will turn brown when it is cooked.

Is it safe to eat uncooked hot dogs?

Not at all! Eating uncooked or pre-cooked hot dogs can cause a variety of problems, such as fever, diarrhea, nausea, food poisoning, etc.

Which is better cured or uncured hotdogs?

Cured are basically hotdogs with preservatives, whereas uncured ones do not. In terms of taste, both taste the same.

But when it comes to storage, ensure you keep the uncured hot dogs stored until you are ready to cook them because they do not have added preservatives.