Stop ruining the hot dogs-protect it before your next barbecue

It was a classic backyard scene: the grill was hot, the buns were soft, the condiments were aligned and ready. And yet, the hot dogs – my piece of resistance – looked at sad, rids … deflated. Instead of Dodus and catchy crossings, I had tough tubes. How did I spoil something so apparently infallible?

It turns out that milling hot dogs is more nuanced than simply throwing them on the hot coals until they “look good”. This achievement struck me halfway through cooking, and it sent me on a mission to understand how to keep my juicy and catchy hot dogs each time.

It was years ago, before I wrote to grilling cooking books and developed many grill recipes as editor -in -chief of America’s test Kitchen. After this experience, I found the Hot-Dogs method of Joshua Bousel on serious dishes. This has completely changed my game of hot dog grills and I still use this technique today.

Why the hot dogs shrink on the grill

Let’s move away one thing: most hot dogs are fully cooked when you buy them. But that does not mean that they are ready to eat directly from the packaging or that toasting them are as simple as it seems.

The biggest offender? Direct and high heat. When you throw a Frank directly on a warm grill, it can be superb during its cooking – loudly and sparkling. But once you have removed it from the fire, it deflates like an old ball. The exterior dries quickly, leaving you with soft and tough skin instead of tender snap you want.

The problem is how heat affects the structure and humidity of the hot dog. The skinless hot dogs and the francs in case of natural breakage are vulnerable, but in different ways.

Skinless hot dogs

Skin -free dogs are particularly vulnerable because they do not have a protective exterior case. They are formed in synthetic molds, then peeled before packaging, leaving the meat exposed. Unlike their counterparts that break natural, they do not have an external membrane to contain humidity. When you place them directly over high heat, especially on the roaring flames or the flamboyant coals, the intense temperature cook the outer layers of the sausage.

While proteins near the surface denatures and contract (mainly myosin and actin), they exhaust humidity and fat. Because the Hot-Dog is already cooked, there is no longer a raw structure to firm or trap these juices. The center remains relatively fresh, while the external layers dehydrate and tighten, creating a wrinkled and soft shell – like overwhelmed eggs pulling a pan.

This rapid surface dehydration is what gives Frank her skin of plotting paper. In addition to that, without a box to stamp or trap the steam, the internal pressure is built unevenly. When this pressure is finally released (that is to say when the dog is removed from the grill), the hot dog is deflated. Consider it as a edible tank that has lost the air.

Natural Casse Dogs

The natural hot dogs, on the other hand, are filled in sheep intestines, which behave a lot like sausage sockets-they are elastic, semi-permeable and capable of keeping juices. This case creates a barrier to heat and humidity, so that the internal temperature increases more gradually and uniformly, protecting the meat inside the drying prematurely. As a result, dog dogs are more indulgent on the grill and are less likely to miss.

However, they are not completely invincible. If you explode them on scams, the pressure of the steam expansion and liquefied fat inside can cause division or rupture of the case, especially if there is no vent or weak point to release the pressure. Once the case has broken out, all this delicious juice is exhausted – and you end up with a dry and soft dog instead of breaking and juicy.

In short, the two types of hot dogs have vulnerabilities in the face of high direct heat:

• Skin without skin: loses moisture quickly without box.
• Based: contains better humidity but can burst if it is overheated.

This is why a small technique can greatly contribute to grilling perfection.

The simple thing for better skinless hot dogs

Enter the Bousel technique: Reduce your hot dogs before hitting the grill.

For skinless hot dogs, make some shallow diagonal cuts on two opposite sides of each Frank helps distribute heat more uniformly. These slots develop during cooking, helping the center heating faster and reducing overall cooking time. The result? Dodus and juicy hot dogs who do not catch up and have a slightly crispy exterior with just the right bite.

You can even have fun and try the spiral -cut method – make a hot stroke and make a single continuous cut when you turn it. It is catchy and adds a surface for an additional browning, but it is also easier to cook. For me, the simple oblique bar is faster, infallible and just as tasty.

How to prevent francs in case of burst

The method changes slightly if you have the chance to mark natural natural breakage hot dogs (and you should-it is the easiest way to upgrade your hot dog game). These envelopes add protection, prevent the meat from drying. But as described above, they can always separate in high heat, which means that you can lose all these delicious juices.

To avoid this, Bousel borrows a tip from the Kenji López-Alt sausage game book: Start with a hot Dog whirlpool next to the grills.

In a cast iron pan (or a disposable aluminum pan if you are outside and you travel light), simmer your dogs in a tube in a mixture of beer and sauerkraut or cooked onions. This indirect cooking phase gently puts them at temperature. Then move them on direct heat for a quick tank. This two -step method locks up justice and gives you this coveted cliché without risking a burst.

The bottom line

Grilled hot dogs may not look like rocket sciences, but a few minor adjustments can make the difference between a barbecue hero and a deception of soggy.

• Cut the skinless dogs before grilling for cooking even for cooking and dodue texture.
• Simmer dogs in a tasty liquid before finishing over high heat to keep them juicy and intact.

Now, every time I shoot the grill, I know that my hot dogs will not let me fall. More ratatored regrets – just juicy fans, sizzling rolls and happy guests.