It’s officially hot dog season. But there are just so many options for the sausages, buns, condiments, and cooking techniques that it’s easy to meander down the wrong path and end up with a mediocre dog in your hand as the fireworks pop off on the 4th of July. While we’ve spent a lot of time figuring out which are the best dogs, toppings, and cooking methods, it still feels like it’s still a crapshoot sometimes — especially if you can’t even find a certain bespoke sausage that we adore or don’t have the kitchen gear to cook a dog a certain way.
Let’s skip all of that. I’m going to simply break down the two crucial “hacks” (they’re simple! Beyond simple — intuitive!) that you need to make the perfect hot dog this 4th of July. This is so fail-proof that you can pretty much use any sausage, bun, or condiment and it’ll be better — that’s both in flavor and in structure — than if it were done any other way.
The key here is twofold, so I’m breaking it down like that below. But the crucial point is that you can do this with any grocery store “jumbo” hot dog or frank and any decent grocery store hot dog bun — I used Hebrew National Jumbo Franks the standard brioche buns from the bread aisle of my local Krogers. You don’t need to pay high prices for Euro-style sausages or hit three bakeries to find the best bread. You can do this right now for less than a tenner and it’ll be fantastic.
Sound good? Let’s dive in!
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Tip 1 — Slice It And Cook It
The best way to cook a standard hot dog is the Five Guys way. You slice it length-wise about 3/4 of the through and fold it open so that there’s a flat surface on one side and two small humps on the other side.
Basically, you’re creating a flat surface and exposing the fat and meat so that it sears and creates a delicious Maillard effect (perfect browning with amped-up flavor) on the exposed inside of the sausage.
The best part is that you can cook this either in a skillet or frying pan on the stovetop or on the grill outside. Just because I’m using a grill doesn’t mean you have to — this works really well in a skillet/pan too. Either way, you’re going to get a lovely seared sausage on the exposed side, thanks to more surface area while still maintaining the classic snap of the outer casing on the other side. See? Best of both worlds!
It doesn’t matter if you cook the dog in a frying pan or on the grill, you’ll need to weigh it down. I used a second skillet for this on a grill — I used my Traeger like a standard grill on high heat. Adding the weight allows the flat inner sausage side to lay flat on the heat source and get a good sear.
Next, make sure to keep that weight on the sausage when you flip it over to the casing side. This will keep the heat even and stop the sausage from curling while cooking.
And that’s really it. You’ll have a deliciously seared and cooked-through sausage for your hot dog with more surface area and a perfect level of that delicious Maillard while still holding onto the snap of the casing. It’s a textural wonder!
Tip 2 — Toast The Bun
While a soft steamed bun is great, you really need to butter, season, and toast that bun.
I do this by laying the bun flat, smearing it with a thin layer of unsalted butter, and then hitting it with a few shakes of garlic salt.
Next, I warm a skillet or frying pan on medium-high heat and toast the bun until it’s nice and crispy. It takes all of one minute and makes a bun that’s about a million times more flavorful with real texture and crunch to it.
And as with toasted hamburger buns, it creates a surface that’ll handle the condiments and meat without falling apart or getting soggy.
BONUS TIP — Add Whatever The F*ck You Want To It
This is a no-brainer. But if anyone tells you what you can or cannot put on your hot dog, they can go and f*ck themselves. Period. Put whatever makes you happy on your dog and don’t judge anyone else for doing the same. It’s not that hard, folks.
Bottom Line:
The best part of this method is that it provides better structure. As you can see in the images above, there’s an evenness to the whole sandwich (yes, we said it) that allows you to get the whole spectrum of your toppings, bun, and sausage in every single bite. There’s no space left in the bun with only toppings or only sausage.
And maybe most importantly, there’s zero slippage. This hot dog holds together from the beginning until the end while holding onto its structural integrity.
Excellent structure and fully realized bites are unbeatable. I hate to overuse the word “elevated” but this is how you truly up your hot dog game with good standard ingredients that we all can find right now. I mean just look at that delectable cross-section full of hot dog goodness below … it’s great!
