Here's How Long It Takes To Grill Hot Dogs

Humphrey Bogart famously quipped, "A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." Americans seem to agree. And while we eat about 9 percent of hot dogs kicking back watching our favorite baseball teams in action, we don't just like them at ballgames. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, the governing body of all things related to the hot dog and its cousin the sausage, says Americans eat approximately 20 billion hot dogs a year which comes out to roughly 70 hot dogs per person per year. But if you can't make it to a ballgame, the next best place to score a home run with a hot dog is by grilling some up in your own backyard. 

How do you get a perfectly grilled hot dog that makes you want to hum the refrain of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as you eat it? Achieving that smokey flavor with just the right symmetry of seared grate marks might all come down to finding the optimal grilling time for this favored meal. To get things started, per Men's Health, you want to make certain you start with hot dogs that have been completely thawed and brought to room temperature before you throw them on the grill. The reasoning behind this is so they cook evenly.   

Next heat your grill. Chef Joseph Rizza, the executive chef of Prime & Provisions, told Men's Health if you are using a gas grill, you want to turn it on high and then turn it down to medium before throwing on your hot dogs. If you opt to use a charcoal grill, you want to wait until the charcoals are ashy, then add the grill grate, and let it heat up for several minutes. Use a paring knife and make a few slits in your hot dogs. This will ensure they don't shrivel up. It is not recommended you split your hot dog down the middle. This will make it cook faster and you will lose the moisture that makes hot dogs so juicy and delicious. 

Rizza says it will take between 2 and 3 minutes to get the blackened grate marks running down a side of your hot dog. Once this happens, rotate the meat and wait for another 2 to 3 minutes. At this point, your hot dog should be ready to take off the grill and you can get it ready for all the fixings. Rizza also cautioned that grilling a hot dog should not take more than 6 minutes. If it goes any longer, well, you didn't hit this meal out of the ballpark.