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So, its summer its another BBQ season without COVID restrictions. So, as appropriate for the season, I had a question about hotdogs.

I know that it's possible to prepare hotdogs by boiling, and indeed, many restaurants do so. It's also possible to prepare them on a BBQ. But, I notice BBQed and grilled hotdogs at ye ol' family get-to-gether or beach episode tend to turn out blistered and very ugly looking.

I want a hotdog that looks like its boiled and isn't blistered. And, then with those dark black grill marks. What should I do to achieve this look?

Stephie
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PettyCashPrash
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    Hi, we have somewhat strict guidelines on what kind of question we take. The question about a technique for a specific look is a great fit. I removed some of your background musings on how others prepare hotdogs, because it not only distracts from the question, but also creates unnecessary friction. We don't believe in the idea that there is a single "right" way to prepare food, and we're happy to help you no matter which way you prefer your hotdogs. – rumtscho Jul 11 '23 at 13:34
  • I also don't think there's a single right way to prepare food. I don't know what's happened, but I hope we don't leave the comment section gone to the dogs and get too dog'gone rowdy. Hope we can all partake in a mutual love for hot dogs! Also, I didn't mean to be rude--I love boiled hot dogs. But, I just noticed on social media that people are quite against it. I don't understand why. – PettyCashPrash Jul 13 '23 at 19:25
  • That said, I did have a few ideas about a boiling method that could be a great way to cook a hotdog. But, since people aren't very welcoming, I may not try to stir the pot (sorry about the puns). I'm sure hotdog connoisseurs will be relieved as their trade secrets will be kept under wraps. :) – PettyCashPrash Jul 13 '23 at 19:27
  • Let me rephrase @rumtscho‘s comment: Asking about how to achieve a certain result is perfectly fine. Lengthy discussions about real or perceived cultural faux-pas‘, merits or other issues that don’t contribute to the basic technical question are not ok. – Stephie Jul 20 '23 at 18:21

5 Answers5

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It's the high direct heat from the coals that chars, the metal bars that make the stripes, so stripes without flame - a grill [griddle] pan.

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Pre-heat dogs & pan, then a minute or so each side to put the stripes on. Works for steaks too.

This seems to be dividing the field somewhat on up- vs down-votes.

Maybe this is more useful for the Brits, who tend to have a shoebox-sized live-flame charcoal BBQ about twice per summer [one of which will be ruined by the rain anyway] so we are used to grills that will turn anything put on early into pure charcoal in under three minutes, whilst anything put on half an hour later stays raw. For those too eager to get the food on it there's also that delightful smell of paraffin to add zest to the first round of charcoal-crisp burgers.
We also pre-cook our chicken portions in the oven, for fear of killing the guests by serving thighs burnt to a blackened crisp on the outside, whilst still being raw in the middle.

For the US with your football pitch-sized grills powered right from mains gas, with smokers, mesh lattices & assorted steel hot-plates at various heights - generally looking more like an office block under construction - this might be less useful. Or you already have one built-in, over in a far-flung corner of the structure out of easy reach, behind the half a cow currently slow-cooking…
;)

…plus, the Brits can take this indoors & put it on the stove when it rains - so long as they also remember to bring the buns in, and send one or two of the more water-resistant kids back out to fetch the beers too. Everybody can then have lovely looking hot dogs whilst gazing out of the window at another bank holiday ruined.

My comment on another answer would work too - get a George Foreman grill [They didn't have a hot dog recipe to borrow from, so here's some chicken] …

enter image description here

That would work for the Brits too, if they're expecting rain ;)

Examples, for those who have never visted both sides of the pond…
US barbecue

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enter image description here

British barbecue

enter image description here

Tetsujin
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    I don't think grill pans are useful for very much. But if you want grill marks, they're even better at making grill marks than actual grills are. – Sneftel Jul 11 '23 at 12:36
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    I find the "rant" about American grilling highly entertaining and totally accurate – Yorik Jul 12 '23 at 17:54
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    @Yorik - It's nice to feel appreciated ;))) I'm sure someone could write a book on the "joys" of British barbecuing too. I once spent a month staying with a friend in Laguna Beach, California, & I'm sure his barbie cost as much as the house… and looked about as permanent. We ate in the back … acreage… about 4 nights a week. He could fire it up without even going outdoors. We'd stagger out, well-lubricated, to enjoy the sunset & things you just cannot cook on your typical UK service station aluminium one-time carton. Also, seemed far less chance of setting the garden alight. – Tetsujin Jul 12 '23 at 17:59
  • I once bought a pack of four of those disposable barbies in the UK [never again] & they lasted me two years ;) – Tetsujin Jul 12 '23 at 18:02
  • It really wasn't a rant, ha ha. – PettyCashPrash Jul 13 '23 at 19:30
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    As a USian, I am offended to be lumped in with those god-awful aircraft-carrier sized grills. I have a *very* functional Weber grill. It's the bestest. – Xander Henderson Jul 14 '23 at 01:30
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    @XanderHenderson I also am generally quite content with my Weber but I have used the trailer grill shown in the second picture quite a few times. It is somewhat difficult to grill half a hog to feed 40-60 people using a Weber. (North Carolina born) – doneal24 Jul 14 '23 at 18:45
  • @doneal24 How often do you smoke / roast / grill half a hog? I would imagine that, for the vast majority of people with oversized grills, they *never* actually use enough of it to justify owning one, rather than owning a Weber, and renting an aircraft carrier for the three times in their lives they need it. :D – Xander Henderson Jul 14 '23 at 18:48
  • @XanderHenderson One person in the area actually owns the grill and it is loaned out to friendly neighbors. I wouldn't even know where to rent one from. Also, I am the lead griller about once every two years and participate in a few other events. And no, I am not suggesting that anybody run out and buy anything that can cook a hog unless they have definite plans to use it or share/rent it frequently. And the one I've used most often was homemade from a discarded fuel oil tank and placed on a ancient trailer. – doneal24 Jul 14 '23 at 18:54
  • @XanderHenderson growing up a neighbor would roast a whole pig every summer. Not sure if he rented it or not, but I saw it used over a dozen times (and likely more). You're not wrong in general, though – fyrepenguin Jul 18 '23 at 07:24
  • @Tetsujin Actually, to be most accurate, the first picture is an American _grill_, the second an American _smoker_ or _barbecue_, the third picture is a British _meat incinerator_. – gnicko Jul 19 '23 at 22:44
  • @Tetsujin Haha, the images are useful to get some perspective, thank you, sir. I think your images here gently back my sociocultural generalizations about the luxurious aspect of the USA and Canada. I'm sure all ancient cultures had their own methods of using heat and fire to cook food, but the BBQ seems to have its etymology from the Taino people of the Caribbean. – PettyCashPrash Jul 20 '23 at 17:24
  • @gnicko I am not sure if this is true. Common parlance would say the first is indeed a BBQ (call it American or Western, but if I see that sold in a store, its a BBQ--and a fancy one to note). The second one is a barrel-style charcoal BBQ. I think it pops up in Texan/American and Jamaican grilling/BBQing a lot. And as for the "British" "meat incinerator" i don't want to be mean, but this could look like you're making these things up if not trolling at this point, haha. – PettyCashPrash Jul 20 '23 at 17:26
  • Hey, @Xander Henderson, welcome to the chat. Also have a portable, beautifully engineered "weber". And, I'm from the same continent, so its not solely taking shots at others but at myself as well, haha. – PettyCashPrash Jul 20 '23 at 18:17
  • @PettyCashPrash Just having a little fun with it. But seriously, BBQ (_v._) refers to cooking slowly with smoke and indirect heat. The smoker/BBQ (_n._) is designed to primarily cook using indirect heat from an offset firebox. The grill (_n._), on the other hand with higher, direct heat directly below the food. That being said, you can BBQ (_v._) with a grill (_n._) and grill (_v._) with a BBQ (_n._) with acceptable results... but the devices (and the cooking methods) are two different things... which many people, even here, frequently confuse. – gnicko Jul 21 '23 at 15:22
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If you’re more concerned about the looks of your food, you should probably be looking to ‘food stylists’ rather than people who cook food to eat.

You basically take a straight heating element, and use it as a branding iron to put lines on the food where you want it.

There are a devices made to do exactly this, with multiple elements so you don’t have to worry if all of the lines are parallel and evenly spaced: https://www.tastingtable.com/906146/the-real-reason-some-restaurant-grill-marks-arent-real/

Joe
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    Or a George Foreman grill, as we mere domestic cooks use instead [indoors] ;) Makes decent panini too… & grilled cheese… – Tetsujin Jul 12 '23 at 17:37
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    @Tetsujin Yeah, but they actually cook the food, so risk overcooking it. If you just want likes to be decorative, you just use something to burn the lines on there. This woman mentions ‘charcoal starter’ which is the electric devices to put in with your charcoal to get it lit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Y_hTFpJus&t=9m28s (and she mentions just painting the lines on) – Joe Jul 12 '23 at 19:42
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Use a two-tiered cooking method. First set up your grill with a "really hot" side and a "less hot" side. The idea is to gently heat the dogs on the "less hot" side of the grill and get them up to a good temperature for consumption, then use the really hot grates on the other side to quickly put some grill marks on the dogs without causing them to blister and so forth.

I don't know which order that these events happen for the best results. You could maybe do a "reverse sear" kind of thing by slowly heating the dogs and then applying the grill marks, or hit the dogs with high heat at the beginning to get the grill marks before moving them over to the lower heat side of the grill to gently come up to temperature. This may require some experimentation to get it perfectly right. I've done it both ways without really paying attention to which method worked better.

The advantage of this is the dogs get added flavor from the smokey grill without boiling them.

gnicko
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  • This makes sense, thank you. Raise the temperature, slowly, then sear at highest heat. So, on a BBQ its on heat and off heat. But, I use a griddle. Wonder if that changes anything. – PettyCashPrash Jul 13 '23 at 19:19
  • Sorry you didn't mention a griddle in your original question. You could use the same approach I suppose. Heat the griddle very hot, get your "grill marks", remove the hot dogs and then let it cool some, then reintroduce the dogs and let them heat through more slowly. Honestly I think you'll find it easier to use a charcoal or gas grill, but only marginally so. – gnicko Jul 15 '23 at 13:58
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It's the high heat for too long that blisters and/or bursts your dogs. If you want to use a grill make sure the coals are burned down...or the grate is high enough...or use a combination of direct and indirect grilling. Don't leave them on long enough to blister and burst. Alternately, if you keep them moving, they may not get pretty grill marks, but they will be nicely browned.

moscafj
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Use a pigment and "paint" those grill marks instead. I advise finely ground food-grade activated charcoal and a "mask" cut out from a wrapping paper. Submerge the hotdogs in oil so that the charcoal sticks, then apply your cutout mask and cover the openings with charcoal powder.

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    Dislike without a comment = not helpful. –  Jul 17 '23 at 21:09
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    Please note that votes don’t express “like/dislike“, but instead [indicate issues with quality, effort, or accuracy of a post](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/vote-down). Comments on reasons for downvotes are [entirely optional as per cross-site policy](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/325416/why-isnt-providing-feedback-mandatory-on-downvotes-and-why-are-ideas-suggestin). – Stephie Jul 19 '23 at 11:32
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    This one got a dislike but this may actually be quite valid and true. As another alluded to here, this is almost a "food stylist" question. And, a lot of products on TV and on food packaging likely have a "painted" on faux grill mark. I have a feeling the person answering here actually knows what he/she is talking about. I gave it a like here. Stack Exchange is overly toxic, I notice--maybe its the hot dog mafia protecting their trade secrets, who knows! – PettyCashPrash Jul 20 '23 at 18:11
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    @PettyCashPrash h​​ey t​​h​​a​​nk y​​o​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​u a lot! –  Jul 21 '23 at 01:22
  • Well deserved. Underrated answer (and potential solution). – PettyCashPrash Aug 06 '23 at 22:55