Spiral Cut Hot Dogs

Not sure where I first saw this, but I remember seeing it in quite a few places on the net back in June and July. We don't eat a lot of hot dogs, but after the ranch last weekend, we had quite a few we needed to get rid of so I thought I would give it a go. The thinking behind it is:

1.It allows the hot dog to cook up straight as an arrow allowing for an even char on all sides.
2.They fit in a bun perfectly.
3.There is more surface area so you get more crispy, caramelized meaty goodness.
4.The threads form little crevices so chunky condiments like onions and relish don’t slide around.
5.It looks cool so it makes a great conversation piece.


Start off by skewering a hot dog. Then take a knife and cut the hot dog diagonally while rolling it away from you.


I like a bit of chili on my dogs, so I threw a cast iron skillet on the to get it warmed up.


Then the dogs


After a few minutes


I plated mine up with some crinkle cut fries, one dog got chili, cheese and mustard, the other got sauerkraut and mustard.


Stacie didn't want hot dogs. Instead she went with weenies and sauerkraut, something she grew up with as a kid. Not sure if its a Czech thing or not. Sometimes she uses brats or sausage. Anyway, cast iron skillet with a bit of butter, throw in some chopped dogs/brats/sausage, allow to brown up, dump in some sauerkraut and allow that to warm up for a bit. Quick, easy, cheap food.


I thought the spiral cut did allow for more char and I was able to get more condiments on my dog without them falling out the back end. Being chili, that may or may not have been a good thing. All in all, I think it was a successful technique and it only takes a few minutes. I'd probably do it again, not that we eat a lot of hot dogs. Anyway, hope everybody has a great weekend with lots of grilling in store.

I've seen that method before, too, but have yet to try it out. Anything that increases the Condiment Retention Factor is OK with me!

Good term....Condiment Retention Factor...which will now also be known as CRF.

Looks good, but I think it is just that area of the world.

My German family does this too with sauerkraut.

One of my favorite is chicken and sauerkraut, same type of thing. You use cast-iron pan and cook chicken thigh (no added oil) and keep the fat from skin and chicken in pan and add sauerkraut after chicken is pretty much cooked.

You can just heat the rest through and serve or as my grandma did make dumplings to put on top and throw in oven (almost makes like biscuit topping)

Thanks for sharing

Beercuer will be all over this!

tex_toby wrote:

Beercuer will be all over this!

I think I'm gonna be all over it My granddaughters love hot dogs, and I'll usually cook some up for them when I'm grilling other stuff they don't eat for the adults. Still, I enjoy a good dog too and this definitely looks like it would be a fun and interesting way to do them. Love the idea Griffin!

Wow - another great idea I'm going to try. Amazing what you can pick up around these parts. Thanks for the tip.

I've done this with dogs several times since I've seen it with great results. I'm now going to try the technique on pork tenderloin. I expect the same principles would apply to that cut..

im going to have to give that a try its defentley something diffrent

timbarber84 wrote:

im going to have to give that a try its defentley something diffrent

the kraut and dogs where something i grew up on to i like it with hot sauce

Man, what a concept! Love it! Gonna definitely give this one a try.

We did these last night. My 6 year old daughter thought they were very cool! (As did I.)

Take care,

Derek

Well that's a nifty little trick. Very nice. Food looks great, btw.