How to Grill Hot Dogs in 7 Steps

Open the lid and fire up the burners on high for about three minutes to burn off any residue, then back the heat down to medium. You want the grate temperature around 400 degrees, which is hot enough for grill marks but gentle enough that the skin doesn't blister and split before the inside is warm. If you have a thermometer in the lid, watch for it to settle in the 375 to 425 range. Brush the grates clean while they're hot. Cold grates and a high flame are the two things that cause hot dogs to burst.

Before the dogs hit the grates, lay each one on a cutting board and run a paring knife across the skin at an angle, three or four shallow cuts about a quarter-inch deep. Repeat on the other side. The scores give the steam inside the casing somewhere to escape, which is the entire reason hot dogs split open on the grill. Scoring also opens up more surface area for that crackly char. Skip this step on skinless dogs, they don't have the tight casing that causes the problem.

Open the lid and lay each hot dog across the grill bars, perpendicular to the direction of the grates. Space them out so air moves between them. Perpendicular placement is what gives you those clean dark bands across the dog, the visual difference between a grilled hot dog and a hot dog that happened to sit on a grill. Cooking with the lid open this whole time gives you better control over the char and keeps the dogs from steaming in their own moisture.

After two minutes the first side will have dark bands across it. Rotate each dog a quarter-turn with the tongs so a fresh face of casing meets the bars. Two more minutes. Rotate again. By the time you've worked through all four sides, the whole dog has even color and a crosshatch of grill marks that looks like the photos. Rotating beats flipping for hot dogs because the round shape needs to touch the grates on every side, not just two flat faces.

Hot dogs come fully cooked from the package, but they hit their best texture once they're heated through to 160 degrees in the center. Slide an instant-read thermometer in through the end so the probe sits in the middle. If you don't have a thermometer, the visual cue works: the dog plumps slightly, the skin tightens, and a small split appears at one end. Total grill time runs about 6 to 8 minutes for standard dogs, longer for thick all-beef quarter-pounders.

Move the dogs to the cool side of the grill or onto the upper warming rack. Brush the cut side of each bun with a thin coat of softened butter and lay them face-down directly on the grates for 30 to 45 seconds. You want light golden color, not dark brown, which crosses over from toasted to crunchy and dry. Pull the buns the second they color. Pull the dogs onto a plate at the same time, lined up so you can build them in order without anyone's getting cold.

Tuck a hot dog into each toasted bun and let the toppings tell the story. Mustard first if you want it to grip the dog, ketchup on top for color, relish or onions or kraut on the sides. Serve right away with napkins and the coleslaw from your cookout sides spread. A package of eight feeds four to six people depending on whether someone wants a second.