These hot dogs on the griddle are so easy to make, and they are absolutely delicious thanks to my steamed buns trick. Take your Blackstone hot dogs to a whole new level with these tips for cooking hot dogs on the Blackstone!
Every now and then I get a hankering for a good hot dog.
There was a little convenience store down the street from my house when I was a kid, and I used to ride my bike there for an afternoon chili dog. The buns were steamy soft, and the chili sauce was perfect with not a bean in sight.
And it’s those simple dishes that sometimes get forgotten when you think about griddle cooking. The simple hot dog just takes a back seat to Blackstone fried rice or Philly cheesesteaks because, hey, it’s just a hot dog.
But while these griddle hot dogs may not be fancy, they are fantastic! In fact, I would put these dogs up against any hot dog stand, restaurant, or ball park. So the next time you want a classic hot dog on the griddle, give this easy recipe a try!
Or pair these griddle dogs with our homemade hot dog chili sauce for the ultimate chili dog.
Step-by-Step: How to Cook Hot Dogs on a Blackstone
Step 1: Preheat your griddle
Get your Blackstone preheated to medium heat. You don’t want the griddle to be too hot, because then the outside of your hot dogs will burn before the inside has a chance to really cook.
A good griddle temperature for cooking hot dogs is about 350-375°F.
Step 2: Place the hot dogs on the griddle
Add a small bit of oil to the heated griddle surface, and lay your hot dogs directly on the flat top. There’s no wrong way to do this. I just like to spread them out a bit so they cook more evenly.
Step 3: Roll them for even color
Turn the hot dogs regularly as they cook, so they pick up color evenly on all sides. You’re looking for a light char and some good golden-brown color, not black grill marks. Let the griddle do the work and don’t rush it.
The rolling method, where you frequently rotate the dogs by pushing them back and forth on the hot surface, mimics the rolling of the convenience store hot dog rollers. And I prefer this method to just turning the hot dogs after each side gets dark.
That’s how you get a perfectly cooked hot dog on the griddle that is bronzed all the way around.
Step 4: Cook until bronzed
Continue cooking the hot dogs, rolling occasionally, until they are done to your liking. Then build your hot dog with your favorite toppings. Simple as that.
*TIP – When the hot dogs are almost done cooking, you can also add a sprinkle of your favorite all-purpose seasoning for a bit of extra flavor. We love our own Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning for this!
Tips for Cooking Hot Dogs on the Griddle
- Use good quality hot dogs – You can’t buy the cheapest hot dogs at the grocery store and expect to produce a restaurant quality griddle dog. We prefer to use a premium hot dog like Nathan’s 100% beef hot dogs. For this particular recipe, we used Nathan’s Jumbo Restaurant Style Beef Franks, and they were fantastic! Yes, they may be more expensive than the bulk store brands, but you can often find them on sale.
- Roll the hot dogs in some oil on the griddle – Adding a small bit of your favorite cooking oil to the griddle, and then rolling the dogs in the oil, helps the browning process and helps the outside of the hot dogs to crisp up nicely.
- Be patient – Certain griddle foods, like hash browns, can go from good to GREAT with a little bit of patience. These hot dogs took about 8-10 full minutes to cook on the griddle, and that fantastic “sunburnt” reddish blistered color is your delicious prize for being patient.
Easy Hack for Steaming Hot Dog Buns on the Griddle
Usually when you steam something on the griddle, you add a squirt of water to the hot surface right next to the food item and immediately cover it with a melting dome. The water coming in contact with the hot griddle surface creates steam, and you can trap that steam inside the dome to speed up the cooking process and steam your food.
But with hot dog buns or other bread products, you don’t want to add water right next to them on the griddle, because there’s not really a good way to keep the water from flowing into the bread and making it soggy.
That’s why most people serve their griddle burgers or hot dogs with toasted buns, not steamed… Until today…
To make perfectly steamed hot dog buns on the griddle, add about 1/4″ of water to a small baking sheet. Place the tray of water on the griddle and allow the water to heat up. Then, set a wire rack on the baking sheet, and place your buns on top of the rack. The buns should be elevated above the water, so if your wire rack is shorter, be sure to adjust the amount of water in your tray.
As the water heats, it will produce steam. Just add a melting dome on top of the buns to trap the steam, and after a few minutes, you’ll have perfectly steamed hot dog buns!
I hope you guys enjoy these easy hot dogs on the griddle as much as we did!
Hot Dogs on the Blackstone
Ingredients
- 8 hot dogs
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil (We like avocado oil for griddle cooking)
- 8 hot dog buns
- finely diced onion, mustard, and shredded cheese for topping
Instructions
- Heat griddle on medium heat until it reaches about 375℉.
- Add about 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the griddle surface and spread it around a bit with your spatula. Place the hot dogs on the griddle in the oil. Rotate the hot dogs back and forth so they get evenly coated with the oil.
- Cook the hot dogs on the griddle, rolling them back and forth frequently as they cook, until all sides are equally bronzed and reddish in color. This process may take 8-10 minutes, depending on the temp of your griddle.
- Remove hot dogs from the griddle and serve immediately with your favorite toppings.
Video
Notes
- We love turning our griddle hot dogs into the best chili dogs with our homemade hot dog chili. Get the hot dog chili sauce recipe here – https://theflattopking.com/hot-dog-chili-recipe/
Is your wife especially dumb? I’m just trying to figure out how easy cooking this is. Basing it off “Heck, even my wife could probably figure it out!”
Great recipe. I like it, but too spicy for the kid. Maybe I overdid one of the spices because it came out pretty lively.
Neal, this sauce is fantastic !!!
So glad you like it – it’s a favorite in our house too. Sometimes if we have leftovers of the hot dog chili sauce, we’ll add a can of kidney beans or chili beans and turn it into regular chili. Glad you enjoyed!
That is a killer chili sauce recipe!!!
We have to agree – our family loves this homemade hot dog chili. So much better than the canned stuff!
I used Tomato Juice instead of the water.
Awesome idea Darryl. I’ll have to try that next time – by the way, be sure to check out the Sonoran hot dog recipe I just posted… another fantastic hot dog recipe!
My family said it is the best chili sauce they ever had.