Heat Hot Dogs in Bulk Without Stress
Birthday parties, sleepovers, sports leagues: There are lots of situations where you need to feed a large group of kids all at once. Hot dogs are a reliable kid-pleaser, but grilling them means paying careful attention, which isn't always possible when you have a crowd of young people to look after. Fortunately, a slow cooker can take care of your hot dog cooking. It takes an hour or two, but it requires very little attention, making it a great way to prepare hot dogs for a large number of guests.
In addition to being an easy way to cook hot dogs quickly, this method produces plump and juicy dogs as the slow cooker keeps in moisture, cooking them in their own juices over a long period.
Total Time: 1 to 2 hours | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Serves: 12 to 16
Ingredients:
- 12 to 16 hot dogs, or as many as needed
- Hot dog buns
Tip
The number of hot dogs you can make using this recipe depends on the size of your slow cooker. You can cook as many as you can fit, up to several dozen at once, but this recipe assumes that you'll be making 12 or 16.
Directions:
- Place hot dogs in slow cooker. If you have a large number of hot dogs, stand them on end; otherwise, simply place them in the bottom of the bowl.
- Cook on high heat for 1 to 2 hours.
- As the hot dogs near completion, put some of the hot dog buns into the slow cooker to warm them up before serving.
- Serve directly from the slow cooker.
Tip
As the hot dogs heat, you'll start to notice that they begin to brown where they come into contact with the inner surface of the slow cooker. This is harmless, but if you want your hot dogs to have an even appearance, simply rotate their positions in the slow cooker periodically so that they brown evenly.
This recipe produces plain hot dogs which you can top with your choice of condiments, but you can also use the slow cooking process to bring out a different set of flavors by mixing a marinade and coating the hot dogs with it before they cook. For instance, you could create sweet, barbecue-influenced hot dogs by coating them in a mixture of finely chopped onion, vinegar, honey, ketchup and brown sugar. If you're going to cook your hot dogs in this way, you want to give them as long to absorb the flavor as possible, so let them sit on low heat for 4 to 6 hours instead of the 1 to 2 hours on high recommended in this recipe.
