How To Cook Hot Dogs In Your Oven

Hot dogs on the grill are a summer cookout favorite, but as the weather turns cold there's no reason to miss out on a good frank with friends. Making hot dogs at home can be quick and simple with the microwave method, but if you need enough for a party, your oven is the way to go.

Making hot dogs in the oven at home is a convenient way to make large batches all at once rather than making a few at a time by boiling them on the stove or zapping in the microwave. The key to cooking hot dogs in the oven is to cut them a specific way: with a single slice down the middle. One of the many upsides to cooking hot dogs in the oven is it will end up with a crispier skin on the outside compared to these other cooking methods.

Oven-baked hot dogs also give you the opportunity to make different side dishes at the same time. You can make fries from scratch with fun designs, go classic with coleslaw, or get your greens with a salad. While your links bake, you can turn your attention to making a whole meal. Just be sure to get the right temperature and make that single cut across your hot dogs before you toss them in the oven.

While you ready your hot dogs to be baked, you'll need to get the oven preheated to a piping 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The slice to be made down the length of the hot dogs should be a shallow one. You don't want to slice it so deeply that the sausage completely splits in two.

However, cutting the hot dog this way and baking it will create a neat little bed for toppings like grilled onions, tomatoes, and Chicago's favorite hot pepper: the sport pepper. Don't forget to add condiments such as mustard and, yes, ketchup. With the oven ready to go and your hot dogs properly sliced, you can toss a whole pack into the oven for 15 minutes. The hot dogs should be nice and browned.

Be sure to arrange the sausages on a baking rack or sheet with enough space for them to evenly cook. This way your whole batch will be perfectly crisp on the outside but still juicy on the inside.