It’s hard to imagine any summer party without a full cookout. Any backyard or outdoor gathering, as per tradition, simply can’t exist without a barbecue. Hot dogs have been a signature home BBQ snack for decades now, making every Independence Day celebration and a summer birthday party that much more enjoyable.

Now the menu for such occasions may, of course, vary, but grilled hot dogs are something so seminal and inescapable, their absence could be seen as a form of cultural transgression. And sure, you can stack up on street food or order take out instead, but it simply doesn’t taste as good as a batch of greasy, juicy home-cooked frankfurters.

Cooking your own hot dogs means that everyone in attendance can help prepare the food and taste the fruits of the collective effort. Not to mention the enjoyability factor of the entire venture—after all, freshly charcoal-grilled sausages are inherently richer in flavor, bringing a lovely smokey sharpness to the familiar snack.

As simple as hot dogs may seem, it takes a bit of practice to master a good balance of flavors. It also takes some trial and error to learn not to straight-up burn your sausages. Even if you are partial to a slightly more charred flavor, nobody likes their food overcooked and ashy. On the other hand, undercooked or too bland hot dogs don’t sound like an exciting meal either.

So what is the key to a good hot dog and how long does it take to make it on a charcoal grill? Quite predictably, it’s all in the timing. In this case, the timing mainly means being attentive during grilling.

How do you cook hot dogs on a charcoal grill?

Of course, every griller has a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to preparing staple party food like hot dogs and burgers, but every cooking technique starts with the proper grill prep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9ooOgV0gA

Grilling hot dog sausages on charcoal grills is generally something most people enjoy not only for the communal feeling of it, but also for the slightly edgy, a little bit earthy, and deeply rich flavor that charcoal-cooked meat is imbued with.

The first thing that must be mastered ahead of grilling the hot dogs is arranging your charcoal grill for the two-zone fire setting. This technique is the best possible way to achieve golden-roasted poultry and chicken tenders as well as seared steaks, sausages, and vegetables.

Setting up a two-zone fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzMmntHpxBw

It might sound rather intimidating at first, but two-zone cooking is a simple concept when you get down to it. It essentially entails separating your grill into two parts: one with coals for direct grilling on high heat, and one without coals as a sort of safe zone. The safe zone is used to avoid scorching your food whenever a flare-up occurs, but it’s also good for letting the meat or veggies slowly cook through on a lower heat.

  1. Prepare the charcoal before putting it on the grill. You can achieve higher heat with your fuel if you use as many as a hundred briquettes. It’s more effective to use a chimney starter to get the charcoals to the right condition. The optimal cooking temperature for charcoal is indicated by the formation of white ash over the coals;
  2. Move the now hot charcoal from the starter and into the grill’s charcoal tray or grate located beneath the main cook top grate;
  3. Arrange the coals so that they are kept to one side and the other half of the grill remains free of coals. Be sure to use appropriate utensils like BBQ tongs to handle the coals;
  4. Now you have two workable areas: one for direct high-heat cooking, the other for a form of indirect cooking. While the direct zone is used for roasting, searing, creating grill marks, and other intense high heat techniques, the indirect zone is meant to add finishing touches to already mostly cooked food. Since there are no direct flames into the coal-free section, it is also used for saving the meat from burning if the fire gets too high.

Grilling the hot dogs

Once the coals and the cooking surface are ready for cooking and the top grate has been properly cleaned and sprayed with non-stick spray, it is time to grill your hot dogs. You can use any hot dog sausages you prefer, franks, wieners, low-fat franks, etc.