As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Hot Dog, one of America’s staple culinary treats, is also one of the oldest types of processed foods that dates back to the 9th century BC!
The Hot Dog or the dachshund sausage is credited to the Germans that created the dish sometime in the Middle Ages. Fast forward to the 19th century. German immigrants brought their sausage dish to the United States when they touched land on Ellis Island and Louisiana.
But enough about history, let’s roll some buns and find the ways you can deep fry your Hot Dog for an extra twist on the traditional boiled sausage we all know and love.
What Is a Deep Fried Hot Dog?
To put it plainly, a deep-fried Hot Dog is a wiener sausage cooked in hot oil. When the sausage is deep-fried, it develops a delicious and caramelized brown crust that can look a bit unappetizing but tastes heavenly. Deep-fried Hot Dogs are called Rippers because when the wiener cooks in hot oil, the ends start ripping apart.
Rippershave a richer flavor than traditional boiled wieners. They are also extremely versatile dishes you can combine with bacon, vegetables, french fries, or chilly for a Mexican twist. The foundation is the wiener and the bun, and the rest is up to the cook’s imagination. Everyone can fashion a deep-fried Hot Dog in a few minutes, but there are still a few small details that you should know in order to get the perfect deep-fried Hot Dog.
What Equipment Do You Need to Deep Fry Hot Dogs?
You probably already have everything you need to deep fry a Hot Dog in your kitchen. If you place the wiener horizontally, you’ll see that it doesn’t take up much space height-wise, so deep frying can be done in a regular frying pan. If you want to submerge your wieners completely in oil, then your best option is to fry them in a pot with a lid or in a deep fryer.
Deep fryers are very versatile tools as you can deep fry almost anything with a deep fryer. You just need to fill them with oil and plug them into a power outlet. While you don’t necessarily need one to deep fry a Hot Dog, investing in a more premium appliance would enhance your deep frying game.
You also need vegetable oil to deep fry your Hot Dogs. Olive oil is not great at achieving that high temperature necessary for deep frying, and it’s best used in frying pans.
How Long to Deep Fry a Hot Dog?
This can depend on the type of wiener you would like to deep fry. If you want to make your own hot dogs from scratch, then we have a great list of sausage stuffers that would bring extra flavor to your dinner table. If you don’t want to bother with stuffing sausages, then your two options for Hot Dogs are frozen Hot Dogs or regular canned or vacuum-sealed Hot Dogs from your grocery store.
Frozen Hot Dogs are a bit of a chore to cook as they don’t cook as well as thawed wieners. If you don’t have the time to thaw your frozen wieners out, deep fry frozen hot dogs for up to two minutes at 375F (175C) and then take them out, split them in half, and fry them for another two minutes. A word of caution: Deep frying frozen wieners may also cause oil splashes, so be careful and have a towel nearby for easy cleaning.
Thawed or fresh Hot Dogs should be deep-fried for just about 2 minutes at 350F (175C). A great indicator of when the wiener is cooked is the brown crispy coating. If you want it crispier, you can leave it frying for another minute or so.
Recipe for Deep Fried Hot Dogs
Preheat your pot with a lid or deep fryer to 350F (175C). If the oil isn’t the right temperature, then your Hot Dogs might end up soggy instead of crispy. The deep fryer would show you the exact temperature of the oil, while the pot is a little trickier. A great indicator of high oil temperature is light smoke coming out of the pan. You can always cut a corner of the weiner or put a whole wiener to check the sizzling action. This works great if you have a dog to which you can feed the demo-wiener.
Once the oil is up to temp, carefully put the wineries in the oil by using tweezers (or if you’re confident, you can use your hands). Pro Hot Dog tip: Wrap your Hot Dogs in a slice of bacon to achieve a better flavor and an extra layer of crispness.
How to Deep Fry Hot Dogs in a Pan?
Don’t fret if a lidded pot or a deep fryer isn’t a part of your kitchen arsenal since a simple frying pan would also do the trick. This is where olive oil comes into play. Pour a generous amount of olive oil into your pan and heat it until it has reached a medium temperature.
Lay down the wieners in the pan. Fair warning: you will experience a serious splatter of hot oil towards you as juices burst out of your Hot Dogs, so be careful and protect your head, hands and arms. Cook your Hot Dogs until they’ve reached a golden brown color, and place them on a kitchen paper towel or a cloth to drain that excess oil.
You can also toast your buns with a little butter in the pan for extra crispness.
Do You Need a Batter?
There are arguments in the world of Hot Dogs when it comes to battering. Some claim that battered wieners are automatically Corn Dogs, but this isn’t always the case. Corn Dog batter is made out of cornflour and spices, and the wiener is put on a stick before it’s deep-fried. We think the lack of a bun is really what distinguishes Hot Dogs from Corn Dogs.
One of the bar favorites for deep-fried Hot Dogs is a simple beer batter. To create a battered Hot Dog, you need:
- A package of your preferred Hot Dog wieners.
- A package of Hot Dog buns.
- 1-cup of flour.
- A bit of flour for a side bowl, approx half a bowl.
- 3-cups of your preferred vegetable oil.
- 1-bottle of your favorite Lager or Pilsner, pretty much every beer works.
Take a bowl and put 1 cup of flour inside and take a second bowl and add half a cup of flour in there as well and put in on the side. Slowly add your beer to 1 full cup of flour until it turns into a consistent, thick batter. You can add spices like coriander, toasted black pepper, and other seasonings to your taste since there isn’t really a recipe.
After the batter has thickened, fill your air fryer or your lidded pot with the vegetable oil and preheat it to 350F (175C). Once the oil reaches the right temperature, powder your wieners with flour from the second cup. Dust excess flour from the wiener, dip the floured wiener into the batter, and finally drop it in the oil.
Put the battered dogs into the oil one at a time and fry them until they’ve reached a golden brown color. Once the wieners are cooked, you can place them in buns and choose your toppings. The whole process shouldn’t take more than half an hour.
To Put the Dog on the Bun
Hot Dogs are a staple food of the modern American cuisine, great for fairs, ball games, or Sunday family get-togethers. They are very simple to make: you can boil them, deep fry them, pan fry them, grill them, and even air fry them for a healthier alternative.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a hungry college student looking for a fun meal after a day of classes or a professional chef with years of experience behind the stove – Hot Dogs are a fun and easy meal we can cook and share with your friends and families, and they’re even more fun to eat. Just remember to thaw them out unless you want to clean up excess oil from your kitchen walls.
