The Hot Dog Hack You Need To Try The Next Time You're Feeding A Crowd

The classic outdoor barbecue scene is a bunch of hot dogs smoking on a grill, with buns and a bottle of yellow mustard placed just in reach for when it's time to eat. If you're hosting a big party, however, you may want to get some food ready in advance. The problem is you're somewhat limited to a few hot dogs at a time depending on the size of your pan. You also need to hope that nothing gets cold before the party gets going. Luckily, there's a more efficient way to prepare a bunch of hot dogs (or franks) for a crowd, and it involves breaking out a slow cooker.

Before guests begin to arrive, simply add a pile of hot dogs into the slow cooker — no water or other additions are necessary — and let them cook in their own juices on high heat. If you've got just a small handful of franks, then they might be ready within an hour, but a larger batch may require you to start a few hours in advance. The best part? You can leave them sitting in the slow cooker on warm heat once they're ready, and they'll stay ready fresh for about 3 hours until it's time to serve them.

How many hot dogs can you fit in an average slow cooker? Filled to the absolute maximum, you should be able to heat about 60 franks at once, which should be enough for plenty of folks at a decent gathering to have seconds. They won't be especially fancy, and you're not doing much besides heating up pre-cooked grocery store hot dogs, so be sure to buy some quality sausages. Either way, they'll taste way better than microwaved hot dogs. You don't have to add water, since the franks will naturally release liquid during the process and come out nice and juicy. Heating them this way is somewhat reminiscent of a hot dog cart, although their meats are heated in water (hence the "dirty water" hot dog nickname used by NYC vendors).

If you do want to spice up your slow cooker dogs before you serve them, consider heating them with a sauce of your choosing, like barbecue or Worcestershire (or mix them into a bourbon). If you've got leftovers, you can put that slow cooker to use again and make an old-school hot dog casserole with potatoes and onions or a chili dog casserole with shredded cheese and chili. Either way, your guests will be happy.