Hi Steve,
I will be selling hot dogs, hot sausages, chicken, and ribs on a huge mobile grill.
Do you have any suggestions on how to handle the hot dogs and sausages on a grill until they are sold?
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Hot dogs and sausages will dry out quickly on a grill. If you don’t handle them correctly you will throw away more than you sell.
Here’s what to do if you only have a grill and no steam table…
Get a 6″ deep 1/2 size steam pan, fill it about half way with water, and put it on the grill. Place it strategically over the coals so the water will stay hot but below boiling. 150-170 degrees is ideal. Using a lid will keep evaporation to a minimum but will also increase the temperature so monitor it every once in a while.
Grill your dogs and sausages, then transfer them to the water bath to hold them. They will stay moist and tasty for a long time.
When a customer orders one, pull it out of the water and toss it back on the grill for a few seconds just for show, then serve it up.
You can use a few of these water baths if you have enough grill space.
Sell ’em all!
-Steve
I completely agree with Steve about the holding temperature! There is no reason to ever boil a hot dog… they’re already cooked. My health department requires a minimum of 135 degrees for holding, but I think the magic 160 degree mark makes for the best dog. Grill them up, get ahead of the game, they will hold for a while in hot (not boiling) water.
Thanks Greg.
Great idea, I’ll have to remember that! Thanks hermano!
No problemo bro.
I was going to say, just hold them loosely in your hand. If you hold them tight, your going to squish them.
LOL! I knew someone wouldn’t be able to resist that easy pitch.
Great idea matey !
We steam our dog ,but I can do that @ the next family BBQ.
We put the boat on dry dock yesterday. Arrrrggg !!!
1St Mate Jim.
Ye need to be headin’ fer warmer waters mate, so ye can be slingin’ year ’round!
Aye matey !! Warmer waters indeed.
I’ll be doin that soon in retirement.
I’ll be fishing year round !!
Arrrr har har harrrr !!
1St Mate Jim.
Trinidad. Me thinks Trinidad.
What works for me is to bring the sausages up to tempurature (165) in a pan of water on the grill and back down to the minimum holding temp (135 here in LA) so it wont over-cook. When someone askes for a sauage throw it on the grill it will produce grill marks really fast since you rendered the fat from the casing. I find if you grill before and the casing breaks then the flavor will dilute with the water. Good luck, cheers.
Nice!
Steve I agree with the holding in water but when doing so you really need 2 water pots one for the dogs and another for sausages,the tastes don’t mix well when using all beef dogs or stronger tasting sausages. This is how we do fairs.
Good point.
But how long aproxamently, will they last in by this water before theowing them away ?
It depends on the dog. Some retain their flavor longer than others. The best thing to do is perform a taste test on your own cart. Try one of your own dogs every half hour. You will find the point where the flavor and/or texture quality drops off.
If you think your neering the limit for holding the dogs put them in heavy duty zip lock bags with out water in the bag and put them back in the holding pot. I do bags of 20 when we do fairs or large events and they keep for a couple hours. This works good for burgers..but dont boil them.
That is an awesome tip Joe!!! Thanks!
Hi Steve, Here at the Outlet Mall in MN, The folks pretty much like the sausages grilled. On my portable grill I place heavy duty foil over the burner shroud For two reasons. One, it keeps the drippings from making a mess and flaring up the flame which burns the sausages. Two, the foil aids in allowing the sausage to grill completely without having burnt spots and only leaves the chard lines from the wire rack which makes for a good looking sausage. Then I place them in the steam pan where they hold for a long time at around 170 deg. At the end of the day I just remove and discard the foil and only have to clean the wire rack.
Very nice tip Tony!
I can verify that the brats will outsell the hot dogs, most of the time Offer them up two for five dollars, using the sales pitch gets your brats, two for five dollars, instead of mentioning that they cost three bucks a piece Most hungry people can not resist this sale pitch, 90% of the people or more will pay five dollars Make sure to offer yummy onions, onions and brats go hand in hand! Gary the hot dog man
I always eat two. No jokes please 😉
We parboil our sausages to ensure theyes are cooked (160) then can either:
1. Grill it (griddle) to brown up and throw it on the bun and top accordingly.
2. Brown up a bunch after cooking above, then fill the pan in the steam table so they remain hot in their own juices.
3. Cook off a bunch and cool. Reheat the sausage quickly in hot water to bring back up to temperature and brown quickly.
Couple of thoughts.
Our dogs are steamed but we might consider grilling them. Good stuff here on these posts. Thanks Steve!
Good stuff comes from good readers like yourself! I appreciate all of you!
That is one of the reasons I like using skin on products. They hold the flavor in while keeping the water out. I grill the sausages which then put out a wonderful smell as well as some smoke.
My hot dogs come right out of the water and into the bun. I have some customers that like their hot dog split and grilled on a toasted bun. If thats what they want I try to accommodate.
If the grill is “Huge” then you could take a full size steam pan and put in two half sized perforated pans, add water (dirty water if you wish) to the full size steam pan and bingo you can hold them too temp, remember you have a grill right there so don’t over cook you can always cook more. DUGGS DOGGS Good!! Good!!