Once the summer is over and the grill has been put away, you’ll need to find other ways to cook your hot dogs.
You may already have tried boiling or baking, but can you cook hot dogs in the microwave? Conveniently, you can.
One of the biggest challenges when microwaving hotdogs is their tendency to split. With careful tending and a few pokes, you can easily microwave hot dogs.
How To Microwave Hot Dogs
Food safety is crucial when cooking hot dogs, no matter what cooking method you use. Even though hot dogs are precooked, they can still develop dangerous bacteria like Listeria.
To avoid the chance of serious illness like listeriosis or other food poisoning, you must heat hotdogs all the way through before eating.
We don’t recommend slitting the hot dog before preparing; piercing holes in the lining allows juices to leak out, resulting in a dry hot dog.
Time To Complete: 5 mins
What You Need
- Microwave
- Hotdogs
- Paper towels
- Microwave-safe plate (or solid paper plate)
- Buns and dressings
Instructions
- Line your microwave-proof plate with a paper towel to absorb any oil or moisture that may seep out during cooking.
- Roll each hot dog tightly in another paper towel and tuck the ends of the towel under the hotdog. This holds the steam inside, helping your hotdog to retain those delicious juices.
- Place your hotdog/s on top of the paper towel-lined plate.
- Heat on high power according to recommend times below, pausing halfway through to check the progress.
- If the hot dog is hot to touch, it’s ready to enjoy. If it’s still cool or lukewarm, put it back in for another 20-30 seconds.
How Long To Microwave Hot Dogs
If you’re cooking a single hotdog, it should be ready to go in less than a minute, but if you’re doing more than one, the time will increase slightly.
One hot dog will only need about 40 seconds. Two hot dogs, around 60-75 seconds, and so on.
Pause the cooking about halfway through to check on the cooking progress – different hotdogs and microwaves cook at different rates, so assess if they’re ready halfway through to avoid overcooking.
How To Boil Hot Dogs In The Microwave
Time To Complete: 10 mins
What You Need
- Microwave
- Hotdogs
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Water
- Paper towels
- Buns and dressings
SEE ALSO: Can You Microwave Glass?
Instructions
- Run a knife down the length of each hot dog to prevent splitting during cooking.
- Half-fill a microwave-safe bowl with water – enough to fully submerge your hotdogs. Make sure you leave some space at the top of the bowl so the boiling water isn’t likely to spill and scald you when you remove it from the microwave.
- Put the bowl in the microwave and run it on high for one minute. The more hotdogs you use, the longer the cooking time.
- If the hotdog feels hot when you carefully touch it, it’s ready.
- When they are heated thoroughly, carefully drain the water from the bowl and lay the hotdogs on a paper towel to drain. They are then ready to go.
How To Thaw Hot Dogs In The Microwave
You can use the microwave to quickly thaw frozen hot dogs, but once thawed, they should be cooked straight away to avoid the chance of bacterial growth.
The method is similar to cooking but uses shorter cooking increments to ensure even thawing.
- Wrap the frozen hotdog/s in a paper towel to absorb any moisture released during thawing.
- Place on a microwave-safe plate.
- Microwave on low power for 30 seconds at a time, checking progress as you go.
- Once you feel the hot dog start to warm up, you can keep cooking in the microwave by switching to medium or high power and continue heating (checking the progress every 30 seconds) until cooked.