Avoid This Common Mistake When Air-Frying Hot Dogs

The air fryer has definitely taken permanent residence in American kitchens since its launch, largely because it heats up faster than an oven and produces super-crisp results with minimal use of cooking oil. Consumers can simply dump their ingredients inside, give the basket a shake halfway through the cook time, and return to golden nuggets of chicken or a crispy mountain of fries. Cooking hot dogs in an air fryer is a great idea too, but it does come with one caveat — you mustn't cook them for too long or they can dry out.

While professional chefs may balk at using air fryers, they are convenient when you want to produce hot dogs that have oodles of textural complexity and caramelized umami flavor. Boiling frankfurters can leave them waterlogged and bland, whereas air-frying them produces hot dogs with a barbecue-like taste without the hassle of firing up the grill. The key thing to remember is that air fryers work like mini convection ovens, so you need to be mindful that the heat will be swirling around the entire basket, covering all angles — unlike a grill, where the heat emanates solely from the bottom. 

The benefit to this is that you can leave your hot dogs in there mostly unmonitored, as every bit of surface area can crisp up at the same time. That said, they don't need to be in there for a lengthy spell. Any more than three minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and they'll become dehydrated and lose their juicy centers.

In the worst case, overcooking your hot dogs in an air fryer can cause them to split open, releasing all of their juices into the bottom of the basket. To retain the characterful snap of air-fried hot dogs, consider scoring them lightly across the surface to eliminate the risk of them splitting. The slits will allow any steam generated inside to escape freely, preventing the skin from bursting open, and simultaneously produce more opportunities for the exterior of the frankfurters to crisp up. 

Nevertheless, you must still keep a watchful eye on the clock and remove them from the basket before they start to dry up. The upshot? You get juicy hot dogs with a delicious snap and heaps of grilled flavor that are primed for loading up with relish and mustard. In our ranking of the 12 ways to cook hot dogs, it was the broiler that came out on top because it quickly caramelized the exteriors of the 'furters while ensuring the juices stayed inside. Unlike an air fryer, a broiler emanates heat from the top down, which means you will need to flip them over halfway through the cook time.