This Is The Best Way To Cook Hot Dogs, According To Joey Chestnut

If anyone knows hot dogs, it's Joey Chestnut. The world-renowned 42-year-old is an American competitive eater and is widely known as being the greatest eater of all time, holding 55 world records. He is, however, most famously known for blowing away his competition 18 times at the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. In 2026, Chestnut won when he consumed 66 hot dogs (with buns) in 10 minutes. One would think he'd want nothing to do with hot dogs (also known as franks) outside of competition, but he actually loves to eat them even when no one is counting. But he's admittedly picky about how they're prepared, noting that they're best when cooked on a griddle.

In 2024, Chestnut told People, "... if someone gives me a bad hot dog, or it's boiled, then it's rough," adding that cooking them on a flat top griddle, "... gets the juices flowing and they cook really nicely so they can get a little snap in there." He also noted that he considered all-beef wieners with natural casings the best. (We ranked 10 store-bought 100% beef dogs, although not all of them had natural casings.) Conveniently enough, Nathan's Famous in Coney Island, which hosts the annual contest, cooks its dogs on a flat top griddle, just the way Chestnut likes.

There are more than a few ways to cook a hot dog — in fact, we once ranked 12 ways to do the job, and this was just a partial list. Even when it comes to griddling, there are several methods to make hot, flavorful franks. Joey Chestnut didn't specify exactly how his ideal hot dog is prepared, but we know that at Nathan's Famous, the crew griddles its beef wieners intact, without splitting them down the middle or spiraling them. When you split (or butterfly) hot dogs, you can push them down on your griddle to get the inside and outside cooked and crisp. You can also stuff more toppings inside of the split side, which is always a good thing.

Another idea is to spiral the dogs first, which basically means you slice into your wiener like a corkscrew. Once griddled, you get amazing crispy edges and little indentations for toppings to sink into. You don't need an industrial restaurant griddle to make hot dogs this way at home. An electric, countertop version or a cast iron one that sits over your gas stove will work great. Just heat it up and place your hot dogs on top, rolling or turning them around so that every side gets that caramelized, snappy texture. To add even more flavor, you can griddle them in butter.