More Flavor And Ultra Crispy Skin: This Is The Only Hot Dog Trick You'll Ever Need

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Hot dogs are great, but they can be boring. They're so common that you need a little something extra to make them stand out. Some home chefs upgrade hot dog toppings by slapping them on the grill for an extra edge, while others go all-out with the buns or take this simple step for 10X better flavor; but there's a faster way to create more flavorful hot dogs. Get an extra blast of umami goodness and crispy bits of caramelized skin by scoring your hot dogs before cooking them up. Just cut a series of small, shallow slices across the top of the hot dog before it goes over the heat and watch the transformation.

The first time you score your hot dogs, you'll wonder why you haven't been doing it all along. It's a 10 second trick that changes the whole dish and turns even the cheapest wiener into something that looks a bit gourmet. Scoring results in more than just a pretty hot dog, though. Small slices throughout the top of the frank create more surface area for cooking, so you'll get super crispy skin. It also exposes the inside of the hot dog to direct heat; caramelizing the sugars and fat usually trapped in the casing

Pro tip: Don't score hot dogs if you're boiling them. It'll just provide a way for the hot water to draw all the flavor out as they cook. Stovetop boiling hot dogs is one of the worst ways to cook hot dogs anyway. Score and broil or put them on the grill instead.

Believe it or not, there's more than one way to score a hot dog. All scoring methods help them cook more evenly; the difference is mainly in the visual presentation. The simplest way to score a hot dog is to make small, diagonal slices down the top with a small kitchen knife. This method gives your hot dog a spiralized look after it's done cooking. Alternatively, create an actual spiral score in your hot dog with the help of a skewer. Cut a slow spiral while you twist the hot dog with the skewer, which can also help you judge the depth of the cut. If you like this method, consider buying a hot dog spiralizer which will do all that work in one step.

Many home chefs score their hot dogs in a crosshatch pattern by cutting crisscross slices down the length. This creates more edges that turn into ultra crispy skin and a next level visual presentation. A small kitchen knife does the job nicely, but you can also get a hot dog slicing gadget to do the work for you; an especially great idea if you're entertaining and have a lot of food to prepare.