How to Grill the Perfect Hot Dog

Whether gas or charcoal, following steps will help set your grill up for success when cooking the Holy Grail of  Memorial Day foods -- the hot dog:

1. Clean it before you use it: Be honest – you haven’t used your grill since last summer and it’s pretty nasty looking. The day before your first cookout, heat the gas grill on high, or add enough coals to a standard grill for high heat. Place the cover on top, allowing any crust and build up to burn off. Scrape the grate with a clean grill brush and, once the grate has cooled enough, rub canola or sunflower oil over the grates to keep it seasoned (just like a cast iron skillet).
2. Consider organic: Using natural gas is great, but if using charcoal, consider organic products to heat things up instead of lighter fluid or briquettes made with chemicals. Organic wood briquettes offer vegetable-based starters, and briquettes made from coconut are also available.
3. Use hot dogs with natural casings: Skip the national brands and go straight for the deli counter for organic hot dogs in natural casings. The organic dogs contain better ingredients and the natural casings crisp up when they hit the grill.
4. Create hot and cool zones. If using charcoal, build the hot coals up higher on one side and lower on the other to create high and medium/low heat. Start hot dogs in the hot zone to sear and create an outer crust, then move to the medium zone to finish cooking. If using gas, keep half of the grill on high heat, and the other half on low. Most gas grills come with a warming rack above the main grill, but if you’re missing the warming rack, keep one of the burners off and place foods on that side to keep warm.
5. Take its temperature: Unless you’re up for the worst Memorial Day ever, be sure to check the internal temperature of your hot dogs before serving, which should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Undercooked hot dogs can leave you with a stomach full of listeria monocytogenes, which can be fatal. Seriously.
6. Don’t leave the grill: If you’re going to be grill master for the day, commit to it. Leaving the food unattended can lead to overcooked, charred-beyond-recognition dogs. Stay a while, or take turns with your buddies.
7. Bust out the condiments, all the way: If you’re grilling the perfect dogs, you’ve got to have the perfect condiments to go with them. Store-bought ketchup, mustard, relish and pickles won’t do, you’ve got to make your own. Lucky for you, we’ve got recipes for them all:

Homemade Ketchup
Homemade Mustard with Coriander and Ale
Kosher-Style Dill Pickles, Without Pickling
Summer Picnic Relish