I don’t want to go grill it outside because it is cloudy today.

And boiling it makes it kinda flobby.

Has anyone grilled a hotdog in a bread toaster before? any hints?

Edit 1:

Pan fried following this advice!

I had a delicious meal!!!

Thank you @tokookah@discuss.tchncs.de!

The hotdog fits in my frying pan! Hot dog in tiny frying pan

Completed dog

Mayonnaise on English bread, Lettuce ontop, dog on lettuce, Ketchup, Mustard, delicious!

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    If you are talking about the vertical style bread toaster, don’t cook anything that isn’t bread in those. If you are talking about a toaster oven, you can wrap it in foil and bake it.

    A solid alternative, and what makes a hotdog’s flavor really pop, is cutting it into 6-10 pieces and pan frying it.

      • RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Grease from the hot dog could short the heating elements and cause a fire.

        If you really want a grilled dog, your best bet is to stick it under the broiler for a few minutes.

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        You don’t want the juices dripping down into an electric appliance do you? That risks burning the toaster up, or even getting electrocuted.

      • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        Why wouldn’t it cook a non-bread?

        • You will almost certainly have to stick a fork down into the vertical style bread toaster to retrieve the hotdog, which is hella unsafe.
        • It’s also almost impossible to clean the vertical style ones, which isn’t a problem for bread since the extra bits just burn off, but it is a problem for other foods like meats, as bits can easily rot in there.
        • Meats can also drip grease onto the elements, which will cause a fire.

        I’m not sure what cookware you have, but it sounds like you may be pretty limited on choices/space. I would highly recommend swapping the vertical toaster for a toaster oven. As they are basically little ovens that you can cook almost anything in, including toast and hotdogs.

        • Clocks [They/Them]@lemmy.mlOP
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          27 days ago
          • I suppose I could turn it off then use the fork.
          • Would tinfoil be an acceptable alternative? the tin would transfer the heat to the hotdog as to prevent the juices from staining the inside. this would also subtract the issue of the hotdog needing a fork.
          • Do vegan dogs change this situations?

          I do have to consider a toaster oven, they are far more convenient compared to my full sized oven.

        • Clocks [They/Them]@lemmy.mlOP
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          26 days ago

          Perhaps it might not be apparent for you, but forming and discussing subjects like this are necessary to developing how “lived in” a platform is. With the death of the internet search due to AI, it simply increases the need of these answers to be written on a platform that hopefully will help spread these subjects for far longer and more ethically; rather then the closed silos of the past.

          I am not “struggling”, and to try and assert that based on some cursory readings feels extremely presumptuous.

          In other words, don’t assume things and enjoy silly and fun subjects like these a bit more.

          • braindefragger@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            death of the internet search because of ai.

            Dramatic much? Yes. I’m sure it’s simply impossible now to find out how to reheat a hotdog using a search engine or the AI that has consumed all of that data.

            IMPOSSIBLE!

  • j4k3@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    You need to clean out the crumbs tray before you do this, and then wash it after. Make sure that the inner grating does not have anything stuck after too.

    Toasters are only intended for dry bread. Inside they are usually just a very simple timer chip and a small 2 piece transformer. When the lever is pulled, part of that transformer is connected using a piece of steel. There is a momentary switch that powers the timer circuit which then connects the transformer holding the steel in place due to the magnetism. When the timer stops powering the transformer, it releases the steel when the magnetic field collapses.

    When the circuit is connected, the power through this small transformer is traveling through a nickel-chromium ribbon wire on both sides of the slots for bread. This wire is just wound around some mica sheets that can handle high temperatures. As far as the mica and nicrome wire, this construction style is used in most consumer quality devices. You’ll find this in hotplates, hair driers, curling irons, and toasters.

    Note that, the transformers used in the timing circuit of toasters are not the isolated type. The nichrome wire is connected to the live mains circuit when powered.

    I say all of this to make the statement: fundamentally, it is just a heating element. The fact that the element is inside a form factor is rather irrelevant. The relevant part is that the wiener likely contains fat and liquids that will come out with heat. If these were to squirt onto the mica or nichome wire it would be a problem that must be remedied with a tremendous amount of work or it could leave traces that might cause a fire later. If these juices got into the circuitry, it will likely destroy them and ruin the toaster. The placement of this circuitry is likely somewhere where an issue is unlikely, but all I can do is speculate. The engineers that designed the thing likely were not given a if-wiener-insertion constraint, and I don’t think that is a UL listed thing.

    Ultimately, you have to play the engineer and determine the cost to risk given the known and potential factors; it is just a simple heating element. This is only slightly more complex of a situation as a cave person’s if-campfire wiener insertion conundrum. The plastic molding and appliance form factor aesthetics are irrelevant.

  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    I tried microwaving a hot dog recently (I had a microwave for 30 years and never thought to try!) and it works surprisingly well. The skin was even browned.

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    A toaster oven? Sure. Use the broil setting and a broil pan or a normal pan, turning occasionally. Broil is just an upside down grill.