Chicago Style Hot Dogs Recipe

So you either LOVE the Chicago Style Hot Dog, OR you’ve never had one lol.  Today, we are going to show you exactly how to put this recipe together in exactly what order!  What? Order? Yes!  There is a specific order in which you put these hot dogs together and If you don’t do it right, there’s always a “Chi-ca-go guy” around to let you know about it! Lol.. Ok, Get ready cause our own “Chi-ca-go guy” Mike from Everyday BBQ is going to show you the do’s and don’ts so you can make a proper Chicago Style Hot Dog in your own backyard! This cook will be done on the Slow 'N Sear Travel Kettle. See below for everything you’ll need and full directions for this recipe. 

Ingredients 

• Vienna Brand All Beef Hot Dogs
• Poppy Seed Hot Dog Buns
• Chicago Style Relish
• Sport Peppers
• Celery Salt
• Mustard
• Diced Onions (cut to just under ¼ inch)
• Sliced Tomatoes 
• Dill Pickle Spears
• NO KETCHUP! (This is a Sacrilege, haha)
  

NOTE: IF you cannot locate the ingredients locally, ALL Ingredients for this Chicago Style Hot Dog Recipe are available from www.ViennaBeef.com except for Dill Pickle Spears which you can pickup at your local grocery store!

Prep

Start by washing your hands before performing any food prep.

Unpackage the hot dogs, prepare the onions by dicing them in to just under ¼ cuts, wash and slice your tomatoes, lay all the remaining ingredients out so they are ready, and DO NOT LOOK FOR ANY KETCHUP! Haha

Cook

Place 6-8 unlit coals in one side of the Charcoal Basket and light with a Firestarter.  Allow them to begin catching and lighting for a few minutes.  Once they are lit, place the lid on the cooker and open the vents wide open top and the “Smoke Hole” on the bottom, be sure to close your main bottom vent fully as we will not be using it. I chose to use the “smoke hole” as my bottom vent for this cook as it really helps me dial in temperatures on low in slow cooks. Once you get to within about 75 or 100° of our target temperature of 225-250°F, begin choking back the vents until you get the temperature dialed in. Now you can go ahead and add a few more unlit coals and add a chunk of wood if you like. This is a SHORT cook, so you won’t need much fuel.

Once your temperatures are locked in, place the hot dogs on the indirect side of the cooker for 25-35 minutes or until they are plump, juicy, and sweating nicely.  DO NOT cook until the skin breaks, you want to keep all that flavor inside the dogs!

While the hot dogs are cooking, you should steam the hot dog buns, so they are soft and warm for serving.  To do this, place around 1-2 inches of water in a small pot, place a rack over the top as shown in video, and hat the pot on medium(ish) heat until steam is generated.  Steam the buns on the rack over the heat for 5-10 minutes or until soft and warm (but not wet).

Once the hot dogs are ready, serve them right onto the buns and then it’s time to build these hot dogs the Chicago way!  Place your ingredients on IN THIS ORDER.  Mustard, Relish, Onions, Tomato, Pickle, Sport Peppers (2-3), and sprinkle some Celery Salt on top of all those ingredients.  Now get a big Chicago Style bite out of that dog and ENJOY!