The Best Grilled Hot Dogs

Ingredients

• 4 cups stewed hot-dog onions or 1 package sauerkraut
• 2 bottles lager or light ale
• 2 pounds natural casing all-beef hot dogs
• Hot dog buns, for serving
• Mustard, for serving
• Type of fire: two-zone indirect
• Grill heat: medium-high

Directions

1. Start one full chimney of charcoal. Once the coals are glowing and coated in gray ash, dump them onto one side of the charcoal grate. Put the cooking grate on top, cover the grill, and let it heat for 5 minutes. If you’re using a gas grill instead, turn half the burners to the highest heat setting, close the lid, and preheat for 10 minutes. Scrub the grate clean, then oil it.
2. Spoon the stewed onions and their juices into a 10-inch square disposable aluminum pan, then pour in the beer. Tuck the hot dogs down into the sauerkraut.
3. Set the pan over the hot side of the grill and cook until the liquid is simmering, about 7 minutes. Move the pan to the cooler side, then cover the grill with the vents positioned above the hot dogs. Leave all vents open and cook until the hot dogs are warmed through, about 10 minutes, turning them once midway.
4. Take off the lid. With tongs, lift the hot dogs out of the onions and set them right on the grate over the hot side. Grill, turning now and then, until the outsides are browned and crisp, about 3 minutes total. Put the hot dogs back in the onions. If you’d like, toast the buns over the hot side of the grill. Serve the hot dogs in buns with mustard and onions.