Hot Dog BBQ

The hot dog is offered in at least a dozen varieties. With cole slaw (Atlanta-style), with sauerkraut (New York- or Milwaukee-style), with mayo and tomatoes (Phoenix- or San Francisco-style). It is available with mustard, ketchup or mayonnaise. It is available sweet and sour, with pickles, cheese or with bacon. I wanted to mention the Danish Pølser (Danish-style) - as a kind of European variant. My goal was to have a hot dog that you can serve for a barbecue. In the right size, it also makes a good starter.

First of all, the sausage. A Pølser or a Wienerle is not suitable for BBQ. With the Pølsern I have seldom found one that was good. The colored plastic skin already frightens me. It has to be a bratwurst. In the end I decided on a coarse bratwurst from the butcher I trust. I poke small holes in it from all sides with a toothpick.

Put the beer with the caraway seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the sausages and leave to stand on the lowest setting on the hotplate for 20 minutes (do not boil). Then take it out and only slightly scratch the skin in a few places for the grill. Now the sausage can lie until it is needed or until the grill is ready.

Cut the onions into rings. Boil a cup of water in a cast iron pan and add the onions. Instead of the water, you can also use the brew that the sausage was in. Stir and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Now add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter and fry over low heat until the onions have turned brown. Salt. Add another 1 tbsp clarified butter and dust with 1 tbsp flour. Stir in without the lump and now roast the onions in the fat, stirring constantly. If necessary, add a little more fat. When the onions are nicely brown and crispy, take them out of the pan and drain the fat on paper towels. Keep warm.

Clean the lettuce. Since there is usually salad at barbecues, you can branch off a bit here. Cut into the rolls - ideally parisettes - but don't cut them all open.

Prepare the grill with a three-zone ember. First put the sausages on the grill over indirect heat. A kettle grill is an advantage here. Let the sausages get well hot again for at least 5 minutes, then move them onto the embers. Instead, place the rolls in the indirect grill position.

Mix the mustard with the ketchup. Take the rolls off the grill when they are crispy. Turn the sausages when they have a nice grill color.

Pour some of the ketchup mustard mixture into the bun and spread it on. Add the lettuce and mustard ketchup again and press the sausages fresh from the grill. Serve sprinkled with the still warm roasted onions. Halved with a sharp knife, they also make a good starter for barbecuing with several guests.

If you want, you can of course have cole slaw or sauerkraut instead of the salad. But sauerkraut in particular doesn't go well with a summer BBQ for me. Should it still be sauerkraut, I recommend boiling the herb with the beer stock in which the sausages were.