Automatic hot dog cooking grill

[Jon]

Following up to yesterday's Sprinkler Grill post, here's a look at a homemade automatic grill for hot dogs and sausages. Apparently this GIF is from a Dutch television show, and the sausage in question is called frikandel.



Yes, I know that saying "hot dogs and sausages" is incorrect, because a hot dog technically is a sausage. However, this characterization must only exist in the metric system, because here in America hot dogs and sausages are mutually exclusive culinary designations.

Like the sprinkler grill, this contraption addresses the age-old conundrum faced by those grilling hot dogs (and sausages!) - how do you achieve even browning when cooking a cylindrical object on a flat surface?

Convenience stores - a legend in hot dog cookery - have already solved this problem with a hot dog roller, which you can get on Amazon these days. The problem is that these machines generally cook hot dogs electrically, and not over propane flame or charcoal. They run from around $50 to $200. Here's one common option:



Another solution is to purchase a hot dog roller rack for a grill, like the one below.



Like all decent people, I love grilling tools. But like most grilling tools, this one looks gimmicky to me. I'm not sure how to regulate the turning for even browning, and I don't like how so much of the hot dog surface area sits against the rollers, almost as if the hot dogs are partially pan-fried instead of being fully exposed to the grill heat source. It also seems purpose-built for a specific circumference of hot dog. I'm afraid that if I pulled this out at a barbecue, someone would eventually pick up a beer bottle cap and start playing it like a mini washboard in a backyard barbecue jug band.

[ragsflh]

neat now i need to make one

[Moby Duck]

Great machine I like it, but I have some doubts about whether these Frikandels are being actually cooked or just charred by the coals.

Where I come from American Hot Dogs are boiled, not grilled, as are several other red/brown skinned sausages called Frankfurters, Saveloys, Polonies, Cherios etc.
(We call a Frankfurter in a long bread roll an American Hot Dog, whereas an ordinary sausage, lengthwise on a stick, dipped in batter and deep fried is a Hot Dog).
Sausages are grilled or fried in a pan, but the best way to achieve even browning is to bake them in a pan in the oven. Give it a try, even cooking, even brown colour all over, and no charred burnt spots.
I note that the American spell checker doesn't recognise, Saveloys, Polonies, Cherios, but I am sure that you will have their equivalents.
I have also been told that if you were to post a clip on how the likes of Frankfurters are made, many viewers would never eat them again.

[Jon]