While we hate to see it happen, sometimes all the hot dogs that come in a pack don’t get cooked up. You might buy a pack of hot dogs, and they end up sitting in your fridge for a few days while you remain largely uninspired to eat them. Even though Ina Garten considers hot dogs a breakfast food, it can seem like there just aren’t enough meals in the day to use them up. That’s okay because they actually freeze super well and last a while once frozen — up to two months (compared to seven days opened, in the fridge). Food Republic got the low-down from Chris Mattera, culinary innovator at North Country Smokehouse, on how best to prep them for the max shelf-life in the freezer.
“If the original packaging is a vacuum bag and is in good condition, I would not hesitate to freeze them in it,” he told us. So actually, if you have an unopened package of hot dogs, there is hardly any prep needed — just put them in, as-is. Mattera continued, “If it is not already under vacuum, I would recommend re-packing them in a single layer in a vacuum bag (Food Saver style is fine) before freezing.” If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, a zip-top freezer-safe bag will also do the trick; you might also wrap them with aluminum foil or plastic wrap before bagging them to help prevent freezer burn.
More hot dog freezing know-how
“You could get totally obsessive and freeze them in liquid nitrogen before transferring to a deep freezer,” Chris Mattera also suggested, “but that is probably a bit much for most home cooks.” What is in home cooks’ purview is to flash-freeze their hot dogs individually so that they don’t have to defrost the entire brick when they only want one or two.
To do this, dab the hot dogs dry with a paper towel or two and then place them, not touching each other, on a baking sheet. Pop it in the freezer for an hour or so, pull it out, and then place the frozen dogs in a zip-top freezer bag. Then they can be defrosted in smaller amounts more quickly.
And speaking of defrosting, Mattera explained, “Freezing hot dogs is safe and effective for extending their shelf life; however, they may thaw with a slightly softer texture and less snap on the casing due the action of ice crystals on the meat emulsion.” With that in mind, he told us, the key is to defrost them gently. “Leave them in whatever package you froze them in, and thaw them overnight in the fridge before cooking and consuming them all,” Mattera said though you could also boil them in broth, water, or beer from frozen, adding on a few extra minutes cook time. But don’t, he told us, refreeze them after thawing or cooking.
