Everybody loves a good hot dog! Whether it’s at a barbecue, as a snack or as an easy meal when you don’t have the time to cook. Hot dogs already tend to have a fairly long shelf life, but you might be wondering whether you can extend this shelf life? And how?
Can You Freeze Hot Dogs?
Yes, you can freeze hot dogs for up to 3 months. The best approach to take when freezing hot dogs is to drain them if they’re in liquid, bag them up, seal the bags up and then place them into the freezer.
Do Do Hot Dogs freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Hot Dogs? No
How To Freeze Hot Dogs
Raw hot dogs will need to be frozen as soon as you get them home or within a few hours. This ensures the food is kept as fresh as possible and has a minimal chance for unhealthy bacteria to grow.
If you have unopened hot dogs, then you can put the whole unopened package into the freezer. You do need to add the date first so grab a sharpie and do that before placing the whole package into the freezer.
If you have opened hot dogs that haven’t been frozen, then you can use this method.
- Drain and Store: Drain the hotdogs and pop them into the container. A good-quality, thick freezer bag will do the trick here or you can use a Tupperware container.
- Seal: Seal the container or bag tightly. If you can squeeze out any excess air, then do this too.
- Label and Freeze: Label the bag with the date and then pop the hot dogs into the freezer.
This method works well for traditional beef dogs, pork hot dogs or even lamb hot dogs. In fact, you can even use this method for freezing sausages.
How to Freeze Tinned Hot Dogs
Tinned hot dogs can keep for ages in the tin. Just take a look at the best before date on the side of the tin for more information. However, once opened, the hot dogs need to be eaten within a day or two.
You should be able to freeze leftover tinned hot dogs too. Just follow the same method above and freeze them as soon as you can after opening the tin.
It would help if you never freeze an unopened tin of hot dogs. The metal degrades in the freezer, and this can also harm the food inside.
If you want to freeze any hot dogs in a tin open the tin first and take the hot dogs out of the tin. Then you can follow the instructions above to freeze.
3 Tips for Freezing Hot Dogs
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing hot dogs to have the best results:
Label Clearly
As with anything you freeze, writing clear labels is vital. This is especially important if you have frozen both meat and vegetarian hot dogs as it will be near-impossible to tell which is which when they’re frozen.
Freeze In Portions
Consider how many hot dogs you use in a go and then freeze them in portions of this size. If you’re a family of four who eat two each then freeze them in bags of eight, for example.
Store as a Meal
You can also cook hot dogs into a meal and freeze this. A pasta sauce, a stew or a pie with hot dogs in can all be frozen with success.
How Long Can You Freeze Hot Dogs?
Hot dogs can be kept in the freezer for up to three months. After this, the food can degrade, which does change the texture and taste of the hot dogs. This should be plenty of time to use up any leftover hot dogs you have from a tin or a package.
If you have bought your hot dogs frozen then check the packaging for information on how long you can keep those in the freezer.
Unopened hot dogs will usually last for weeks but it’s best to check the label. Once opened, however, they will need to be consumed within 5 to 7 days.
How Do You Defrost Hot Dogs?
Hot dogs should be thawed out fully before cooking unless the packaging on your hot dogs says otherwise. To do this, you can pop a couple of hot dogs into a bowl in the fridge and let it defrost for several hours.
If you can prepare in advance, then you could pop the frozen hot dogs into the fridge before you go to bed so they will be ready the next day.
Can You Refreeze Hot Dogs?
No, it would be best if you didn’t refreeze hot dogs. This applies even if you have thawed out and then cooked. Freezing deteriorates food and especially with foods like meats can make you sick if bacteria have had a chance to grow.
It is during freezing and heating that these nasty bacteria have the best chance of growing so don’t attempt this more than once.
This does mean you have to be extra careful if you have bought frozen hot dogs. You can[‘t put them back in the freezer once you have thawed and heated them.
So you will need to use up those hotdogs or throw any away if you can’t eat them within a couple of days.
Do Hot Dogs Freeze Well?
Most hot dogs do freeze well! Some may differ, and this will depend on your ingredients and how they were made.
But in most cases, you shouldn’t notice too much of a difference if you have frozen them properly and have used them within about three months of freezing.
Yes, freezer burnt hot dogs will be fine to eat in terms of safety. However, they will have dried out, will have a peculiar texture and can be bland in flavour.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing hot dogs or hot dogs in general, then these may help:
Yes, you can freeze corn dogs. Once they have cooled down, place them into a good-quality freezer bag, seal them up and then place them into the freezer where they will keep for around 2 months.
What would a hot dog be without a bun? The good news is that you can freeze hot dog buns too. Place each hot dog bun into a small freezer bag, seal it up and then freeze. You’ll need to defrost them thoroughly before eating.
Unfortunately, because you don’t know the processes that Rollover hot dogs have been through, we cannot recommend freezing them. If they have been frozen previously, then you could make yourself him refreezing them so, for this reason, we would avoid doing so.
Yes, frankfurters can be frozen for up to 3 months. Pop them into a bag, seal them up whilst removing as much air as possible and then freeze.
Sources
We have verified the information on this page using the following resources:
Can you freeze a Hot Dog? Wiener within a bun?
A Hot Dog is not just a bun nor just a wiener it’s a meal in itself. So I’m asking can you freeze a wiener in a bun?
Your not reading my question correctly!