Jeffrey Mauro Has An Easy Way To Steam Hot Dog Buns

Jeffrey Mauro not only hosts "Sandwich King" on Food Network, he is a sandwich king, bringing a taste of Chicago's iconic Italian Beef to the masses through his food supply company, Mauro Provisions. The Chi-town native also has an abundance of wisdom to share when it comes to achieving the perfect hot dog bun. While some people do prefer their buns toasty and crisp, others like a softer bite (just like you get them after unrolling them from the aluminum foil in a ballpark). And Mauro has a suggestion for how to achieve that, without any extra tools or equipment — all you need is the bag the buns came in.

That's right, simply put the hot dogs, fresh off the grill, into the waiting buns, and then stash the assembled dogs back in the bag, sealing it tightly to trap all the heat. The residual heat from the hot dogs will steam the buns, and in no time, you'll have a properly warmed-through bite (and as Mauro mentions, this is also a terrific way to transport your wieners, without having to worry about them getting cool on the way to your destination). If you're not traveling with the bag of hot dogs, you could also dress them before putting them in their little steamer chamber. To avoid a big mess though, try this condiment hack where you put the toppings down first.

Jeffrey Mauro's method for steaming hot dog buns is about as easy as it gets, but if you accidentally throw out your bun bag, there are still some pretty fuss-free, convenient ways to get your buns pillowy soft using the same concept. For example, if you only need one or two hot dog buns, you can use your rice cooker. It's the same idea as the bag hack; just put the hot dogs into the rice cooker and put the lid on — you don't even have to turn on the appliance (though you could if you wanted to, with a little water at the bottom and the steamer basket in place); you're essentially just using it to trap in the heat from the grilled dogs.

In that same vein, if you're making hot dogs for a crowd, you can steam even more dogs-in-buns by placing them in your slow cooker and putting the lid on. With slow cookers, too, if you have a power source nearby, you can plug it in and set it to warm, thus sustaining the bun steaming for longer. Finally, you can also trap the heat from the cooked hot dogs in your microwave, and even give them a little moisture boost by microwaving a bowl of water before loading them in.