My youngest son turns 1 today–it’s even crazier to read it while I type it. Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we had his birthday party. I don’t know about you, but for me, planning a party is stressful! What are you serving? Who are you inviting? Did you even send the invites? What’s the weather going to be? Don’t forget to clean the house! And don’t even get me started on what the kids and I are going to wear.
Luckily for me, figuring out what to serve doesn’t actually have to stress me out–I can always rely on hot dog roller grill as an option! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good hamburger on the gas grill in the summer, but no host wants to be hunched over the hot grill when she can be socializing with guests and actually enjoying the party she’s throwing.
The roller grill makes our lives much easier and it’s fun for our guests.
Our preparations started with a trip to Gordon Food Service to pick-up the roller grill products. You need to make sure you purchase the right products for your roller grill–you can’t purchase just any regular hot dogs or bratwursts because they could fall through the rollers or the shape could affect the heating process.
Using the roller grill is as easy as 1-2-3!
- When the first guest arrives at the party, pre-heat the roller grill, letting it run at high heat for about 20 minutes. (This might be labeled as “preheat” or “high heat” depending on your grill’s manufacturer.)
- Turn the heat down to the “Cook” setting, place products and let cook for 20 minutes.
- Let your guests serve themselves and enjoy! (After product has cooked for 20 minutes, turn the grill down to “Hold Warm” or “Hold”–again, the label may vary depending on your grill.)
Most roller grill products have a grill “hold time” of 4 hours, meaning your guests can continue to treat themselves to items from the grill for the duration of your event! Plus, roller grills have separate front and rear heating elements, allowing you to prepare more hot dogs (or even taquitos) at the back of the grill–move all the cooked items to the front–if you start running low and want to get more going.
Don’t forget that condiments are a must! You’ll want your guests to be able to customize their hot dogs to their own likings, so be sure that you have a variety of toppings options; there’s more to offer than just ketchup and mustard. Diced red onions, fresh mushrooms, sliced peppers, even celery salt, all make great options to get your condiments bar looking more appetizing. Check out my “Be Your Own Hot Dog Toppings Boss” post for more great ideas.
We have a sneeze guard for our roller grill because it’s perfect for keeping the heat in and the germs out. Plus, for those summer cook outs, it’ll keep the bugs off the food!
Whether you’re throwing a graduation party, a backyard Fourth of July cookout, or even looking for ways to incorporate roller grill into your foodservice operations, there are lots of great accessories to complement your roller grill set up:
- Sneeze Guards Prevent germs and other debris from getting on your grill! Sneeze guards are an essential part of any roller grill merchandising display. foodpros offers standard plastic dome styles, as well more aesthetically pleasing canopy style food sneeze guards.
- Bun Warmers & Cabinets While it might seem less necessary for a party, a bun cabinet will keep your hot dog buns fresher–and prevent squashing–and most fit directly under the grill.
- Smallwares foodpros is your destination for food service supplies, and that includes smallwares of all kinds, including glassware and serving utensils appropriate for parties or commercial kitchen equipment for food prep at larger operations.
Now that the party is over, clean the roller grill and wait for the phone to ring–all of your guests are going to want to borrow this for their next party!
Leave a Reply