Campfire Corn Dogs
Cornmeal batter, shelf-stable hot dogs, and a skillet of hot oil over the fire.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 240 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 1/4 cups | 1 1/4 cups in the batter mix, 1 cup kept dry for dredging |
|---|---|---|
| Cornmeal | 4 tbsp | |
| Sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Malted milk powder | 2 tbsp | optional, but it browns the crust |
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Onion and garlic powder | 1/2 tsp each | optional |
| Whole milk powder | 1/3 cup | reconstitutes into the 1 cup of milk |
| Powdered whole egg | 4 tbsp | stands in for 2 large eggs |
| Ghee or clarified butter | 4 tbsp | travels without a cooler |
| Shelf-stable hot dogs | 1 pack of 8 | canned or vacuum-packed, not the refrigerated kind |
| Grapeseed oil | 1 quart | enough for 2 inches in a small skillet |
| Water | 1 cup | |
| Skewers | 8 | stripped green sticks work |
Method
- Build a fire down to steady coals and set a cast iron skillet or small dutch oven on the grate. Pour in oil two inches deep, leaving two inches of rim above it.
- While the oil heats, whisk the milk powder and egg powder into 1 cup of cold water until no lumps float. Add the batter mix a little at a time and stir just until it comes together. Overworking it makes the crust tough.
- Melt the ghee at the edge of the fire and pour it into the batter in a slow stream, folding rather than beating.
- Test the oil with a drop of batter. It should bubble hard and rise in a couple of seconds. If it smokes, pull the pan off the coals for a minute.
- Skewer each hot dog, roll it in the reserved dry flour, then dip it into the batter and let the excess run off.
- Lower two at a time into the oil. Turn them once. Three to four minutes total, until deep brown.
- Drain on a paper bag. Let the oil cool fully in the pan before you deal with it.
This is a fried recipe, so it belongs at a car camp or basecamp where you can carry a quart of oil in and carry it back out. Nothing here needs a cooler. Fresh milk, eggs, and butter all have powdered or clarified versions that hold at ambient temperature, and shelf-stable hot dogs are close enough to the refrigerated ones once they are inside a fried crust. The flour dredge before the batter dip is the part people skip; without it the batter slides off the casing and you get bald spots.
Oil temperature is the whole game over a fire, and you cannot dial a fire down. Cook over coals rather than flames, and use the pan position on the grate as your control: closer for hotter, off to the side to recover. Two inches of oil in a small pan gives you enough depth to float a corn dog without hauling a gallon jug. Plan where cooled oil goes before you start, because pouring it on the ground is not an option.
Packing
Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, malt powder, baking powder, salt, and spices at home in one bag. Bag the reserved dredging flour separately, and keep the milk and egg powders in a third. Oil rides in a sealed bottle inside a second bag.
Variations
- No malted milk powder is fine. The crust is paler and a little less sweet.
- Cut the hot dogs in half for shorter cook times and less oil splatter.
- Leftover batter fried in spoonfuls makes hush puppies.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/campfire-corn-dogs