Brats, the correct way

[Nape]

65 degrees today so it’s perfect for the first batch of brats this spring. I’ve been cooking them this way for 30+ years. IMO it’s the only way.

It’s a good thing that our local Caputo’s has copious types of sausages to choose from.



Obviously, I went with fresh brats.

 

[RJ2kWJ]

Really weird for me to get a boner at 2:11pm on a Monday.

 

[Nape]

In a large pot put a sliced yellow onion and cut a whole head of garlic in half. Put in enough beer to cover (I used 3 Old Style Tallboys) and bring to a very low simmer. This could take 30 minutes over medium low heat. If you bring it to a quick boil it causes the beer to lose it’s “body” and it overcooks the onions/garlic. A slow simmer will pull all that flavor out and into the beer.

 

[TJHall1]

 

[Nape]

The beer has pulled all of the flavor out of the onions and garlic. I covered it, turned off the heat, and will fire up the grill when I get back from taking my girl to dance.

 

[Quatch$]

The beer has pulled all of the flavor out of the onions and garlic. I covered it, turned off the heat, and will fire up the grill when I get back from taking my girl to dance.
View attachment 10145

 

[Boxman4]

 

[Cards1968]

Picked up my monthly batch from the local German deli this past weekend. Brötchen is a must.

 

[Nape]

Patient bear is being patient. Traffic at 4 sucks dick.

I added about 1/2 a tallboy to the beer and onions just to invigorate it a bit.

Took the brats out of the fridge to get the chill off and started a fire with about 2/3 of a chimney. That’s the most I’ll use as you don’t want a super hot fire. With 8 brats this might be too much but fuck it. I got grilling skills to work my way around it.
I’m bringing the cook up to temp as well.

 

[Nape]

Buns.....I really like the brat buns from a local bakery, Turano. I wrap a few up in foil and will put them on the grill before we eat to warm them through.


Sometimes we use the typical Chicago poppy seed hot dog buns but these brats are too large for those.

 

[Nape]

The coals are ready. I have a barrel shaped grill/smoker (1000 sq ft cooking area with smoker box). I always place the coals near the smoker box end and away from the smokestack. Right now the temp is over 500 and ripping. I want that to drop a bit before I put the brats on. If you’d put them on now they’d basically burn to a crisp.

 

[skramer100]

The half of an Old Style tallboy you added, you drank the other half right? Please don't tell me you threw out an Old Style.

 

[Nape]

I have the adjustable fire tray all the way down on the lowest position. Put the brats on and we’ll let them go for 5-7 minutes with the lid down, watching for flare ups. They are your enemy as you don’t want the casing splitting open.

 

[Nape]

The half of an Old Style tallboy you added, you drank the other half right? Please don't tell me you threw out an Old Style.

Come on, pal. I think you know me better than that. I got 2, 6 packs of Tallboys just in case the first 6-pack was bad.

 

[Nape]

Flipped them over a bit early as I had some serious exhaust coming out of the stack. When I do that I’ll see which ones are cooking more than others and rotate them to keep them somewhat the same.

 

[Nape]

Now that they have a good char on both sides I move them to the other end of the grill and close the vent on the stack. This will help them finish cooking through for about 7-10 minutes. My fire is ripping at 500 so I gotta pay attention.

 

[Nape]

I just took the 4 brats on top of the glorious pyramid of encased meat and put them on the bottom and the bottom ones on top. You can tell that they are getting close as they have a “sheen” to them, which is all of those juices coming through the casing. Almost ready for a bath.

 

[Nape]

This next step is vital. Most will add the brats to the beer and boil them silly either before or after cooking on the grill. That’s how you ruin a great brat. I take the brats, which are about 85% done (pseudo-al dente), and add them to the beer mixture that I’ve had on low since the brats went on.

Put the lid on (heat is already off and has been for 5 minutes) and let them sit in the beer for at least 20 minutes. I prefer 30 but you can leave them in there, off the heat, all night. Just remember, if you boil them all of those wonderful juices will end up in your beer, not the brats. Patience is the key!!! And a gummy.

 

[Yep00]

I go with Yuengling and onions, will need to try adding garlic and the slow simmer method.

 

[Nape]

I go with Yuengling and onions, will need to try adding garlic and the slow simmer method.

Any good lager/Pilsner works well. I’d stay away from IPAs, as I’m sure you know. Sometimes I add more garlic, sometimes none at all. Depends who’s eating.

 

[UNC71-00]

This next step is vital. Most will add the brats to the beer and boil them silly either before or after cooking on the grill. That’s how you ruin a great brat. I take the brats, which are about 85% done (pseudo-al dente), and add them to the beer mixture that I’ve had on low since the brats went on.
View attachment 10181
Put the lid on (heat is already off and has been for 5 minutes) and let them sit in the beer for at least 20 minutes. I prefer 30 but you can leave them in there, off the heat, all night. Just remember, if you boil them all of those wonderful juices will end up in your beer, not the brats. Patience is the key!!! And a gummy.

Wow. I have been doing it wrong all these years.

I kept rereading the thread to see where I missed you putting the brats in the beer before grilling, which is how I was taught. Might try your way on Wed night if I can find the brats

 

[Rebarcock.]

In a large pot put a sliced yellow onion and cut a whole head of garlic in half. Put in enough beer to cover (I used 3 Old Style Tallboys) and bring to a very low simmer. This could take 30 minutes over medium low heat. If you bring it to a quick boil it causes the beer to lose it’s “body” and it overcooks the onions/garlic. A slow simmer will pull all that flavor out and into the beer.
View attachment 10140

My Dick just moved

 

[RJ2kWJ]

Any good lager/Pilsner works well. I’d stay away from IPAs, as I’m sure you know. Sometimes I add more garlic, sometimes none at all. Depends who’s eating.

The question is, does the sauce work with the brat or leave it the fuck alone?

 

[skramer100]

Come on, pal. I think you know me better than that. I got 2, 6 packs of Tallboys just in case the first 6-pack was bad.

HAHA, yea figured. God I miss Old Style.

 

[Chief_Trojan]

Cot damn, and I thought my brats were the best around. @Nape in another league.

 

[Nape]

Wow. I have been doing it wrong all these years.

I kept rereading the thread to see where I missed you putting the brats in the beer before grilling, which is how I was taught. Might try your way on Wed night if I can find the brats

When you boil fresh, raw brats all it does is pull all of the flavor out of them. You are better off drinking the beer as soup.

 

[Nape]

The question is, does the sauce work with the brat or leave it the fuck alone?

View attachment 10184

It goes with everything.

 

[Nape]

Accoutrements tonight:

I really love good kraut on a brat with mustard and cheese and onions but I had a gummy moment and forgot to get the kraut. Just please, no ketchup.

I have cheddar Mac salad and a really good Greek salad from our local store to eat with it.

 

[Nape]

Pro tip....put onions, cheese, and mustard under the brat to keep it from spilling out as it would when you put it on top.



Scarf!!!!

 

[Nape]

Succulently juicy....

 

[biglandowski]

I came back to this thread to roast you because of the way it started, I thought you were gonna boil those fuckers. Glad I was wrong. Those look great, I personally like to smoke my brats and skip the hot tub but I will say that in my personal experience, no method cooks a sausage better than a sous vide. I sous-vide at ~140 for an hour or two followed by a char on the grill to crisp the casing is heaven on a bun. you got me thinking that your last step could probably be done sous-vide without risk of over cooking. eat one for me mang

 

[Nape]

I came back to this thread to roast you because of the way it started, I thought you were gonna boil those fuckers. Glad I was wrong. Those look great, I personally like to smoke my brats and skip the hot tub but I will say that in my personal experience, no method cooks a sausage better than a sous vide. I sous-vide at ~140 for an hour or two followed by a char on the grill to crisp the casing is heaven on a bun. you got me thinking that your last step could probably be done sous-vide without risk of over cooking. eat one for me mang

Never thought to Sous vide them but I’m sure they would be awesome. I’m an open flame guy. I’ve never owned a gas grill and never will. Real wood, lump or briquette charcoal is all I cook with outside. It’s an art when you are working with live fire. I love that shit.

 

[biglandowski]

Never thought to Sous vide them but I’m sure they would be awesome. I’m an open flame guy. I’ve never owned a gas grill and never will. Real wood, lump or briquette charcoal is all I cook with outside. It’s an art when you are working with live fire. I love that shit.

Sous vide is just to get them to temp, you always wanna crisp them up on fire, especially with natural casing. They beauty of sous vide is you can cook a sausage medium rare/ medium by adding time with no risk of giving yourself a case of the green apple splatters. You essentially pasteurize the meat at a lower temp for a longer time. Only works with raw sausage like you cooked though, none of the pre cooked bs.

You have inspired me to try a coldish smoke followed by a sous vide bath in a beer mix like you did. If it happens soon I'll try to post pics here.

 

[Nape]

Sous vide is just to get them to temp, you always wanna crisp them up on fire, especially with natural casing. They beauty of sous vide is you can cook a sausage medium rare/ medium by adding time with no risk of giving yourself a case of the green apple splatters. You essentially pasteurize the meat at a lower temp for a longer time. Only works with raw sausage like you cooked though, none of the pre cooked bs.

You have inspired me to try a coldish smoke followed by a sous vide bath in a beer mix like you did. If it happens soon I'll try to post pics here.

Fuck yea. I love my sous vide for fish, steak, chicken, and chops. I’ll give it a shot on sausage but the cave man in me wants to control the cook over flame.

 

[skoolbyrd]

Sous vide is just to get them to temp, you always wanna crisp them up on fire, especially with natural casing. They beauty of sous vide is you can cook a sausage medium rare/ medium by adding time with no risk of giving yourself a case of the green apple splatters. You essentially pasteurize the meat at a lower temp for a longer time. Only works with raw sausage like you cooked though, none of the pre cooked bs.

You have inspired me to try a coldish smoke followed by a sous vide bath in a beer mix like you did. If it happens soon I'll try to post pics here.

Would you just run the sous vide in the beer bath with the brats and no vacuum seal at all?

 

[BigfootNole]

Come on, pal. I think you know me better than that. I got 2, 6 packs of Tallboys just in case the first 6-pack was bad.

After watching Shameless, I've never wanted to try a beer so bad in my life.

 

[Boxman4]

 

[biglandowski]

Would you just run the sous vide in the beer bath with the brats and no vacuum seal at all?

Nah I would put the beer in a freezer bag with the brats and put them in water. At lower temps you don't need to mess with the vacuum bags.

 

[skoolbyrd]

Misread your post. So you’d sous vide -> grill -> beer bath then.
That makes more sense than gumming up the sous vide with onion-garlic-beer soup lol.

Nah I would put the beer in a freezer bag with the brats and put them in water. At lower temps you don't need to mess with the vacuum bags.

 

[biglandowski]

Misread your post. So you’d sous vide -> grill -> beer bath then.
That makes more sense than gumming up the sous vide with onion-garlic-beer soup lol.

Id probably sous-vide them in the bag of beer sauce then finish them on the grill to tighten up the skin and give them a nice browning.