Grilling Bratwursts

[GBDad]

Was looking for recipes for our annual "Big Game" party that we host with one other couple and their kids. The kids play. The adults have a few pops, sort of watch the game, stuff our faces...good times. Anyway, saw a bunch of Brat "recipes" all of which call for boiling your brats before grilling.

If you want to start a fight in Wisconsin start talking about boiling Brats before putting them on the grill. Then say "Vahmont cheddah is beddah!" Some swear by boiling before the grill. Others like me, feel that boiling them before the grill robs them of flavor and leads to a mushy, gray, finished product that lacks that classic "snap" you should get from a perfectly grilled sausage. Nothing wrong with a "brat bath" of beer, onions, kraut, caraway, garlic, etc., but give them the spa treatment after grilling them properly.

True, putting cold and raw brats on a hot grill can lead to burning the outside, bursting the casing, and leaving the inside raw, or overcooked and dried out. I recommend using searing/indirect method of cooking your brats before taking them for a swim. Set up your charcoal grill for two zone cooking. Coals on one side, no coals on the other. If using a gas grill (actually my preference for brats - another argument in the making) turn the burners on medium-high on one side and leave them off on the other. To avoid bursting, poke three little holes in the one side of the brat with a toothpick or fine point of a knife. Sear them for a few minutes per side to get those perfect grill marks. Then move to the "cool" side of the grill and cook them on indirect heat for an additional 20 minutes or so, turning once. Since there is no heat directly under the brats you don't have to worry about burning, but turning them once will give an even color. The result will be golden brown and juicy with a satisfying snap, while retaining all of that great bratwurst flavor rather than boiling it out in precooking. While your brats are finishing on the cool side of the grill, simmer the ingredients for your brat bath - onions, kraut, beer, caraway, garlic, whatever you want to throw in there. No need for a quadruple dry hopped, coconut-lavendar, green tea, imperial IPA. My go to here is Schlitz. But any good old, Milwaukee legacy beer will work. Pabst, Blatz, Miller High Life, or even a Leinenkugel's Original. The bath serves to keep the brats warm and offers a flavorful topping as well. Don't even think about ketchup! Spicy brown mustard or Secret Stadium Sauce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Stadium_Sauce only please! Best served on a pretzel roll.

Give it a shot if you haven't already. I know plenty of people who simmer their brats before hand and truth be told there is no such thing as a bad bratwurst. But I think this method leads to more flavor and a better texture than the boil and grill method.

[irie feeling]

nah.
Boli them and grill them. No raw pork.
Or
Sear them in a 12 inch skillet.
put cabbage, potatoes, sausage, 12 oz BEER chicken broth 1/4 cup, S&P, in skillet and simmer 25 minutes.

Chef Jeff

[GBDad]

The science is in....No boiling of brats!

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...st/3115473001/

And it is not lost on me that during a worldwide, once in a century, pandemic the good folks at the University of Wisconsin are studying the best way to cook a brat.

Go Badgers!

[Don-Dad]

I find myself cooking all kinds of things in my ninja Foodi including sausages, brats and even hot dogs. I've cooked burgers and plenty of chicken as well including whole chickens. Everything cooked to my liking, no dry meats unless overcooked.