Bratwurst what's the best way?

MasterC

With fresh sour kruat and spicy brown mustard 



With brown kruat and spicy mustard 







Any other ways to brat?

loco_engr

Dayum!  I don't see anything wrong with your method!
making mouth water . . .

JohnInCarolina

bacon wrapped beer brats, with drunken peppers and onions 

Botch

MasterC said:
Any other ways to brat?

Look great, but I’m more interested in your cooking method (mine is still in flux).  Brats are notorious for splitting and drying out if grilled too hot, do you put them in a beer bath after grilling?  Or the other way around?  (I’ve yet to use a beer bath (well, not for brats anyway)).  Also, not sure what “Brown” kraut is….?  
Now I’m hungry for brats…. 

HighHeat

I like a little time on the grill, into a beer bath w caramelized onions onto a bun and into my belly

JethroVA

Braise in a cheap lager then finish on the grill.  I prefer to punch some holes in them while in the beer braise to let some fat out so it doesn't make the grill so messy.  And Aldi's kraut is the real deal along with some spicy mustard.  Pickled beets optional but recommended. 

Mattman3969

Cooked indirect with cherry then a quick sear 

PigBeanUs

They are all great. 

I’m egalitarian. Variety is great. 

MasterC

Awesome 

JohnInCarolina those look delicious 

Matt, yep

Botch no beer bath, low heat mostly. Brown kruat is done in a cast iron pan with the bratwurst. My mother would add thin slices of Granny Smith apples in it so we would eat it as kids

Great work everyone

MasterC

JohnInCarolina said:

bacon wrapped beer brats, with drunken peppers and onions 

What are drunken peppers and onions,  please? 

carl292

i use a pie tin filled with brats, beer, peppers onions or whatever over medium heatFor 10 -15 mins. Take brats out from tin and place them around the tin 5 mins and you'll have some real estate to toast a few bun or rolls 👍

Photo Egg

Mattman3969 said:

Cooked indirect with cherry then a quick sear 

That photo is MONEY!

JohnInCarolina

MasterC said:

JohnInCarolina said:

bacon wrapped beer brats, with drunken peppers and onions 

What are drunken peppers and onions,  please? 

Just regular onions and peppers sliced thin and cooked down in a beer and butter braise.   They're drunk on the beer, you see?

I like to use a stout, like Guinness.  

By the way, wish I could take credit for the pic but it's not mine.  It's just the one from the recipe. I have made these before and they're pretty awesome.  I might have to do them again this weekend.  

MasterC

Thanks JohnInCarolina, I will be trying that.

fishlessman

used to be a firecracker brats recipe on the forum about 25 years ago by charwoody. simmer bratt in beer til bloated and grey, take them out and rest til cool enough to touch, coat lightly with mustard then with a fiery rub and back on the grill.  never liked the beer used for the peppers and onions, i like to saute them and add kens steakhouse italian dressing towards the end of the cook, gives it a good fenway park sausage flavor with the dressing on the peppers

OhioEgger

I'm old school so I simmer them in beer until fully cooked, then after they cool I toss them in a ziplock bag in the frig. When I want one or two, they go in the air fryer for 6-7 minutes and come out utterly perfect.

scdaf

Old school air frying???  

MasterC

Back in the 60's my dad got his first webber kettle. His method was; a pan of beer and onions to simmer the brats then burn the he'll out of them with direct heat with the taste of lighter fluid.

Oh the good old days, yum 

StillH2OEgger

Other than microwave, there probably is not a bad way to do a brat. Having said that, no boiling/simmering a brat for me. Grilled straight up, add onions and spicy mustard and it's one of my absolute favorites. Also, I've never found a local variety that was better than Johnsonville, and I lived in Wisconsin for a few years.

Legume

That’s a very nostalgic flavor, not necessarily a bad one.

4TheGrillOfIt

Lately, I’ve been taking a 5-pack of Johnsonville brats and ringing them around the edge of my small BGE and cooking them raised direct at 250F.  Five fit perfectly.  I toss a small piece of applewood in the middle for smoke.  When they are nearly done I increase the temp,and move them to the center.  Excellent. 

Teefus

Simmer in beer to par cook then brown them on the grille. As an alternative I smoke them slow at #275 with apple wood.

Serve on a bun with a little yellow mustard. I like to taste the meat. If I load it up I prefer sautéed bell peppers and sweet onions.

Foghorn

All right.  I'll go ahead and say it.  

I've never understood why cooking a brat in beer (or any liquid) - which effectively leaks good brat flavor into a beer that I'm not going to drink - is a good thing.  It just results in a less flavorful brat.  That's why I quit doing it years ago.  The brats cooked that way didn't taste nearly as good as the brats that I just cooked on a park grill while camping (note: no lighter fluid was used).

Or am I missing something?

PeteSliver

Foghorn said:

All right.  I'll go ahead and say it.  

I've never understood why cooking a brat in beer (or any liquid) - which effectively leaks good brat flavor into a beer that I'm not going to drink - is a good thing.  It just results in a less flavorful brat.  That's why I quit doing it years ago.  The brats cooked that way didn't taste nearly as good as the brats that I just cooked on a park grill while camping (note: no lighter fluid was used).

Or am I missing something?

Consider where brats come from and what the local beer is like.  If you don’t cook with it, you might have to drink it.

lkapigian

Foghorn said:

All right.  I'll go ahead and say it.  

I've never understood why cooking a brat in beer (or any liquid) - which effectively leaks good brat flavor into a beer that I'm not going to drink - is a good thing.  It just results in a less flavorful brat.  That's why I quit doing it years ago.  The brats cooked that way didn't taste nearly as good as the brats that I just cooked on a park grill while camping (note: no lighter fluid was used).

Or am I missing something?

Not a fan of poaching sausage, but it is a "safe method" for not overcooking them , people tend to cook fresh sausage way to hot and fast , poaching then browning aids in that .........sausage should be cooked low and slow. Same reason people use High Temp Cheese in sausage , totally unnecessary if you cook it right....I don't want cheese that melts @ 400 degrees 

my 2 cents 

fishlessman

Foghorn said:

All right.  I'll go ahead and say it.  

I've never understood why cooking a brat in beer (or any liquid) - which effectively leaks good brat flavor into a beer that I'm not going to drink - is a good thing.  It just results in a less flavorful brat.  That's why I quit doing it years ago.  The brats cooked that way didn't taste nearly as good as the brats that I just cooked on a park grill while camping (note: no lighter fluid was used).

Or am I missing something?

ever wait 20 minutes at a ball game, missing the ball game, waiting for some idiot with a thermapen sticking a sausage 60 times. i never have cheap beer in the house so its usually water and its cooked with hardly a simmer then mostly cooled before the hard sear/char. if you are ice fishing, its hard to maintain good heat with a weber or gasser so it needs to be quick/ cooked ahead

nolaegghead

With all the attention and complex steps given to cooking brats, I think they should be called spoiled brats.

JohnInCarolina

Foghorn said:

All right.  I'll go ahead and say it.  

I've never understood why cooking a brat in beer (or any liquid) - which effectively leaks good brat flavor into a beer that I'm not going to drink - is a good thing.  It just results in a less flavorful brat.  That's why I quit doing it years ago.  The brats cooked that way didn't taste nearly as good as the brats that I just cooked on a park grill while camping (note: no lighter fluid was used).

Or am I missing something?

I don’t actually cook my brats in the beer.  I’m only cooking down the veggies in the beer.  The brat is cooked on the grill.

RyanStl

I grill and then let simmer in a pan with beer, onion slices, and apple slices.  The apple and onion slices make it to the bun with the brat.

Does anyone cut slices in the casing before grilling?

MasterC

I will cut an X at the ends of some types

lkapigian

RyanStl said:

I grill and then let simmer in a pan with beer, onion slices, and apple slices.  The apple and onion slices make it to the bun with the brat.

Does anyone cut slices in the casing before grilling?

you lose all their precious bodily fluids