Brats

Since I’ve been learning to grill over the last several months I’ve been trying to think of things I haven’t grilled yet and up next I’m thinking brats! I know the meat shops have the best, but I’m thinking for my first time grilling them I’ll just pick up something cheaper from the grocery store so I don’t potentially ruin top-notch brats. Any tips on a brand from like Cub or Target? And with brats, is it really better to boil them first? And for how long, if so? Any brat grilling tips would be great! Thanks fellas!

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Honestly Sharon it’s hard to beat a good ole Johnsonville beer brat if you’re buying from a chain grocery store. When possible I’ll boil them for 10 minutes and then throw them on a HOT grill for some color/char.

try any fresh brat!!! and I just grill them, never tried the boil first method…

waldo9190 wrote:

Honestly Sharon it’s hard to beat a good ole Johnsonville beer brat if you’re buying from a chain grocery store. When possible I’ll boil them for 10 minutes and then throw them on a HOT grill for some color/char.

This is how I would start – just cook to you preference of char on the grill. I like mine well done and the wife likes just grill marks. Cant really mess them up. so you could even start with a good quality meat market brat and probably not mess it up.

Brats and Chicken Thighs are the hardest thing to screw up on the grill imo, as long as you don’t undercook them. Beer boil does nothing imo, but does help them cook thru first so you really are just grilling for a little char.

Ask yourself – what would John Gillespie do? GO WITH THE JOHNSONVILLE FOLKS!!

Get the Johnsonville stadium brats. They are precooked so you just heat them up. Almost impossible to screw up unless you have a huge flare up

low and slow on brats…flare up = split casings and they lose flavor.

IF you switch to a real brat from a meat locker versus packaged grocery store stuff, you’ll never want to go back to anything else.

What time again?

I’ve seen the grill skills Sharon has. Indirect heat until they’re cooked through then direct grill until they’re as charred as you like. I agree on getting the good stuff, but I’m not opposed to what a local grocery store makes, either. Johnsonville would come in 3rd for me. Usually a lot pricier than they deserve to be.

If you didn’t know, bank your coals to one side and have the lid vents over the food on the other side to allow the heat to pass by the food on it’s way out. Get some smoker chips next time you pick up charcoal. You won’t regret it.

Sharon if you ever get close to Hampton.
Greggs’s meats – blueberry wild rice brats.

Man we take them fancy brats and stab em with a stick and cook them over the fire. No one whose opinion matters can judge you on how you cook your brats. And if they do just shove a brat in their piehole. I recommend a green onion brat or maybe blueberry if thats your game. Regular brats I do make a tray of beer and onions and sauerkraut that I cook my cheap Johnsonville’s in, you get a twofer with that toppings and brat.

Your work so far looks great Sharon!

I don’t live near a Hyvee but if I get near one in the summer I’ll usually get some brats from there for anywhere from $1-$1.50 apiece and they have a wide variety. I often get wild rice as well as pineapple brats.

buckybadger wrote:

low and slow on brats…flare up = split casings and they lose flavor.

This! You can’t screw them up as long as you do this.

Lower heat until first one splits will reduce the loss of flavor and juice. For the char, just roll them accross the grates every 5 minutes or so.

I prefer them on the pellet grill, smoke on low for ~ 1/2 to 1 hour, then turn up to ~ 300 and check every few minutes until first one splits.

Best I’ve had is from Lynn’s custom meats in Hayward.

https://www.lynnscustommeats.com/

Cook them first Sharon than throw them in a pan with the beer and onions and bring to a boil then shut it off and let soak.I found that cooking some of the grease out of them and then the beer\onion bath gives you more flavor.The longer they soak the better.

Low and slow. I’ll cook my brats on the grill under low heat for 45 minutes to a hour, flipping every 10 minutes.

Funny thing. My brother in law grew up in Wi and when I was a kid he showed our family to grill then boil in beer. Worked great. I have even pre-boiled them with fine results but I just throw them on the grill raw now. Von Hansens has excellent fresh brats as Im sure most butcher shops do. The single most important thing you can do is not overcook them. I normally use a thermometer now to avoid that. We
make extra and cut them up the next morning in scrambled eggs with our favorite other additions and that is also excellent. Just did it last Sunday.

Smokehouse brats at some Cub Food stores. Habanero Mango is my favorite!!
Otherwise grew up with Johnsonville so they’re in the rotation, also.

I started cooking my brats in the oven a few years ago and haven’t put one on the grill since. Kind of like cooking bacon in the oven, you can get the perfect level of doneness and the consistency is unmatched. 425 degrees, cook for about 25 min, flipping half way.

When and if you do decide to try brats from a butcher shop, I recommend grundhoffers in Hugo, I think they have one or two other locations now or they’re opening one soon. Huge selection with some crazy unique flavors/ingredients! And they are good.

Can’t really mess up brats. When they look done, they most likely are. Grundhoffer in Hugo have awesome brats! The kids got me sold on the gummy bear brats. They are actually pretty good. Just be careful because they can squirt molton lava melted gummy bear juice and burn the roof of your mouth. I poke them with a fork before biting into them.

I love fresh butcher shop brats. Johnsonville or similar are okay, but like
buckybadger said, once you start trying small shop stuff it’s difficult to go back.
Way easier to screw up a steak or burger on the grill than a brat.
I bring the little grill with to work often and can work for 5 minutes and roll em 3-4 times and it’s time for lunch.
Today we had cheddar-bacon and honey-BBQ.

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MNdrifter wrote:

Can’t really mess up brats. When they look done, they most likely are. Grundhoffer in Hugo have awesome brats! The kids got me sold on the gummy bear brats. They are actually pretty good. Just be careful because they can squirt molton lava melted gummy bear juice and burn the roof of your mouth. I poke them with a fork before biting into them.

You ain’t joking about molted lava from the gummy bear brats. We did Philly cheese steak brats and Mac and cheese brats last night. I love a good brat. Brats beans and babies last night lol and don’t mind my laundry I was folding. A fresh brat is good once it hits 160 degrees.

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I like boiling them first in beer with onions. For beer boil I use a real beer like Summit EPA because that’s what I’ll have, don’t think boiling them in urine water adds anything. Then brown on grill and pull some of those onions out for a topping.

No preboil for me. Low and slow with indirect heat.

I know Johnsonville has long been the standard for grocery store brats and John Gillespie has made a career out of hocking them, but I think they’ve gon WAY down hill with more fat and fillers. They could start a whole new bakery division made for their brats that are only 3/4 the length of a normal bun because their brats shrink up so much. I go with meat counter fresh brats or the local meat market – or better yet, homemade brats! Looking forward to grilling-up some homemade kielbasa sausages (technically not brats) for lunch!

I vacuum seal my fresh brats and Sous Vide at 160 for 1.5 to 2 hours. Then I throw on hot grill to get the appearance how I want. Best Brats EVER in my opinion.

Hahaha Sharon’s head must be spinning with all the different cooking techniques. I think the moral of the story is you can’t really screw them up. Unless you undercook them like BC and (sounds like) Bucky do

I like mine near burnt, in POP’s picture the upper left is just about perfect.

grilled beer brats for lunch!! good eats!!!