Bratwurst - brown then boil, or boil then brown?

Cafe Society
21

I work in a German Restaurant in Chicago, a great German city without the nasty Drug Riddled Football team :wink:

and we SIMMER all of our sausages (Thuringer, REAL Bratwurst, Sheboygan Brat…(which are PORK rather than veal), Knack, Weiner and Weisswurst) in plain water. The water never comes to a roiling boil.

THEN we brown them in a cast iron skillet with a touch of oil, until they toast a little on each side. (With the exception of Weisswurst which are a soft sausage and never browned)

The owners of this restaurant were BORN IN GERMANY, so I can only assume they know how to treat a sausage correctly.

22

Bah, make your bratwurst at home, by hand. Hie thyself to your local butcher, get twenty pounds of pork sausage (80/20), a couple yards of hog casing (none of this artificial stuff for us!) and stuff your meat.

Then simmer it for a little while, and toss 'em on a grill or a grill pan in the oven or just brown them in a skillet like jarbaby said.

But most of all, eat the damn things like they’re going out of style. Brothers! Why fight amongst ourselves, when the true foe, the … the vegetarian … is still out there!

23

I thought the canonical Sheyboygan Bratwurst was served in a hardroll.

My aunt & uncle used to smuggle back bratwurst because it wasn’t available in California at the time. (outside of hard-to-find German specialty places)

Brian

24

I’ve never met a brat that I didn’t like, but I’m thinking of combining all of the suggestions in this thread to create the world’s most “best-est ” brat ever!

First we make our own brats, or find a trusted old German guy to make them up fresh for us. We select our own hogs. (I’m going to have get store-bought for my experiment. I’ve lost contact with my German livestock farmer friends).

Then we very lightly brown them in a well-seasoned cast-iron pan that has been handed down through our family line since time began. (don’t worry, grilling will follow later)

Then for the simmering stage. No not boiling! Pardon me, I shouldn’t have used that term in my title.
No more left-over half-warm Old Style Light beer-spit leavings for me. I think I’ll go for some kind of dark beer, with careful temperature control, of course. Then add; onions, sauerkraut, and put that hot mustard right in the broth too. NO Wait! Skip the sauerkraut, that gets special treatment as a side dish . Maybe a bit of thyme (really good on pork) some rosemary maybe.

The kraut will have been roasting in the oven. Ever had baked kraut? It’s really good. It gets slightly brown and is not all watery so as to mess-up your bun.

While the brats are gently simmering we will cluster around the kitchen table and play cribbage. Anyone who gets skunked gets clean-up detail. No forks will come in contact with the brats at this point.

The men-folk will have already started the grill. The coals will not be too hot, nor too cool. Now the brats will be carefully grilled. If they are turned multiple times the men-folk will make sure to line up the grill marks.

When grilled to perfection they’ll be served with the baked kraut, hot mustard, ketchup for those who like it and an enormous pile of potato salad (that’s a whole ‘nother thread)

I’m in La Crosse, WI. But Ideally, we will have done all this in Sheboygan during brat days .

Now I just need some suggestions on the beer. I don’t know much about beer.

Also, when and if, the brats are pierced is still a problem.

MMMMMM

25

Well, grab a Leinie. You’re real close to Chippawa Falls, where Leinenkugel is brewed, using only the finest ingredients.

From here.

(This is a shameless plug for a good friend of mine who is the Operations Brewmaster of the Leinie brewery.) :slight_smile:

26

Disclaimer: I wouldn’t drink beer unless it was flowing between Christina Ricci’s fabulous tits.

However, if you’re looking for the balance between price and quality, I’ve heard good things about Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

27

Actually PBR is pretty much the BEST beer for the brat boilin as afr as I’m concerned. Reminds me of tailgaits a Lambeau Field.

Trust me on this one though…don’t use Heinekin.

28

**Algernon[b/] you have an in with the Operations Brewmaster of the Leinie brewery?

I’ve had a little bit of involvement with the Leinie folks, but so far I haven’t gotten any beer out of the deal. Damn it.

29

Well, what we used to do was, of course, boil them first at home. Then pack up the car and head to Milwaukee COunty Stadium (an hour drive from Madison), where you would get out you little grill and light it up in the parking lot. This tailgating of course should begin several hours before the Brewers game. You take the boiled brats and start to grill them. As they grill you stad around drinnking and tossing the footabll. And, this is the key, while grilling you take the beer in your hand and pour some of it over the brat. You do this every once in while as the urge strikes youIt is kinda like basting in a dumb guy kinda way. I am not really sure iif it actually did anything to the brat at that point, but why take a chance?

Oh I do miss a fine brat. Southern California doon’t know brats!

30

My father-in-law hails from Sheboygan, I’ve visted that Font of All Brats many times, and I doubt that I’ll ever have a totally satisfying bratwurst experience anywhere else.

Nonetheless, it was very exciting to discover that the old Schaller & Weber German delicatessen in the Yorkville section of Manhattan (86th Street and Second Ave) produces an excellent uncooked brat.

I generally just grill these over a slow fire for about half an hour, then serve on a hard roll with raw sweet onion, sliced dill pickle, horseradish mustard, and lots of cold pilsener.

31

Indeed I do. He’s a long time Miller employee from here in Milwaukee who was promoted to go run the Leinie brewery about a year ago or so.

I don’t know if I could guarantee any free beer… but you never know. :slight_smile:

32

You are quite right. A hard roll is just so implicit in its necessity that I didn’t even think to mention it. A hard roll, or “Semmel” roll is as necessary for a brat as a poppy-seed hot dog bun is for a true Chicago dog.

You can find a photo and a recipe for the Semmel (hard) roll here. Scroll down a bit, and ignore that hot-dog bun shaped version next to the true hard roll. Who the hell eats brats one at a time anyway?

Semmel roll

And here’s the Sheboygan purist grilled bratwurst recipe

33

Boil until gray. Grill until brown. As noted, no piercing. Of course, it’s all moot without Stadium Sauce.