Favorite kinds of brats and ways to prepare them...

[GormanHarvey]

Getting ready to grill up my first batch of brats this spring, and it go me to wondering what others favorite types/kinds/brands of brats are along with their favorite way to prepare them. Personally, for brats I am a Usinger's guy (although tonight I am going with Johnsonville because Usinger's are hard to get in EC due to the fact that they won't freeze their sausages) and I like to make them one of two ways: 1)Boil them for a bit in some beer and onions and then grill them OR 2)Just throw them on the grill as is. It really depends on what I am hungry for that day.

 

Feel free to include your favorite types and/or methods of preparation for italians and polish sausages too. A huge pet peeve of mine is when people lump brats, italians, and polish into one group and just refer to them as brats. They are totally different animals in my book. For italians, I like either Dentice Bros. or Sendik's homemade ones. Glorioso's are pretty good too. I just straight up grill my italians and either grill up some peppers and onions to go on them or slice up some banana peppers and put those on along with some marinara sauce. Oh, and you gotta have a good roll for the italians too! I like the ones from Sciortino's. As for polish sausage, not a fan. Let's here what you think!

[burniebrewer]

I just took mine off the grill. Third time I've made brats in seven days.

 

Today I made Klements, but will make just about any brand depending upon what looks good that day. A particular favorite, but pricey, are the brats from Stoddard's (Sun Prairie) that are the official brat of the Madison Mallards and sold locally at Woodman's.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I tried a different method than usual for Opening Day. Since I was only cooking up one pack, I basically simmered them rather than pulling out the big pot. Put the brats in a deep pan, took out two High Lifes (1.5 for the brats, I cleaned up the rest), put in about a third of a white onion, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, a bit of butter, and a couple black peppercorns. I mixed it all together and simmered them for about 20 minutes on medium-high heat, turning them halfway through. The nice thing about that method is the casings didn't get completely destroyed like when you boil. They were pretty solid.

[razzzorsharp]

Not very original but I ususally end up getting Johnsonville (or Meisfelds) and peel the skin off, slice them in half, and burn the heck out of them. Put kraut or if I am feeling lucky, thousand island dressing with hot sauce on it. Also, City Bakery, from sheboygan, hardrolls are a must.

[pitchleague]

we pretty much have 2 or 3 choices here in AZ: Johnsonville, Store Brand, or Deli/Meat Dept.

 

I like to put my brats simmering in beer and onions for a while and then put them on the grill for a few minutes per side. Of course, I also like grilling them completely and then simmering them in beer and onions.

 

And then there are the times that I do both ways simultaneously. Three brats on the grill, three in the beer/onion simmer bath. And then I switch them. Of course, I can never remember which one I like better. But the few times that I do remember that, "hey, I like this one better!" I can't remember if it was grill first then bath, or bath first, then grill. Drives me nuts that I can't get it straight. Probably has something to do with either (a) paying too much attention to the ball game, (b) too much beer drank while the brats were cooking, or © both a & b.

[GormanHarvey]

Wow, that sound complicated pitchleague! I love it!

[AZBrewCrew]

I generally use the same method that pitchleague uses. Here in AZ I usually just get Johnsonville unless I order brats directly from Klements. Last night I bought brats from the Safeway deli. They were actually very delicious. When I'm at my parents in Menomonie, I usually will get the deli brats from Marketplace Foods (local grocery store) and those are pretty good too. For Opening Day this year my buddy and I bought a package of brats from Roundys and threw them on the charcoal grill, they were good albiet maybe a bit too spicy.

[burniebrewer]

too much beer drank while the brats were cooking

 

I don't understand this "too much" concept.

 

I usually prep them the Marc Newfield way in that I simmer them rather than boil.

 

 

[FVBrewerFan]

I may be kicked out of Wisconsin for saying it, but I don't like brats. If there's no other choice, I can put one down but that's it. But for family and friends who are brat lovers, I use the beer and onions method as well.

[MJLiverock]

Any good Kraut recommendations? As a kid I hated kraut but made myself add some to a brat last year and found as an adult I like the taste but all I have really had is Franks Kraut but I am open to trying any others if I can find them.

[Houlie24x]

Has anyone ever had any brats from Karl's Country Market on Silver Spring and Pilgrim in Menomonee Falls? Every kind of brat they make is amazing.

[Bikeage77]

My favorite place in town is Bunzel's to get sausage. I know my dad is a big fan of House Of Homemade Sausage in Germantown, which I haven't had since a kid. I prefer hungarians, italians, and cujuns over brats, but it all cooks the same.

 

I grill em the same way most people tend to. Create a beer bath with onions, but I usually throw in green peppers and sometimes will throw in red peppers, and if I want to spice it up, a few giant jalepenos. Another trick is to add garlic. I add veggies with the beer right away, let it all boil. Throw in the sausages till their boiled through, throw on the grill for awhile, then throw it back in the bath for 5 minutes.

 

If you can get the heat right and time everything perfectly, if you cook your sausages and throw some back in the bath right before heading into the stadium, after the game, you'll have the melt-in-your-mouth sausages ready for you as you exit the gates. Othertimes I've came out to see them burnt, sitting in carmalized bath. It's a task I've yet to master, but one worth trying for sure.

[pitchleague]

If you can get the heat right and time everything perfectly, if you cook your sausages and throw some back in the bath right before heading into the stadium, after the game, you'll have the melt-in-your-mouth sausages ready for you as you exit the gates. Othertimes I've came out to see them burnt, sitting in carmalized bath. It's a task I've yet to master, but one worth trying for sure.

If your grill doesn't disappear, you mean.

[Bikeage77]

pitchleague wrote:

If your grill doesn't disappear, you mean.

Thankfully that's never been an issue. I have great sympathy for those this has happened to. I haven't left my grill out during games the past few times I've tailgated, mostly because we ran out of meat.

[logan82]

Usually I use either Johnsonville or Klements brats since they are easy to find. I always buy the uncooked ones. Typically I bring the beer to a boil before dropping the brats and whole sliced onion in. This last time I let the brats and onion soak in the beer for an hour before putting them on the stove to simmer for 30-45 minutes. They turned out pretty well.

 

I am not sure if boiling before or after is better. I have heard it both ways. I usually boil(simmer technically I guess) before for the sake of convince. It is tough to simmer in beer after while tailgating. Also a little difficult when you are grilling since you would almost have to grill twice if you are grilling more than brats.

 

I would recommend adding a grilling tag to this thread. I know it is up there. There is a nice thread with a few good recommendations for grilling stuff including beer butt chicken.

[GormanHarvey]

Yes - I probably should have said I lightly boil or simmer them as that is a more accurate description.

 

Another thing I thought we could add is condiments. Mustard? No mustard? Kraut? No kraut? Ketchup? No ketchup?...Personally I like ketchup and kraut. I know the brat purists so mustard only belongs on a brat, no ketchup but other than yellow mustard I am not a big mustard guy. For kraut I like Frank's polish style with caraway seeds. I saw in the store the other day the Claussen has started making kraut. Anyone tried it?

[chuckiehacks]

I love the House of Homemade Sausage in Germantown. I've tried many different places since my old go-to (Dentice's) closed. HHS are the best brats I've found. For Italians, Glorioso's are usually pretty good, though its hit and miss. Next I'm trying Pecorano's on Brady. Frank Pecorano is the "Pepperoni, Cannoli" guy many of you have no doubt seen around bar time in Milwaukee.

[GormanHarvey]

Dentice Bros. closed?! Crap! The "pepperoni, cannoli" guy is interesting to say the least. Most times I would give him a ten dollar bill or something and he would pretend he didn't know how to make change or whatever and just walk away calling out, "pepperoni! cannoli!" to draw in the next sorry sap.

[chuckiehacks]

Dentice's has been closed for two Opening Days (isn't that how you measure sausage time?). The sign is still up, but it's never open. They had a sign taped to the window that said "Closed Temporarily" for a while, but that's gone too. The Italian restaurant across the street (Joey's) is closed too. Combine that with Giovanni's leaving and there's not nearly as much good Italian in the city as their used to be.

 

A buddy of mine used to work with one of the Dentice family members, she said none of the children or grandchildren wanted to take over the business when the old guys retired. That's a shame. I would have run that business, but I guess the family recipe isn't getting out of the family.

[logan82]

Ketchup and sweet relish on brats for me. Also have to have a store bakery hard roll type bun. None of those soft, off the shelf, could be hot dog buns.

[Bikeage77]

The way I prepare sausages, they turn out so juicy that I could care less about condiments. When I do use them though, I stick to brown mustard, or Secret Stadium Sauce if it's available.

[flosses like fossas]

i can verify the delectible-ness of bikeage's brat method. he and i have had some epic evenings in the lot downing sausages and living the dream. this thread all but brings a tear to my eye. (why are there no brats in asia?)

 

also, if you're not using stadium sauce on your brat, you're doing it wrong. stop kidding yourself.

[Nottso]

I do mine somewhat similar to bikeage, but with an added little twist that has become hugely popular with family & friends. It's a bit more work, but worth it.

 

I make 2 beer baths. The first is just beer, large chunks of onion, and butter. This is for when the brats come off the grill.

 

The second is beer with onion, garlic, green pepper (and sometimes red and yellow peppers), diced as finely as I possibly can. This is where I pre-boil the brats for a bit. I leave this boiling madly while the brats are on the grill. When it's boiled down to no liquid left, and everything is brown and carmelized, I strain it through a wire strainer. This becomes relish for use on the finished brats. It is fantastic! The only thing you need to watch, is to not use too much green pepper or it will overpower everything else. There's no such thing as too much onion or too much garlic though. Yummy!

[GormanHarvey]

That sounds pretty darn tasty Nottso! Must come from your old wiseness

[TooLiveBrew]

The second is beer with onion, garlic, green pepper (and sometimes red and yellow peppers), diced as finely as I possibly can. This is where I pre-boil the brats for a bit. I leave this boiling madly while the brats are on the grill. When it's boiled down to no liquid left, and everything is brown and carmelized, I strain it through a wire strainer. This becomes relish for use on the finished brats. It is fantastic! The only thing you need to watch, is to not use too much green pepper or it will overpower everything else. There's no such thing as too much onion or too much garlic though. Yummy!

 

Do you cater? I can't even tell you how hungry this just made me