BRAT PREPARATION Tips
- How to handle brats (DO NOT PUNCTURE)
No matter what anyone or any recipe says, DO NOT puncture the brats with a
fork, knife, or other sharp instrument. Handle them only with tongs.
Likewise, do not cook them either before-hand, during grilling, or in the
post-hot-bath to such an extent that you split the skins. This
will cause all of the internal juices (meat liquid, infused beer,
and yes, fat), to drain out. The result will be a dried-out, tasteless
shell of its prior self, spoiling the brat forever. Some people feel
that piercing the brat with a fork will drain away the fat, and thus
"improve" the brat.
The brat will be improved only
to the extent that you enjoy cardboard. If you prefer to go fat-free,
eating a cucumber would be even better.
Some want to prevent it from bursting.
If you are cooking the brat
to the point of bursting, you are way overcooking it.
- To pre-cook or not to pre-cook
For years, there was the concept that brats should be
pre-cooked in a boiling pot of beer and then finished
on the grill. We gave up on that flawed technique
very long ago. The best technique, as we've found
from doing many tests, is to grill fully thawed brats
directly on the grill. Do not pre-cook. Then we use
a brat hot-tub (see below) afterward to keep the
brats warm if they are not eaten directly from the
grill.
The problem with pre-cooking is that you have a
tendency to cook the liquid out of them, resulting
in a drier final product. There is a good chance
of overcooking them and even splitting them. In
any case, should you feel the need to do this,
DO NOT boil them. The internal temperature
required for a cooked brat is 160 deg F, not 212 deg F.
Even us high-elevation mountain folk can't get water
to boil at 160 F.
Further, if you are then going to "finish them"
on the grill, this subjects them to yet more cooking,
because you'd like a browned product. To get
that, you'll almost certainly have overcooked them.
- The preparation of the fire
This is one of the most important steps. You want a
uniform, level bed of coals that have gone fully gray.
But don't wait too long after they are fully gray.
You'd prefer a mono-layer of coals some 8" or so
below the grill. They need to go to the full width
of the grill and don't have them piled up or
otherwise non-uniform.
- The cooking of the brats
Place the brats on the grill and avoid messing
with them until it looks like one side is getting
nicely browned and grill-marked. Turn over
with tongs and repeat. Don't overcook them.
Don't turn them black. And don't leave them
on the grill as a storage location. You
CAN move some of them "off to the edge of the
fire", briefly, to reduce the radiative load on them
and keep them from over-cooking. This is because
Don Hunten's observation that "the solid angle
is the SAME no matter where you put them"
only holds for an infinite plane of coals.
Opinions on wheter to cover the grill
are mixed. If you fear under-cooking
the center before the outside gets charred,
you might cover to get them off the grill
faster. Again, don't over-cook. If you
don't know, take one off the grill and
cut it open. Then center should be no
longer pink or just barely pink. You
are trying to hit 160F. Use a remote-IR
themometer as outlined under "Beer tips"
to check the center of the cut edge. Judge
the look of the outside of the brat
with the observed temp and then adjust
your cooking
accordingly.
The Proper use of a Brat Hot-Tub
Otherwise known as the "slop bucket", a
post-cooking hot tub is used to keep
the brats warm and juicy, without
further cooking and is a great storage
method for crowds of people. But again,
this is after, not before, cooking.
Keep the temperature no more than 160F.
Simmering (as recommended in this recipe)
is too high.
Here is an excellent and full
description of the use of a brat
hot tub:
Brat Hot-Bath Recipe
- BEWARE OF FIRE DANGER
For Colorado folks, be aware that there is a statewide
fire ban in effect that prohibits open fires. Charcoal
fires are permitted on private land, but only if not
superseded by local restrictions.
All of Gilpin County and western Boulder County are
under a Stage 2 fire ban. The demarcation line is
Hwy 93 to the south, Broadway through Boulder,
and then Hwy 36 going north. Under this ban,
charcoal grills are prohibited, even on private
land. See flyer:
Boulder County Level 2 Fire Ban
Wherever you are, check your local restrictions.
But being cooped up for the pandemic or fire ban does not mean you
have to go without tasty brats. You can:
- use a gas grill
- use the Johnsonville Brat Griller
I know, it's a little late now, but I did warn many people to think ahead and pick up
this unit.
Not recommended is the timeless
"Fast Frank" (again, right-click, open in new window)
that was passed from person-to-person at Hawthorne House for years. If anyone still
has it, you'll burn down the house trying to cook brats. My, how cooking technology
has changed over 50 years.