Boot Camp 101 for Perfectly Grilled Brats

Aug 30, 2012

(Family Features) – Summer grilling season is saved! Barbecuers longing for the golden brown juiciness of a perfectly prepared bratwurst can now be happy campers. Why? Bratwurst Boot Camp is here to show grillmeisters the easy way to grilling a brat to its full-flavored, delicious perfection.

Backyard barbecuers recognize brats’ unexpectedly flavorful taste compared to hot dogs and other less-flavorful options. When it comes to grilling, however, they need a few pointers before they graduate from Brat Boot Camp.

So, how do you grill a perfect brat? The perfect brat is cooked low and slow. That means low to moderate heat, for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, turning about every five minutes with long-handled barbecue tongs.

Once you’ve mastered the brat-grilling technique, you’re on to trying these tasty wursts in a variety of ways, from sandwiches to casseroles to dinnertime entrees.

“Unlike a hot dog, you don’t have to dress-up a brat because the great taste is all on the inside,” said Mike Zeller, Corporate Developmental Chef at Johnsonville Sausage. “I get asked a lot, ‘What are the best condiments to put on a brat?’ I always say, ‘the best thing to put on a brat, is your teeth.'”

For more information and hundreds of recipes, please visit www.johnsonville.com.

Brat Boot Camp 101

1. What is a brat?
2. Where did brats come from?
3. What city is the unofficial brat capital of the United States?
4. How do you know when you’ve mastered the art of grilling brats?
5. What’s another word for bratwurst?

Answers:

1. A brat is a mildly seasoned, coarse-ground pork sausage.
2. Brats made their way to Midwestern America by German and Austrian immigrants hundreds of years ago. The tradition spread, particularly in Wisconsin by a local Austrian butcher named Ralph F. Stayer. His 100-year-old recipe was a hit and became the foundation for the number one bratwurst in America, Johnsonville Brats, started in Johnsonville, Wis.
3. Sheboygan, Wis., is the unofficial brat capital.
4. You’ve followed these six steps:
   • Avoid high flames that cause injury to sausage (and your neighbors!)
   • Use a clean grill to help reduce flare up (and impresses your friends and family)
   • Knowing it’s OK to pre-cook, especially if this consists of a beer and onion bath
   • Cooking your brats slowly, on a low heat for 20 to 25 minutes
   • You’ve turned the brats once every five minutes or so (but only using tongs … NEVER a fork!)
   • Realize when your brats are done cooking, because that golden-brown perfection is hard to taste if your brats are charred to a crisp. Remember, burning is not grilling!
5. Whether you call it a bratwurst, a brat, a wurst or a sausage, it all means the same thing: great taste!

Suggested Recipes from Johnsonville: Spicy Cracked Black Pepper Brats, Traditional Sheboygan Double Brat, and Mac & Brats

SOURCE: Johnsonville © 2012 All rights reserved.