Wisconsin Beer Brats

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smoke-inator

Fire Starter
Original poster
May 17, 2013
62
15
Wake Forest, NC
My wife hates all of the toys I've been buying so this weekend is a good time to bring them out.

I picked up the LEM .25 grinder and a bunch of stuff from Butcher and Packer.

Using SausageBoy's recipe as the base.

Wisconsin-Wannabe Bratwurst  
5 lbs. well-fatted pork shoulder/butt 
3 Tbsp. kosher salt 
1 Tbsp. sugar 
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 
1 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 
1/2 tsp. toasted and freshly ground coriander 
1/4 tsp. ground celery seed 
1/8 tsp. ground marjoram 
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 

Then I added 1 Tbsp. Beer Buds to give it the beer flavor (not sure the correct amount to use so this is the trial run)

If anyone has experience with Beer Buds, I'll gladly take your advice on the amount for 5#.

2.5 lbs. will have diced high temp cheddar as well!

Staring out with a pork shoulder I grabbed the other day and cut into cubes.


Added some pork fat left over from my last CB project


All set and into the freezer while I get the spices and casings together.


I ended up with 7 lbs. 10 oz. So I'll use the remainder for a little bit of Italian sausage!

I'll add more as my day progresses!

Ron
 
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Looks like your off to a great start .....................and your not too far from me... I live over in the lake wheeler area..... Keep the qveiwcomming............................................................................................................................................................................................................12 OZ of beer buds per 50 lbs so.... 12 ounces = 340.194 grams. 50/ 340.194= 6.6 grams per lb... 6.6x5= 33 grams for 5 lbs of meat............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Joe
 
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So I sent the wife out to grab the last few spices I needed and she came back with some friends dragging me out to dinner last night.

Even though I was looking forward to finishing the brats, a good steak went down very nicely....Today I will have brats for dinner and get updates for everyone.
 
So I'm trying my second day to knock it out and it turned out really well!

Picking up from where I left off...

Thanks to boykjo's calculations with the beer buds, it turns out to be close to 1 tbs of buds to each pound of meat.

I decided to use 4 tbs overall for the 5 pounds.

Almost frozen and grinding very nicely...The LEM grinder was a great investment but, the foot pedal made it even better.

I decided to double grind it with the 10mm plate


Mixed the spices and the water together then, I mixed by hand until my fingers were almost too cold to work it anymore. Now I'm ready to stuff.


Stuffing was a chore, yes in this picture, I'm using my hands a bit and its not safe but, believe me...It was more plunger than hand sausage.


All stuffed and twisted up...see lesions learned below.


Smoked at 300 degrees with hickory till done.


Money Shot:


Lessions Learned:

1. I got so focused being my first time that I forgot to add cheeses to half the mix.

2. The LEM grinder is awesome!

3. How you put the casings on the tube makes a big difference...They need to be evenly distributed or they bind and bunch during stuffing.

4. The foot pedal and a second set of hands are needed.

5. If you over stuff, you will get blow outs during the stuffing process which make it impossible to twist as well as cook without more blow outs later.

6. Blow Outs - In the beginning, I didn't have a feel for it and just went for broke. About half way through and my wife helping me with the blow outs, I learned that under stuffing a bit makes it very easy to twist later down the road.

7. Next investment, the 5 lbs vertical stuffer.

8. Casings - Clean and prep enough to do the job but, make them in sections that are manageable. I started with a few really long ones but in hind sight. I would have been easier working with several 4 ft sections that can easily be twisted into 4 links per at 8 in each.

9. Enjoying a beverage while gloved up is a challenge unless your second set of hands are willing to go the extra mile...Thank you Sarah!

Overall feedback from my wife when I did the test fry...."Oh my freaking word!"

Dinner was great and the kids scarfed it down so mission accomplished!

Now that this is behind me, I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

I need to say thank you to everyone....This site and the people here have really helped me tackle things I did not know I could.

Happy smoking...its time for a relaxing beer,

Ron
 
Nice brats Ron, I'll have to try them and thanks for the recipe....Where did you get the beer buds?..... just a heads up, you can get a hank of fresh natural casings at nahuntas over at the farmers market in raleigh. They sell the wolfsons brand which is a very good quality casing. The vertical stuffer is a must.....Joe
 
Thanks. I have been on the edge of doing brats and you have pushed me over.

points.gif


Disco
 
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