My First Bratwurst, 25 lbs. w/ Q-View

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mneeley490

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Jun 23, 2011
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2,216
Everett, WA
This is how I spent my Father's Day. Went with a kit from Cabela's for this inaugural batch. Up until now, I've only tried breakfast sausage, snack sticks, and salami. This was my first time with Brats and also with natural casings, hog in this case. So it was a learning experience. Mainly in time management. Cleaning the casings took twice as long as I thought it would. I soaked according to the directions, and then rinsed the inside of each one twice with tap water. I found that they were the exact color and texture as my latex gloves, so those had to go, and I had quite a time finding the openings.

We start off with 25 lbs of pork butt.


Cut and deboned to order by the sausage maker. I got a tasteless new t-shirt too, btw.


Once again, using my KitchenAid to grind. It does a swell job, but the meat really has to be partially frozen. My first butt wasn't, and I had to run ice chunks through with the meat to keep it from gumming up the works.


I changed up the Cabela's recipe, replacing the water with one of my favorite local brews, Elysian Space Dust. As Alton Brown says, "Water doesn't bring anything to the party."


My supervisor, keeping tabs on my work again. 


Mixed.


I found a lazy-susan came in handy with the sausage rolling. Stuffing took longer than I anticipated, too. Even carefully loading the casings onto the tube, I had a few blow outs that took time to fix.


The first 2 rolls. I think I ended up with about 9 or 10. After this shot I linked them all. Linking those hog casings was a breeze, after trying to link breakfast sausage with collagen casings.


Forgot to get a shot of them linked, but here they are taking up almost all the room in my mini beer fridge. Those are 2-1/2 gallon ziplock bags.


Letting them chill for a day or two, so the flavors can blend. Then I will throw a few on the grill to see how they came out. 
cheers.gif
 
 
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Looks great! It'll get easier and quicker the more you work with the casings. 25lbs is a lot for the Kitchenaid.. When i first started out I was trying to do big batches with it and it would get real hot and started smelling burnt and was leaching black grease from the drive through the grinder attachment into the meat. I thought rather than burn up my KA, I would pick up a dedicated grinder for $100, and havent looked back. The other thing with the KA is it takes too long.. Good call with the freezer packs.

Can't wait to see the final results! Watch out for that Space Dust hehe.. I didnt read the alcohol content the first time I had it and ended up drunk. I'm curious to hear how those floral notes come through in the taste of the brats!
 
25# first batch sure hope they taste as good as they look!
They do. Somewhat spicier than any I've had before, but I like it. Makes Johnsonville taste pretty bland by comparison. 

I like to simmer in beer and onions first, so they're cooked thoroughly before browning on the grill. Then they go back into the pot.





Plated with the simmered onions, and a little mustard.

 
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Congrats on the 1st of many batches im sure.

Were those casings the ones packed in salt? If so I have had the same experience with them and now buy the ones packed in salt water. They seem to be much better IMO.

Again great job.

:sausage: Thumbs Up
 
Nice !!!   Looks mighty Tasty  I could handle a couple of those.   
points1.png


Gary
 
Congrats on the 1st of many batches im sure.

Were those casings the ones packed in salt? If so I have had the same experience with them and now buy the ones packed in salt water. They seem to be much better IMO.

Again great job.

sausage.gif
icon14.gif
Yes, they were packed in salt. I've never seen any in saltwater packaging, unless those are the ones that come in big buckets?
 
Congrats on the 1st of many batches im sure.


Were those casings the ones packed in salt? If so I have had the same experience with them and now buy the ones packed in salt water. They seem to be much better IMO.


Again great job.

:sausage: Thumbs Up


Yes, they were packed in salt. I've never seen any in saltwater packaging, unless those are the ones that come in big buckets?

Yeah you can get them in a bucket. I order mine online.
 
:drool:
Wow, yummy- new to seeing this done from scratch....I have a lot to learn!
BTW- did you use a standard yellow mustard? I can't eat Brats without a good stone ground.
 
BTW- did you use a standard yellow mustard? I can't eat Brats without a good stone ground.
Yes, I usually use a good stone ground mustard too, but yellow was all I had at the time.
Yeah you can get them in a bucket. I order mine online.
I had more than enough with the packet. I don't think I'd be able to use a bucket's worth.
 
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