1st time smoking sausages

[tallbm]

Nice! Glad to see you are getting it better!

 

[danbono]

So lucky to try German brats in Germany!! :D

I never smoked the Brats I made with Lem's Fresh Brat seasoning. I only ever grilled em so I can't speak to any smoking experiences with them.
I have smoked the Lem's Cured Franks and they are great! I have smoked Franks and then reheated on the grill and they were also great. Finally, I simply grilled the Franks (doing some right now haha) and they were amazing as well :)

The only issue I've ever had with the Fresh Brats is being too salty or nailing the right amount of seasoning in the past. I took notes over the various times and I believe I have nailed it so here are my notes on the LEM's seasoning measurements to help you out on your next attempt :)

• Cure #1 Amount: 1.133gm per pound of sausage meat (156ppm) good to know this for any ground sausage
• LEM's Fresh Brat Seasoning Amount: 27.3gm per pound of sausage meat
• LEM's Cured Frank Seasoning Amount: 14gm per pound of sausage meat (seems more salt in this one or just less other stuff vs brats which have mace/nutmeg, etc. that franks don't have)
• LEM's Jalapeno Bacon Cure/Seasoning Amount: 3% of bacon belly weight (0.03 x bacon belly weight = amount of seasoning)
• LEM's Venison Bacon Cure/Seasoning Amount: 3% of bacon belly weight(0.03 x bacon belly weight = amount of seasoning) ALSO 3% of ground venison meat mix weight if doing ground/formed bacon :)
  • I don't do ground formed bacon anymore as its just ok compared to pork belly bacon so instead of wasting the seasoning I figured out how to convert it for pork belly bacon. When I figured this one out I applied the same % to the Jalapeno version and low and behold it worked perfectly, no overly salty bacon :)

I hope these notes help and I believe that if you follow the Brat measurements above you will land in a good spot for fresh brats for grilling and you can tweak to your own tastes from here :)

Hi I use your measurements for the Lem fresh bratwurst 27.3 grams or 3.61 tablespoons for 1 pound of ground pork..I'm going to let sit in the fridge over night, then put it on skewers and grill them.

Easy Kabob Maker | EasyKabob

The perfect tool for BBQ and grilling ground meat. The Easy Kabob makes kebabs, hotdogs, sausage and corndogs. Works with bamboo and metal skewers.

www.easykabob.com

Dan
PS I've only used the Kabob Maker one time. It took alot of pressure to get the meat thru.

 

[tallbm]

Hi I use your measurements for the Lem fresh bratwurst 27.3 grams or 3.61 tablespoons for 1 pound of ground pork..I'm going to let sit in the fridge over night, then put it on skewers and grill them.

Easy Kabob Maker | EasyKabob

The perfect tool for BBQ and grilling ground meat. The Easy Kabob makes kebabs, hotdogs, sausage and corndogs. Works with bamboo and metal skewers.

www.easykabob.com

Dan
PS I've only used the Kabob Maker one time. It took alot of pressure to get the meat thru.

That's cool to hear! Let me know how it comes out.
I'm assuming that with only doing 1 pound you may have skipped the fry test.
If you feel it needs more/less seasoning per pound be sure to let me know, all of our taste buds are a little different and the manufacturer can change recipes at any point without stating so which can be annoying. So far this hasnt been the case for the fresh brats and franks seasonings in my experience :)

I look forward to seeing how it comes out! :)

 

[danbono]

That's cool to hear! Let me know how it comes out.
I'm assuming that with only doing 1 pound you may have skipped the fry test.
If you feel it needs more/less seasoning per pound be sure to let me know, all of our taste buds are a little different and the manufacturer can change recipes at any point without stating so which can be annoying. So far this hasnt been the case for the fresh brats and franks seasonings in my experience :)

I look forward to seeing how it comes out! :)

Hi I will post back with the results.Can't grill them got12" snow here already, so under the broiler they will go.
Dan

 

[danbono]

Hi I messed up big time..For some unknown reason I thought I was working with 2 pounds of ground pork and doubled the amount of brat mix. Went ahead and put then under the broiler 18"of snow here.The result was predicable . I took 2 bites and into the garbage they went.. Sorry I mess up, and couldn't get you better results. Next time for for sure. I still have some brat mix left over from the smoked version. I'm thinking it is the same brat mix with a package of cure for smoking. My next adventure.
Dan
PS They did look good.

.

 

[tallbm]

Hi I messed up big time..For some unknown reason I thought I was working with 2 pounds of ground pork and doubled the amount of brat mix. Went ahead and put then under the broiler 18"of snow here.The result was predicable . I took 2 bites and into the garbage they went.. Sorry I mess up, and couldn't get you better results. Next time for for sure. I still have some brat mix left over from the smoked version. I'm thinking it is the same brat mix with a package of cure for smoking. My next adventure.
Dan
PS They did look good.

.

That sucks but we live and learn. Thank goodness it was only a small amount of meat.

When making sausage doing a fry test is a great practice to do each time.
After you mix the meat and seasoning but before you stuff take a small amount and fry it in a skill it and taste if the flavor is too salty or too bland. This helps you catch many issues.

Don't worry if the flavor doesnt seem to be what you think it should be as it changes when smoked/cooked. The key is that it tastes good and you can ensure the final taste will also be good if it is different :)