Coney Bratwurst

[browner010]

I've been mulling over making Coney Island Bratwursts for a couple years, so I finally broke down and did it. To me they were good but just not quit there. All I did was mix my coney seasoning recipe with my bratwurst seasoning recipe with some salt adjustment and mixed it into the meat. Has anyone else tried to make this?

 

[Steve H]

Haven't tried this. But I do remember Coney island hots and a big cup of fries with pub vinegar. Or, are you talking about something else?

 

[browner010]

I'm talking about Coney Island flavored bratwurst. Instead of making a Coney sauce and putting it on the brat just add the seasonings to the brat itself. like I said it was good but it was not quite there, it was missing something.

 

[chopsaw]

Maybe you need more of a smoked sausage taste / texture ? I add cure 1 to my Bratwurst even if I leave them fresh . Makes a great grilled sausage . So if you are lookin for a Coney dog taste , maybe add the proper amount of cure 1 ?

 

[browner010]

Chopsaw are you talking about the "curing salt? My bratwurst recipe doesn't call for that, is that something I should be using? I don't normally use curing salt for anything unless it's being smoked or dried.

 

[SmokinAl]

I don't know what Coney Island brats are supposed to taste like, but adding cure to the mix will definitely change the flavor profile. Not sure if that is the flavor you are missing though.
Al

 

[DanMcG]

What is a coney island spice mix? I always thought it was the toppings on the dog that made it a coney.

 

[zippy12]

Could be the heat from cooking them that changes the flavor...

 

[browner010]

For those of you that are wondering what a Coney is, it is a spiced meat sauce that is put on top of a natural cased all beef hotdog. I'm trying to make a Coney dog flavored bratwurst.
I now see what Chopsaw was saying as to the smokey flavor, I'm missing the smoke of the hotdog. That never even dawned on me to add a smoke flavor. I'll have to make a 5 lb. batch and add a few drops of liquid smoke and i'm willing to bet that is what's missing. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Sometimes I get locked on something, causing a severe brain fart and it takes fresh eyes to see the answer.
Thank you all

 

[chopsaw]

For those of you that are wondering what a Coney is, it is a spiced meat sauce that is put on top of a natural cased all beef hotdog. I'm trying to make a Coney dog flavored bratwurst.
I now see what Chopsaw was saying as to the smokey flavor, I'm missing the smoke of the hotdog. That never even dawned on me to add a smoke flavor. I'll have to make a 5 lb. batch and add a few drops of liquid smoke and i'm willing to bet that is what's missing. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Sometimes I get locked on something, causing a severe brain fart and it takes fresh eyes to see the answer.
Thank you all

Yes that was my thought . Not just the smoke , but the taste and texture too. No you don't have to add cure to fresh sausage , However I do . I put in the proper amounts in all my brats and polish sausages that are left fresh and grilled . Makes a great sausage .
You got me thinkin on this . I just might try it . Let us know how it turns out .

 

[browner010]

Here is the recipe I've been tinkering with:

7 lbs. ground pork

3 lbs. ground beef

Bratwurst seasoning (your own or store bought)

3 large onions minced (I use a food processor)

2 tbsp. oregano

2 tbsp. cumin

1/4 cup paprika

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tbsp. celery salt

2 tbsp. garlic salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups cold water

Grind meat with course plate. Mix all spices together. Add to meat mixing while slowly adding cold water and add onion and mix again, cover and refrigerate 4 hours, Grind again, Cover and refrigerate over night. Stuff into hog casings.
Now to figure out how much liquid smoke to use. The bottle says 1 tsp will flavor 5lbs of meat. I can add 1/4 tsp of liquid smoke to the water, separated into 1/2 cup portions and add the rest of the water when I get the right flavor. Also I'm debating on using a 50/50 mix of water and tomato sauce

 

[jimmyinsd]

why not lightly mix your coney sauce, into your brat mixture right before stuffing that way you have 2 separate flavors in the sausage? leave your brat mixture a little dry so the extra liquid from the coney sauce doesnt create a mess, but keep the flavors apart until you are ready to stuff. I think somethings are best because they are 2 separate flavors and or consistencies that are just right together. I like the idea of getting it all in one casing though if you dont lose to much during the cooking process.

just a suggestion, maybe its not what you are looking for.

 

[browner010]

I have tried to do that but some of it becomes over cooked, so I just took the ingredients and added it to the brat as I was mixing giving the brat both flavors. I taste test before casing the sausage and have found at times I need to add meat or seasonings. I always make enough seasoning mix in case I need to add more

 

[gmc2003]

Clinking three beer bottles. Warriors - come out and play-ay, oh Warriers come out an play-ay. I would just increase your coney seasoning a bit until you find what your looking for. I don't remember Coney's being smoked at all, but it has been a long, very long time since I lived in or visited Brooklyn.

Chris

 

[browner010]

Clinking three beer bottles. Warriors - come out and play-ay, oh Warriers come out an play-ay. I would just increase your coney seasoning a bit until you find what your looking for. I don't remember Coney's being smoked at all, but it has been a long, very long time since I lived in or visited Brooklyn.

Chris

Now that brings back memories lol! Great movie, one of my favorites. But back to the coney's, the all beef hotdogs are smoked and I think that's what is missing. In am going to make a 3lb batch this weekend and add the liquid smoke to see if that's the ticket. Can You Dig It? LOL

 

[chopsaw]

Sounds like a plan . Get it mixed , then cull out 1 lb and add 1/4 tsp cure 1 to the 1 lb . Leave it fresh grill as normal .
Good luck .

 

[grumpa john]

The one thing I see missing from your coney island seasoning mix is rosemary. When I was growing up, my family ran a coney island restaurant and made lots of this. Now at home, I only make five pounds at a time and use 3-5 tbsp per two cups warm water steeped for 15 minutes or so. Pour that in your grind, filtering out the rosemary, and you might add the extra touch you are looking for. By the way, I always use fresh rosemary - living in Florida allows this year round.

 

[DanMcG]

Interesting idea about steeping and filtering out the rosemary. thanks.