First brats with pics

[deuce]

I decided it was time to try making my own brats after reading many good ideas and tips here. I picked up 20# of pork shoulder and trimmed some of the fat off till it looked ok to me. I used hog casings and made 4 kinds in 5# batches. A German style, Wisconsin Style, Hot Italian, and tried the premix fresh brat seasoning from LEM.

Into the grinder with the coarse grind plate 

The first batch I used the sausage stuffer attatchment for the grinder. It worked pretty good, but towards the last of the batch as the meat warmed from the freezer time, it mushed up more.

A friend had a new LEM stuffer still in the box he let me borrow to try. What a difference, this was way easier especially for one person! He may not be getting his stuffer back anytime soon.........

Linking them up. Had to retwist a couple after twisting the next one the same way as last, but got the hang of it finally.

The German style called for a finer almost pastier grind so I used smaller grinding plate and double ground the meat. Also added 1# of venison to this one, it called for 1# of veal or beef.

All twisted up and ready for the grill and freezer.

I did not get any pictures of the ones we grilled, it was dark by that time and my level of intoxication made taking pictures with the good camera a poor idea. They did taste very good however! A few of them burst open I am guessing because they were either twisted too tight or maybe cooked to long. I think my next batch will be some for the smoker also.

 

[boykjo]

Looks great Deuce.......................

   Bet they wont last long..........

Joe
 

 

[sam3]

Great job! They look fantastic!!

 

[deuce]

Thanks Joe! They are going to go fast this month I think, but thats ok, I am looking forward to making more!

 

[deuce]

Great job! They look fantastic!!

Thanks Sam! I will not be buying any more brats from the store.

I would like to try making some with cheese in them but do not know how well that would work with regular cheddar, I may have to try to find some "hi temp" cheddar.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Those look very good.
 

 

[eppo]

Those look awesome. One day I would love to make my own sausage!

 

[alelover]

Those look awesome. Nice job.

 

[scarbelly]

Those look great and I bet they tasted even better. 

 

[johnnie walker]

Deuce, give some regular cheddar a try. The hi temp stuff is better (and more costly) but regular will work too!

All those sausages look great, and they sure taste better when you know you made them yourself!

You said a couple of your sausages burst while cooking? It could have been they were stuffed to tight or your grill might have been to hot!

 

[smokinhusker]

Great looking sausage! The sausage stuffer works great doesn't it? LOL Did you use your own recipes or kits?

 

[ronrude]

you are inspiring me.  So did the fact that I barely found any in the freezer!  Once you make your own, you never think you have enough.

If you like spicy, I recommend replacing the cold water with the juice out of a jalapeno jar.  Jalapeno sausages are my favorite. 

 

[gersus]

Looks great! A stuffer is definitely nice. I hope I never buy brats at the store again! Len poli's recipe for wisconsin brats is real good too.

 

[deuce]

Deuce, give some regular cheddar a try. The hi temp stuff is better (and more costly) but regular will work too!

All those sausages look great, and they sure taste better when you know you made them yourself!

You said a couple of your sausages burst while cooking? It could have been they were stuffed to tight or your grill might have been to hot!

Great info on the cheddar, Thanks! I think they may have been stuffed to tight also on the ones that burst.

 

[deuce]

Great looking sausage! The sausage stuffer works great doesn't it? LOL Did you use your own recipes or kits?

Thanks! I used recipies I found with a slight modification here and there but almost exact. The only kit I used was the LEM fresh brat, which was pretty good too. Link to the WIsconsin Style recipie http://thepauperedchef.com/2009/06/homemade-wisconsin-style-bratwurst.html  link to the German style recipie http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/homemade-bratwurst.html  I substituted venison for veal or beef, link to the Hot Italian sausage recipie http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/Italian-sausage.html

 

[deuce]

you are inspiring me.  So did the fact that I barely found any in the freezer!  Once you make your own, you never think you have enough.

If you like spicy, I recommend replacing the cold water with the juice out of a jalapeno jar.  Jalapeno sausages are my favorite. 

That is on my list for the next batch! I want to try making a jalepeno and cheddar brat, the jalepeno juice is a great idea, Thanks!