Making brats

[Pool_shark_dc]

So I'm not sure if this is the right form or not. Made venison brats is hog casings. After I grilled them it seems like when u cut the brat it's like crumbly burger. Not like a store bought brat that doesn't crumble. Any ideas?

 

[wild west]

Whats the recipe you used. Could be not enough fat or could be not mixed enough to get a good bind or a combination of both.

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Did you add pork fat? How about water to the mix?

 

[Pool_shark_dc]

I wanna say 80/20 or 70/30. Don't remember if I used water. Pretty sure I did. Along with some other odds and send spices. I mixed with my hands for quite a bit .... At least I thought so

 

[indaswamp]

How long did you grill the links and what temp.?

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

I’ve had crumbly brats before when not adding water to the mix. My buddy who does all the deer processing around here (750 a season) has me start adding a pitcher of water to every 25 pound batch. Add it slowly as it’s mixing. It really made a difference.

 

[Pool_shark_dc]

Don't know how long. Just grilled them for a bit.

 

[indaswamp]

Next time try grilling @275* for 35 minutes...indirect heat.

 

[myownidaho]

Could be several things that have mostly been mentioned. Mixing the salt and sugar with the meat and letting it sit overnight really helps with texture as well.

 

[chopsaw]

If you don't know what you did how are you going to make a change ?

 

[archeryrob]

I wanna say 80/20 or 70/30. Don't remember if I used water. Pretty sure I did. Along with some other odds and send spices. I mixed with my hands for quite a bit .... At least I thought so

Here is a lot of your problem, you don't have proper records when trying something new. You didn't keep a recipe card so when it went wrong on something new or a change, you know what was different. Unfortunately, we learn the best went we trip and fall like this. ;)

You were not very clear on what you added. Did you cut deer with 80/20 beef or 70/30 beef, or did you add 20% or 30% pork fat? 20% to 30% fat added should have liquid fat squirting out. 80/20 beef cutting deer is dry for bologna and 70/30 is good for bologna but barely enough to get near sausage. For sausage I would think a 20% total fat content or slightly higher is what you want.

Added water as suggested too.