Making Bratwurst
Do not try this at home.Lacking anything intelligent to do, Don & I decided to make bratwurst.
We prefer to blame it on faulty equipments, surely our incompetence and incomprehension of sausage making 101 had nothing to do with it.
We had problem getting the mear grinded (ended up usng Cuisinart). Had even more trouble getting the meat into casings (flow & air bubble issues, then there are the frequent burstings). Good news is we took frequent breaks to enjoy an '86 Pauliac Grand Cru, the charcuterie we brought back from Granville Market and Carol's delicious pot roast. Brats turned out pretty good too, after 8 hours or so of hard labor.
You start with meat, we used beef top round & pork shoulders. Semi-frozen so it's easier to cut into small chunks then fed into grinder (or Cuisinart). Then mix in spices (we used pepper, salt, garlic, ginger, mace, sage, rosemary, cream & dextrose). Then you freeze it for another hour or so to harden (soft meat gets smushy and difficult to push through the grinder).
Then you feed it through the grinder into the casing (sheep stomach), using a pin to puncture holes for air bubbles. Use any twine or string to tie into links. Voila - you have a bratwurst.
To cook simmer in beer on stove top for 20 minutes then finish on the grill at medium (350 - 450) for 3 - 6 minutes until nicely browned. Careful to not break the skin so the juices stay in. Serve with mustard, onions & krauts and do the polka.
2 Comments:
Isn't there a saying about sausages and public policy--you don't want to see either one of them being made?
So do you take the string that separates the links off before you put them on the grill? And what's to stop the skins from bursting and the meat reverting back to a soggy mush once you heat the bratwurst up?
don't need to take off string. If you pre-cook them (in beer in this instance) then you redcue the chance of skin bursting on the grill.
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