Bratwurst (or any sausage) question

[hc2]

Smoking sausage for a while (usually around 4-6 hours depending on the smoker temps) seems to harden/toughen the casing. Any tips on keeping the casing of sausages from getting tough while still making sure it is cooked through?
I realize on some sausages the casing can be removed, but for stuff like Italian sausage or bratwurst, have to keep the casing on the sausage.

[BBQ-Phil]

It s better to grill Bratwurst with direct heat,believe me...I'm from Germany and know how to treat a Bratwurst...

Greets,Phil

[HFD26]

I assume you are going to hang the sausage in a smoke house. Be sure and use a cure, prauge powder#1, instacure, or tender quick. Let the sausage dry at room temp and hang in the smoke house at 125 degrees for about one hour with the damper wide open. Close the damper to about 1/4, apply smoke, and gradually raise the temp to 170 degrees. Hold at this temp until the internal temp of the sausage reaches 152 degrees. Remove sausage from smoke house and shower with cool water for a few minuets. Let the sausage dry then refridgarate.

[TexLaw]

If you're throwing it on a pit at typical cooking temperatures (i.e., 200-250), you don't need to keep that sort of sausage on for four hours. An hour two (depending on all sorts of things) in a hot spot ought to do nicely.

Phil has some of the best advice, though. While I like my pit smoked bratwursts, it's tough to beat direct heat.


TL

[Sandbagger]

Like Phil, when I cook brats on the egg, it's a direct cook with the grid high over the lump and the temperature around 350 to 400 degrees. I cook em with cherry smoke to give them a nice cherry red color. They cook like chicken, when the juices run clear they are done. Some folks will cook em longer to render the fat and eliminate the shooting juices when eating. Not me!

Unlike Phil, I am not from Germany, but I am half German and grew up in Wisconsin, so brat eating is in my blood. Man all we are missing is cold beer and a Packer tailgate....:D.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/tvogds/118_1848.jpg

[ridgeback05]

Sandbagger - that chicken and sausage looks good

[Iowa Smoker]

I agree with the direct cookers. A medium fire and some maple smoke makes for the best brats ever eaten.

I have some freinds that boil them in beer and onions before cooking. I am not a huge fan of that personally. I like them to cook in thier own juices. What does everyone else think?

Oh yea technically what does boiling them do for us in the cooking process?

[Buster]

Like Phil, when I cook brats on the egg, it's a direct cook with the grid high over the lump and the temperature around 350 to 400 degrees. I cook em with cherry smoke to give them a nice cherry red color. They cook like chicken, when the juices run clear they are done. Some folks will cook em longer to render the fat and eliminate the shooting juices when eating. Not me!

Unlike Phil, I am not from Germany, but I am half German and grew up in Wisconsin, so brat eating is in my blood. Man all we are missing is cold beer and a Packer tailgate....:D.....

http://url.photobucket.com/albums/v233/tvogds/118_1848.jpg

Oh yeahhhhhhh, brats and sauerkraut! Plenty of mustard too. I like 'em grilled. Smoking works better for me with other types of sausage.

I'm all German. My peeps came over to Texas back in the 1870s.

[TexLaw]

Oh yea technically what does boiling them do for us in the cooking process?

I don't do it, but I understand it helps tenderize the casing.


TL

[Sandbagger]

I remember growing up as a kid in the 1960s, the local faternal organizations would have local picnics or brat frys. The general practice was grill the brats and then keep them warm in those electric turkey cookers. Since is was Wisconsin with guys throwing the party, there was always plenty of keg beer around. So, to keep the brats moist in the turkey cookers, they would just run a tap and fill the turkey fryer. And since most folks ate brats with onions, they added the onions to the cookers to simply serving. Grab a brat from the cooker and while your at it, get your onions too. I remember those turkey cooker could keep the brats hot and moist for a long time. So you see, the brat, beer and onion combo is a righteous fit. Man, I miss those brat frys....

Tom