Finally got a chance to try my hand at brats today!
Stopped by the butcher shop after filling in boxes on my Scantron today, picked up 3 lbs each of ground chuck and ground pork shoulder - Man this stuff is expensive. I'm gonna have to get myself a grinder, that's just all there is to it. $5/lb for pork, $6.50/lb for chuck. Sheesh.
Decided to try the Nurnburg bratwurst recipe from 2 Guys and a Cooler. Measured out spices for a total of 2775g of meat - I gotta say, their website is pretty cool, you can adjust it based on how much meat you have and it'll tell you what you need of everything. Lazy... yes. Figuring up your own is important, I think. Math skills are important, I think. Most kids these days can't even make change. Don't even know simple multiplication tables. We've totally sold out our country's future in so many ways, but that's a whole different story.
Anyways...
Spices:
Didn't have a free hand to take pics, but nothing really special about any of this - I'm just chronicling my journey, as much as anything, I think. lol Stream of consciousness? Oh well. lol
Sausages cased up:
Then I poached 'em all in a pot of water, low simmer, 20-30 minutes? I dunno. Pulled 'em out, ran cool water over 'em for a few, then placed in an ice bath and bagged up.
I pulled out one an hour or so later, nuked it and put it in a bun. Threw some Dusseldorf mustard on it. Wife took one look and wrinkled her nose as it's white and boiled. Ewww. Truly, no, prolly didn't look to appetizing, considering the nicely smoked red sausages I've been making this week. She asked me if it was cooked? LOL yes, dear, it is cooked, I'm not eating raw sausages.
But, if I grill them off, I'm sure it'll help them look more appetizing, plus crisp up that casing a little bit. It wasn't bad, but the casing was a little chewy. Sausage was nice and tender. Flavor was pretty mild. I'm not sure if it'll 'bloom' a little more over night as it sits in the fridge, or if I should have let them sit in the fridge to do this before I poached them? What do you think?
I dunno, like I said - pretty mild. Not bad, and I should withhold judgement until giving them some time to mature a bit AND try them grilled. I'll prolly/maybe do that this evening (Wed). I dunno. We'll see. Overall, happy with them, I'm learning as I go, the techniques, etc. Tying sausages, how long to make them, spinning/twisting (needs work), etc. Finally did run out of casings, need to order some more. Got about 15lbs of sausage stuffed out of that $10 package from Wally World. So I'll need to get some more. But... I think with all the sausage I have on hand right now, I'm probably going to need to chill for a little while - gonna take some time to eat all of these. lol
We'll see how it all goes, but for now, I'd say these need more flavor. The flavor is good, but I'm hoping they 'bloom' a bit. If not, next time I'll probably go up by 50% on the seasonings overall, if I don't try another recipe. For those who have made and poached brats, did the flavor improve significantly after 'resting' and/or grilling? I shouldn't say that... the flavor is good, just not as 'present' as I want. I want some stronger brats.
Hopefully these will get there, as I've got 6 lbs to eat! lol
Stopped by the butcher shop after filling in boxes on my Scantron today, picked up 3 lbs each of ground chuck and ground pork shoulder - Man this stuff is expensive. I'm gonna have to get myself a grinder, that's just all there is to it. $5/lb for pork, $6.50/lb for chuck. Sheesh.
Decided to try the Nurnburg bratwurst recipe from 2 Guys and a Cooler. Measured out spices for a total of 2775g of meat - I gotta say, their website is pretty cool, you can adjust it based on how much meat you have and it'll tell you what you need of everything. Lazy... yes. Figuring up your own is important, I think. Math skills are important, I think. Most kids these days can't even make change. Don't even know simple multiplication tables. We've totally sold out our country's future in so many ways, but that's a whole different story.
Anyways...
Spices:
Didn't have a free hand to take pics, but nothing really special about any of this - I'm just chronicling my journey, as much as anything, I think. lol Stream of consciousness? Oh well. lol
Sausages cased up:
Then I poached 'em all in a pot of water, low simmer, 20-30 minutes? I dunno. Pulled 'em out, ran cool water over 'em for a few, then placed in an ice bath and bagged up.
I pulled out one an hour or so later, nuked it and put it in a bun. Threw some Dusseldorf mustard on it. Wife took one look and wrinkled her nose as it's white and boiled. Ewww. Truly, no, prolly didn't look to appetizing, considering the nicely smoked red sausages I've been making this week. She asked me if it was cooked? LOL yes, dear, it is cooked, I'm not eating raw sausages.
But, if I grill them off, I'm sure it'll help them look more appetizing, plus crisp up that casing a little bit. It wasn't bad, but the casing was a little chewy. Sausage was nice and tender. Flavor was pretty mild. I'm not sure if it'll 'bloom' a little more over night as it sits in the fridge, or if I should have let them sit in the fridge to do this before I poached them? What do you think?
I dunno, like I said - pretty mild. Not bad, and I should withhold judgement until giving them some time to mature a bit AND try them grilled. I'll prolly/maybe do that this evening (Wed). I dunno. We'll see. Overall, happy with them, I'm learning as I go, the techniques, etc. Tying sausages, how long to make them, spinning/twisting (needs work), etc. Finally did run out of casings, need to order some more. Got about 15lbs of sausage stuffed out of that $10 package from Wally World. So I'll need to get some more. But... I think with all the sausage I have on hand right now, I'm probably going to need to chill for a little while - gonna take some time to eat all of these. lol
We'll see how it all goes, but for now, I'd say these need more flavor. The flavor is good, but I'm hoping they 'bloom' a bit. If not, next time I'll probably go up by 50% on the seasonings overall, if I don't try another recipe. For those who have made and poached brats, did the flavor improve significantly after 'resting' and/or grilling? I shouldn't say that... the flavor is good, just not as 'present' as I want. I want some stronger brats.
Hopefully these will get there, as I've got 6 lbs to eat! lol
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