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Father's Day Grilling: Homemade Beer Brats

Posted by Joshua Bousel, June 13, 2008 at 11:30 AM

On Mother's Day I was thoughtful and asked my Mom what it was she'd most like to have grilled for her, but Father's Day is a whole different beast. Even though my own father isn't much of a griller, I know that I'm destined to be the reason Hallmark produces countless grilling cards. So I thought, "What would could a son or daughter do that would both impress and make me relinquish hold of the grill?" The answer: sausage.

I don't think there's anything else in my repertoire that so consistently causes awe, but in all honesty, sausage is not all that hard to make, and the final reward far outweighs any difficulty or time. Beer Brats seemed especially fitting for Father's Day, packing almost every Father's Day cliché nicely onto a 6" hard roll. Cooking bratwurst in a bath of dark beer and onions adds the perfect slightly bitter compliment to this sweet-spiced sausage. Then, top that off with some ketchup, mustard, pickles or sauerkraut, and the whole thing just explodes with flavor with every bite. I'm not quite there yet, but I know the day one of my offspring make some of these for for me, I'm going to be one proud papa.

About the author: Joshua Bousel blogs about grilling on his blog, The Meatwave, and appears weekly here on Serious Eats during grilling season.

Beer Brats

- serves 12-16 -
Adapted from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Poleyn.

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 pound boneless lean veal shoulder, diced
1 pound pork fatback
1 1/2 ounces kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup ice cold heavy cream

2 bottles of dark beer
4 tablespoons butter
1 large white onion, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

Procedure

1. Combine the pork, veal, salt, pepper, ginger and nutmeg and toss well to distribute the seasonings. Grind the mixture through the small die of your meat grinder into a bowl set in ice.

2. Mix on low speed using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer for 1 minute. Add the eggs and cream, start the mixer on low, and then increase to medium and mix until the cream and eggs are fully incorporated and the sausage appears sticky, about 1 minute longer. Sauté a small portion of the sausage and taste; adjust seasoning if necessary (refrigerate the sausage mixture while you do this).

3. Stuff into medium casings and tie into 6" links. Refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Light 1 chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals out evenly. Place brats, onion, and butter in a tray and add enough beer to cover. Place tray with the brats on the grill and cook until the sausages reach an internal temperature of 150°F, about 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove brats from the beer and grill until browned all over. Serve immediately on rolls with the onions and other desired condiments, or place back into beer bath until ready to consume.

6 Comments | Tags: grilling, pork, sausages