Technically what I'm talking about here is just called "sausage." But I refer to it as "bratwurst" in order to distinguish this stuff from the other forms of sausage that Americans are familiar with. Like breakfast sausage links, or the ground product you can use in spaghetti sauce, or the sausage patty.
The bratwurst type sausage is basically a hot dog for grown ups. It's just as easy to cook and eat, but it has a flavor and ingredients that are a thousand times better than the humble hot dog. Unlike breakfast sausage, bratwurst are typically larger than your average hot dog. And unlike the hot dog - this is important! - the bratwurst style sausage is almost never pre-cooked, but sold raw.
Image courtesy Flickr/j_bary
The earliest records of bratwurst proper date back to Germany in the 1300s, but people were certainly stuffing ground meat into entrails long before that. (Technically the haggis is a kind of sausage, but let's not get distracted.) Although there are roughly a million billion different types of bratwurst, in American grocery stores you generally find only a few.
Choosing bratwurst
Most American sausages sre made with pork, with chicken running a distant second. There are sweet sausages, spicy sausages, Italian, beer bratwurst. There are a few wild cards you might encounter from time to time, like herb-apple. But for the most part, the question "which bratwurst should I buy?" comes down to your personal preference.
If you are on a gluten free or low carb diet, always check the label before buying bratwurst. In my experience, a lot of bratwurst varieties (about 75%) contain gluten. They either use wheat flour in the casings, or they are adding wheat as filler inside the sausage mixture. And like all brined meats, virtually all sausage contains a small amount of sugar. (I was thrilled recently to discover a chicken sausage at Trader Joe's that had no sugar.)
When I am buying bratwurst for a group of people, I usually stick to the safe choice: sausage labeled "mild" or "original" or beer brats. Some people can find the pale whiteness of raw beer brats off-putting, but they usually look a lot tastier once they are cooked, if you add some browning action to them.
Image courtesy Flickr/Special*Dark
Serving bratwurst
You can serve bratwurst the same way you would hot dogs: on a split bun. A brat bun, hoagie roll, or a split hard roll is best. These chewier rolls can stand up to the bratwurst's heartiness better than a regular old soft hot dog bun. If you really want to gild the lily you can add a slice of cheddar cheese and let it melt. Other brat toppings include grilled onions, pickle relish, sauerkraut, brown mustard, mayo, or ketchup.
Brats can also be served solo on a plate, the same way you would a cut of steak. They go pretty well with mashed potatoes (then again, what doesn't?), potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and other summer picnic side dishes.
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Cooking bratwurst
- There are three basic ways to cook a bratwurst:
- Simmer it
- Saute it in a pan
- Grill it
Personally I prefer the hybrid method: simmer the sausage until it's nearly cooked, then finish it in the pan. (Or the grill.) Simmering it ensures that the sausage is cooked through without scorching the outside, while finishing it in the pan gives it a nice browning on the outside.
To simmer bratwurst, heat about an inch of water in a pan to a rolling boil. Add salt, slices of raw onion, or a big splash of beer to the water to give it extra flavor. Arrange your bratwurst in a single layer in the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. (This is an important point. If you boil the bratwurst, the casings will probably split, and you will be sad.) Simmer your bratwurst for 12-15 minutes (if you're doing the hybrid method) or until the internal temp hits 165 degrees (if this is your only cooking step).
For the hybrid method, drain the water and cook the sausage in an oiled skillet over medium heat until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees. I find that five minutes on each side usually does the trick.
Main image courtesy Flickr/Oxfordian World
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