The Bratwurst

A Wisconsinite taught me a fool proof way to cooking a tasty brat. This is about the only thing I would ever listen to from someone in Wisconsin, because they know their brats. Fill a pot with 1 beer and 6 oz of water for every 5 brats. Poke holes in brats. Chop up an onion and place in the pot. Cook on low heat, almost as low as it can go because the beer will rise and cause mess problems. Cook for 45 – 1 hour. During this time, the grease has been released into the beer water and mixed to go right back in. At the same time, the brats have cooked about 75% and are very moist. Then toss them on the grill for 4 minutes each side. The onions are already cooked and ready to serve. But drizzle them with olive oil after you've strained them of the beer water. Now, contrary to what my college buddies think, use a non-alcoholic beer. You are not wasting valuable beer, as the alcohol would burn away anyway and be useless. Also, pouring beer on the brat while it's cooking doesn't work either. Thicker beer is great but for safety, use nothing heavier than Moosehead, which is pretty much the 8 pound bowling ball. He also said there is no greater way to waste a brat, besides using ketchup, than putting French’s yellow mustard on it. The brown mustard, Dijon, and even honey mustard work.

I’m tempted to try this with Italian sausage, but can’t seem to run the risk of ruining an already good link.