I made Bratwurst today

[zameluzza]

wow what a day, made a huge amount of sausages
did 3 batches one is
http://members.shaw.ca/masterbutcher/suasages.html
the only thing I did not add was red Wine. and I used 50% beef & 50% pork

there are some pictures and a little more info in my blog with some pictures if you wanna see
http://zameluzza.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-so-tired-today.html

[wheels]

Those look really good.

Phil

[zameluzza]

thank you wheels

[Jogeephus]

Good job. The cheeses look really nice too.

[wheels]

Good job. The cheeses look really nice too.

Really nice! That's an understatement - they look superb. Anyone interested in cheese-making wants to get over to zameluzza's blog and take a look.

http://zameluzza.blogspot.com/

Phil

[gdkaufmann]

Just curious...

What defines something as "bratwurst" versus just sausage.

What is the defining ingredient/process?

Thanks.

Best,
Glenn K.
Editor & Publisher of All About Mardi Gras
http://www.allaboutmardigras.com

[BriCan]

Just curious...

What defines something as "bratwurst" versus just sausage.

The name. as told to me by my German friend it means pork sausage Wurst = sausage and Brat = the pork, there are over eight different types of bratwurst it all comes down to which one you like, my preference is the Nuernberger style lots of flavor and a touch of garlic and onion.

What is the defining ingredient/process?

The puritan law. That is to say that that all that in 'any' of there fresh sausages is meat (80% lean meat) and spices. Bratwurst meat is normally ground with a 3/8 plate, spices added and mixed by hand and then reground with the 3/8 plate then stuffed into 23/32 hog casings.

[grisell]

To me braten means to fry.

[BriCan]

To me braten means to fry.

I stand corrected

[Jaunty]

Old post but just for general info, Wikipedia (so not necessarily gospel!) says

"A Bratwurst is a sausage usually composed of veal, pork or beef. The plural is Bratwürste.

The name is German, derived from Old High German brätwurst, from brät-, which is finely chopped meat and -wurst, or sausage.[citation needed] Though the brat in bratwurst describes the way the sausages are made, it is often misconstrued[citation needed] to be derived from the German verb "braten", which means to pan fry or roast.[1] Bratwurst is usually grilled and sometimes cooked in broth or beer."

(Came across the post as searching for a good beef wurst recipe having had a great one in Zurich recently and wanting to try an recreate it).

[crustyo44]

Both Grisell and Jaunty are 100% correct about the bratwurst. Brat(en) means frying or roasting, in South Africa " BRAAI" also means cooking on a BBQ.
Spices and ingredients vary from where ever you live on the continent.
Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.

[Ianinfrance]

That's fascinating. I didn't know the old German derivation. Like André, I thought it simply meant a "sausage for frying" in contradistinction to sausages like frankfurters which are usually poached.