Need a Good Bratwurst Recipe

[DarrinG]

Well guys I've done a bunch of testing and haven't found a good bratwurst recipe yet. Some didn't have a good texture and some were dry and others just didn't have much flavor.

Just wondering if any of you would be willing to share your bratwurst recipe and help me out.

Thanks

DarrinG

[Oddley]

Have you tried Othmar's recipe yet.

http://members.shaw.ca/masterbutcher/su ... age_Recipe

If you do let us know what you think of it. If it's any good I'd like to give it a go myself.

[Reaper]

This one is very good, I made it a couple months ago

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Bra ... erican.pdf

There are other Bratwurst recipes here

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm#FRESH

Mitch

[TomSak]

This one is very good, I made it a couple months ago

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Bra ... erican.pdf

Mitch

This is pretty close to the recipe that I use. I bumped up the black pepper by 50% and added one or two tsps of ground ginger and replaced the cream with some of my hoppy homebrew. The family loved them, even some of the picky eating in-laws.

[DarrinG]

I've tried the Poli recipe for his Johnsonville and I was expecting more. I find that any of the recipes that I have found & tried they have got a good fragrance & texture but the flavoring is weak. I don't know if anyone has experienced this but its really frustrating.

Thats why I ask for something tried and tested. But since Reaper has tried this and liked it I'll give this a go.

Also with the Master Butcher Bratwurst what could I use in replace of the red wine.

Thanks again

DarrinG

[Rik vonTrense]

If it is because the red wine is alcoholic then use ruby grape juice which is not but still has a similar taste and tannin.


.

[BBQer]

Second time of sausage making I tried several of the Len Poli recipes.

Bramberg, Wurtenberg, Swiss, Neurenberg

The general consensus of my guinea pigs (family) was, they liked them in the order listed above, but all thought I could just about double the amount of spices. Flavor was a bit weak.

The Nuerenberg I would not make again. The Swiss had an "interesting" flavor I just couldn't get around. We figured it was the red wine in the recipe. Not bad, but not, "wow this is great" either.

[Wohoki]

Just a thought on the red wine: my kids don't get on with the taste at all, so I made some bangers where I boiled off the alcohol before I added it to the mix and reduced it to about 50% of the original volume: they loved them. The alcohol tends to make the meat a little tough and bitter, but the flavour of the wine is worth an extra ten minutes with a hot pan. Might be worth a try.

[Reaper]

I've tried the Poli recipe for his Johnsonville and I was expecting more. I find that any of the recipes that I have found & tried they have got a good fragrance & texture but the flavoring is weak. I don't know if anyone has experienced this but its really frustrating.

Thats why I ask for something tried and tested. But since Reaper has tried this and liked it I'll give this a go.

Also with the Master Butcher Bratwurst what could I use in replace of the red wine.

Thanks again

DarrinG

You can't expect more out of a Johnsonville.

This is a simple mild tasting white sausage, I think the flavor is perfect, you can taste the meat with a mild taste of mace and coriander, a good homade sub roll, a little spicey mustard and a beer is all you need.

They were a hit at a family outing.

In Master Butcher Bratwurst recipe, why not replace the red wine with ice water?

Regards,

Mitch

[glennshapley]

Taste is very individual. When Len and I come up with a new sausage recipe, we have certain rules.

1. It should taste good to us.
2. We should be able to taste the meat.
3. The spices should compliment each other, one should not overpower the others, and every spice counts.

Each and every recipe is tried and true.

I am glad that I can contribute to the art of sausage making.

Glenn Shapley

[pokerpete]

Taste is very individual. When Len and I come up with a new sausage recipe, we have certain rules.

1. It should taste good to us.
2. We should be able to taste the meat.
3. The spices should compliment each other, one should not overpower the others, and every spice counts.

Each and every recipe is tried and true.

I am glad that I can contribute to the art of sausage making.

Glenn Shapley

When is a Bratwurst not a Bratwurst ?
From what I know the basic meat content consists of pork and veal, and other ingredients. The resulting sausage is put on high simmer for 15-20 minutes if using hog casings, and less if using sheep casings. Dried off and then fried. Just look through the recipes for Bratwurst, and you will find many examples of things that have no correlation with the origins with the original process.
If you can't get veal, then don't bother.

[glennshapley]

I don't think that Bratwurst has to have veal and pork, even though a lot of recipes do....

Glenn

[tristar]

Bratwurst = Finely Chopped Meat Sausage in a literal translation.

I have seen pork, veal, beef, chicken and turkey and nearly as many combinations of those as you can make, described as Bratwurst.

It seems the term is being used in a similar manner to 'British Bangers' which seems to mean many things to many people, in America I have even seen the term 'Bangers' applied to sausages which have no filler, the filler presumably being the reason the sausage was originally given its name due to it's propensity for exploding in the pan.

I think it would be a worthwhile project to collect all common sausage names and prepare a list of definitions for them similar to what has been done at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage

It would be nice to have a definitive source of sausage descriptions, but I would imagine it would turn into a lot of work to get everybody to agree!


Regards,
Richard

[pokerpete]

Bratwurst = Finely Chopped Meat Sausage in a literal translation.

I have seen pork, veal, beef, chicken and turkey and nearly as many combinations of those as you can make, described as Bratwurst.

It seems the term is being used in a similar manner to 'British Bangers' which seems to mean many things to many people, in America I have even seen the term 'Bangers' applied to sausages which have no filler, the filler presumably being the reason the sausage was originally given its name due to it's propensity for exploding in the pan.

I think it would be a worthwhile project to collect all common sausage names and prepare a list of definitions for them similar to what has been done at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage

It would be nice to have a definitive source of sausage descriptions, but I would imagine it would turn into a lot of work to get everybody to agree!


Regards,
Richard

I have, more or less, come to the same conclusion about Bratwurst. It's just a hotch-potch of sausages. In fact half the recipes that I've found googling don't even incorporate the boiling/ simmering process.
I wish I could find my old Swiss chum Pieter Rauber. He was a freelance sausage consultant to all the major bowl cutter manufacturers, and what he didn't know wasn't worth knowing. I got to know him when I was an agent for Edward Muller (Saarbucken).

[tristar]

Hi Pokerpete,

It would seem that the more you search, the less defined the sausages become, with variations in ingredients and process, I fully agree with you that the process is also important with the Bratwurst with the poaching followed by grilling or frying.

It would seem that with the loss of Master Butchers and other meat professionals that the knowledge of what defines a particular sausage as one of its type is also being lost. As I said previously a clear definition of what is what is needed before there is even more confusion. This problem seems to be accelerating in this world of instant communication and publishing which we call the internet! With so much information available, much of which has been provided by those with an apparently limited knowledge of their subject it is bound to cause problems.

I am not so much of a Luddite that I have a problem with people making chicken or beef bratwurst, but that they should follow a clearly defined process and contain clearly defined herbs or spices which make them a Bratwurst!

I after all, am new to sausage making, and would actually like to know what type of sausage I am eating!

It is people like yourself who are willing to share your knowledge who are enabling us newcomers to pass on this knowledge to the next generation, thanks!

Regards,
Richard