Unorthodox Wisconsin Tailgate Brat Tub Recipe

Bratwurst (braht-vurst), better known as brats, are great tailgate food. They are the official food of University of Wisconsin and Green Bay Packer fans. UW is based in Madison, which calls itself the "Brat Capital of the World" and is home of the giant annual "Brat Fest" over Memorial Day weekend. They serve more than 200,000 brats each year. Only slightly more modest, Sheboygan, an hour south of Green Bay, calls itself the "Bratwurst Capital of America". Nearby, in Middleton, is the Mustard Museum (a must visit, pun intended).

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Brats are pinkish sausages made from coarsely ground pork and/or veal stuffed into natural pork casings made from intestines. Unlike hot dogs, brats are not precooked at the factory. They often contain eggs, pepper, savory, bay leaves, nutmeg, celery salt, chives, or parsley and they are usually stuffed into natural casings. Buy plain brats, not those cheese-filled abominations. If you can get them, buy Usinger's or Klement's, both from Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin brat tub combines two local faves: Brats and beer. In the typical brat tub the meat is simmered in beer, then grilled. But so much flavor is left behind in the beer, which is a solvent and is tossed after cooking.

In this recipe we take the classic technique and riff on it. The brats are first grilled to develop dark skins with rich brown Maillard flavors, and then simmered, but then the beer is made into a sauce, and the brats simmer in the sauce, so nothing is wasted. Touchdown!

This recipe is designed for cooking on a grill, but you can do them indoors on a griddle, in a frying pan, or under the broiler. Dave Hoffman, a.k.a. Fritz Boygan, tells me in Sheboygan, in the days before smoke detectors, the German settlers liked to cook brats on the indoor stovetop in a frypan. So when they cooked in the backyard, it became a "fry out" or an "outdoor fry".

Note. The beauty of this recipe is that you can make the sauce at home, chill everything, and then heat the sauce and grill the brats at the game.

Brat Tub Recipe

Yield. 6 sandwiches
Preparation time. 1 hour

Ingredients
6 brats
6 nice buns (try for something better than pasty hot dog buns)
2 (12 ounce) bottles of regular American lager beer, like Old Milwaukee, nothing fancy
1 (12 ounce) bottle high quality German beer
2 medium onions, sliced in half rings
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

About the buns. In Wisconsin they sell "sausage rolls" or "sausage buns" which are thicker, firmer, and have a more substantial crust than a hot dog bun. They make a diff.

About the ketchup. You can substitute Kansas City style barbecue sauce for the ketchup.

Optional. Try smoking the brats first or add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke.

Caution. Wear your "Kiss the Chef" apron. Every time I make this dish I splatter myself with glop. Better still, buy one of my apron designs.

Method
1) Set up the grill for 2-zone cooking.

2) Open the high quality beer and drink it while cooking. This is the way it is done in Wisconsin.

3) Most brats come curved. Bend and flex them so they are close to straight. Grill them over high heat just enough to get some brown onto the skin. Just a minute or so on each side. No need to cook them through at this time.

4) Use a pot or pan (you can use a disposable aluminum pan) for the brat tub. Dump in the butter, hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, onions, and 2 bottles of American lager. Stir. Put the hot tub on the hot side of the grill or if you have a fancy side burner you can use that. Cook it down to a gloppy sauce. This will take 20 to 30 minutes.

5) Turn the heat to low, slip the brats into the tub and poke each one 4 to 6 times with a fork so some fat and flavor will drain into the sauce and so the sauce can get in. Simmer for 10 minutes, turn them over and simmer 10 minutes more. Be careful not to boil them or they may burst.

A note to cheeseheads. I am really tired of your lovenotes telling me that one should never puncture a brat, that it is a sin and I am an idiot. You are right, puncturing a grilling brat lets the moisture and fats out. A sin. I get it.

But when you simmer it in beer, not much beer can get through the casing. The casing is hog guts. It's not very porous or every time a hog took a drink it would seep into his abdominal cavity. If you puncture the casing, beer is then in direct contact with the meat and that allows more opportunity for flavor. For this "unorthodox" brat tub, we want a little meat juices and fats to come out and flavor the sauce, and we want the sauce to make contact with the stuffing.

Now stop bugging me.

6) Open the buns and place them cut side down on the indirect side of the grill to warm and toast slightly. Go ahead, butter them first. When the buns are on, do not walk away. They can go from toasted to black in a minute. If a corner does burn, you can scrape it off easily.

7) Serve the brats on the buns with the onions and the sauce. Not too much sauce, you want to taste the brats. Serve World's Easiest Potato Salad or German Potato Salad on the side. Serve warm sauerkraut with caraway seeds on the side too. Or heap them on top of the brat. And don't forget the beer. Put extra brats back in the sauce on a warm part, but not hot part of the grill.

Two words: Cheese dip!

George Gates of Memphis wrote me to ssuggest that the third Wisconsin food group can be incorporated in this recipe: "Yes, it's almost 2 in the morning, we've been drinking, and, as in all great discoveries, necessity is a mother! Take the leftovers from the Wisconsin Brat Tub, heat them up, and mix in about two cups (not exact measurments) of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Instant beer, cheese, onion dip! Ritz and Saltines worked well, as did some rosemary soda crackers."

I haven't tried this personally yet, but it sounds like fun!

This page was revised 12/24/2012