Over the years I have prepared quite a few bratwursts, just the way I like them, Wisconsin style. The only reason I say Wisconsin style is simply because of the preparation style developed during the years I have lived in the great state of Wisconsin. There isn’t much to preparing a good brat. Many people go way too far, concocting some really strange recipes, just to make a brat fit in with all the trendy foods available these days. My advice, don’t do anything fancy with the brat. Brats may taste good gourmet style, but I am telling you now, my brats aren’t going to be prepared in any fancy way, whatsoever.
The first thing I do is make sure the brat I am using is fresh. I don’t work with frozen brats; it’s something that I refuse to do. There are quite a few varieties of brats available, but for myself I choose to use Johnsonville Brats. I personally believe Johnsonville makes the best brats known to man. But I have had some extremely good brats from local butchers as well. So determining your favorite brat is a personal choice. My choice is Johnsonville.
I make sure I have plenty of beer on hand, which is never a problem for me. I always use Miller High Life beer, but again the choice is yours. I get a nice big kettle, toss in all the brats I have, pour plenty of beer into the kettle, and put the burner on a low to medium heat. But wait; there are a few things you have to put in the kettle with the brats and the beer.
I always cut up a large onion to add to the mix, and drop a small amount of real butter into the kettle. None of this low fat margarine, you must use real butter. Oh, and if you have the fear of shedding some tears while cutting up that nice large onion, place the peeled onion into your freezer for a good 15 to 20 minutes before slicing it up. Doing this might just prevent you from crying your way through your brat preparation. Now if you boil your brats for a good 10 to 15 minutes on a medium heat, you are well on your way to some of the best brats you have ever tasted.
While the brats are swimming around in the kettle, you should go fire up your grill. Gas grills, charcoal grills, they all do the job. Once the brats are done boiling, transfer them to your grill. Now don’t do something silly like using a fork to transfer them over. Listen up; don’t ever stick a fork in your brat. If you do that, you might as well call it a night, because your most perfect brat has now been tortured by a fork. Use a nice pair of tongs to get your brats transferred over.
Preparing brats in Wisconsin means a beer in one hand, and tongs in the other. Once you have the brats on the grill, you must give them your full attention. The last thing you want is exploding brats. Exploding brats is a big no-no. You should rotate your brats on the grill, every few minutes. Rotating them will prevent them from burning. The best brat is one that is nicely browned on the outside, complete with a snappy casing. If the casing breaks open, you have just released all the savory juices inside, making your brat a dry one. It’s very likely that you will know when your brat is done on the grill, it is a natural instinct to know when a Wisconsin style brat is done. Why you ask? It just is.
Now that your brat is done, you can slap it into your favorite style of brat bun. Mine is just a plain old brat bun. I generally put additional diced onions on top of the brat, along with some of my favorite mustard. Now, over here it is highly frowned upon to put ketchup on your bratwurst. You can get killed for doing something like that. But, if the mood strikes me, I will put ketchup on my brat. Don’t let anyone know.
I have a pretty good hunch that you will like the brats prepared this way, nothing fancy, no pizazz, just a simple way to enjoy a mouth watering Wisconsin style bratwurst.
