Brat seasoning suggestions/favorites

[Clyde Johnson]

I’ve never tried to smoke 'em. I just load them up, eat one or two and freeze the rest. I have noticed that the collagen casings sort of just slough off when they are cooked. Maybe I should get the H instead of the T type collagen casings ???

[Jonathon]

Clyde Johnson I’d use the Fresh casings any time I am not smoking them, they have a better bite for a bratwurst style sausage. The TF is the clear collagen (I believe, I don’t go by that Austin will make fun of me as he has tried to get my brain to remember that information numerous times) so, if you aren’t hanging it in a smokehouse I’d go fresh.

So, are you cooking them before you freeze them? Are you vac packing?

[Mschmidt]

Clyde Johnson We use the collagen casings as well( also what do you mean by H type or T type collagen casings). And agree that they just ‘peel’ off by themselves as they cook. Not sure if I have overstuffed them or did something else wrong. Have only made brats once.

[Clyde Johnson]

Jonathon Don’t cook them, but freeze them solid, then vacuum pack them.

[Clyde Johnson]

Mschmidt The H and T are two different strengths of collagen casings, both are available from Watson’s. See the above from post Jonathon.

[Jonathon]

So TF is Clear collagen which is good for cured sausages and the Fresh is for bratwurst. Mschmidt Did you use the fresh or the clear? Clyde Johnson Can I ask how much water you are adding to your brats and what is your defrost schedule? Ar you popping them in water or letting them sit out overnight in the fridge?

[Clyde Johnson]

My last batch was 2 lbs. only, I added about 1/3 cup of water. I put them in the freezer til well frozen (over night) then vacuum packed with 4-5 in each pack.

[Clyde Johnson]

As for defrosting, usually I pop them in the microwave and using an instant thermometer check til they reach 160 deg.

[Mschmidt]

Jonathon We use Fresh collagen (2301300). We do not add any water. Are we supposed to? Lots to learn. What is the purpose of the extra water? Do you always add it? We do 25 lbs batches(to not waste seasoning)

[Jonathon]

Mschmidt When making a fresh sausage like a bratwurst you don’t necessarily need to add water, I do sometimes to make mixing in the seasoning easier. First, I would take a look through the Meatgistics University stuff on fresh sausage just for a good base of knowledge (though if you are already making good product I would say you probably won’t learn much from it).

I asked on water because this can happen if you add too much water to a fresh sausage so I was making sure that wasn’t the issue. How do you defrost and cook?

Clyde Johnson Do you cook them totally in the microwave or just defrost. I’d guess that we might have hit on the issue there. Microwaves heat up food by exciting the water molucles in the food and forcing them to vibrate. I’d guess that you are forcing small amount of moisture from the collagen but I am going to go put some empty collagen casings into a microwave and see what happens. BRB

[Jonathon]

So, I can’t say for sure that microwaving the casings with sausage inside would return similar results but I can say that collagen doesn’t seem to like to be microwaved?

[Clyde Johnson]

I cook them totally in the microwave. I’ve not had a problem except at seems that the brat appears to swell and push out at the ends. Doesn’t change the shape of the brat or the taste. I just peel off the casing and eat em’ I don’t microwave all my brats, but even when I cook them other ways (boil, grill, fry) the casing acts the same way. I think you have it right about the addition of water.

[zbigjeff]

Mschmidt Both the Philly Steak and Supreme Pizza seasonings are outstanding. Especially, if you add cheese. But, I added Blue Cheese to the Blue Ribbon Brat and people asked why I didn’t make more and that’s a good thing.

[zbigjeff]

Clyde Johnson Defrosting is easy. Place the package in cold water for about 15-20 mins and you’re ready. If you’re going to sous vide them. Put them right in the sous vide water and add about 45-1 hour. You’ll get perfect results and can still lightly pan fry them to get color on low heat.

[twilliams]

So i guess this is a good place to ask this instead of making a new thread. I just recently made the blue ribbon, i am absolutely in love with it. Looking to order more flavors to try them as well. Looking at the jerrys and the sheboygan. What is the difference of these two compared to blue ribbon. Is it so little i should just stay with the blue?

[lkrfletcher]

twilliams it is always hard to decide. I still have to try the blue ribbon. But have tried several others. Heck they are all good. The hatch green chili goes down this far as my favorite. Many people that tried them told me the same. I also really enjoyed the phillycheese brat. I want to try the blue ribbon and the apple brat next. So many flavors. So little freezer space. Lol

[scott farm]

Hatch green chili is amazing. Had it fresh and smoked some. I added sure gel and se to the smoked ones and mixed it in the mixer. I then cut up and added some diced pepper jack cheese, not high temp. They were like spicy chedderwurst. 5 lbs was gone in less than an hour with some of the guys from work. The fresh ones were equally good. Did 11 lbs with peppers and onions. Only a couple were left of those.