Who better to help us out with a classic Wisconsin Bratwurst other than Ricer from the You Tube Channel Dead Broke BBQ.
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Thermapen ONE (Accurate Thermometer)
- Sausage Pricker
- Kotai Chef Knife
- Sausage Stuffers
- Meat Grinder
- Meat Mixers
- Stuffing Horn Cleaner
- Butcher Twine & Dispenser
- Small accurate Scale for spices
- Large Capacity Scale (33 pounds)
- Drying rack and tray
- Custom Cutting Board
- Jende Lapping plate for sharpening our grinder plates and knife
If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.
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Wisconsin Brats
A true Sheboygan Bratwurst
How much do you want to make? 1000 grams
Ingredients
- 1000 g pork shoulder 70/30
- 16 g salt
- 6 g dextrose
- 3.5 g pepper use white or black
- 1 g coriander powder
- 3 g nutmeg
- 1 g marjoram
- 1 g caraway
- 1 g ginger
- 1 g celery seed
- 25 g cold water or beer (optional)
- 3 egg whites as a binder (optional)
- hog casing 29mm-32mm
Instructions
Prepare the casing (If you plan on having a cased sausage)
- Rinse off the salt and flush the casings with some cool water. Place the cleaned casings in some fresh water with some baking soda in it (I use 1 tsp per quart of water) and place in the refrigerator. If you let your casings soak for at least 12 hours, they will be nice and tender by the time you use them.
Prepare the meat and spices
- Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Place in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F. (0c-1c)
- Grind your chilled meat on a 6mm plate.
- Mix the chilled meat with the spices (and liquids if you chose to use that) till it becomes very tacky. If you grab a small handful, it will stick to your hand if you hold your hand upside down.
- Stuff your sausage into a casing and prick out any air pockets. Link the sausage to your desired size and refrigerate overnight. This is a fresh sausage so technically you don't have to refrigerate overnight but if you do the spices will come together better and the little twists between each sausage will dry up. This will keep the meat from spilling out while you cook it.
- Cook the sausage till you reach your desired internal temperature
Cooking a fresh sausage:
- GRILL METHOD | Bring the temperature of your pit to 225f – 300f (107.2c – 148.8c). Place the sausage on the rack and cook till you reach the desired internal temp. Flip often so they cook evenly.
- POACHING | Heat a pot of water to 165f – 176F (73.8 – 80c) and poach the sausage until you hit the desired internal temperature.
- STEAMING | If you have a steam basket or a steam pot, you can cook your sausages like this till you reach the desired cooking temperature.
- SOUS VIDE | Place the sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and cook them in a water bath. Your immersion circulator should be set to 145f (62.7c) and you will cook your sausages for 2 hours. If you have a very large diameter sausage like mortadella (100mm) then you might want to cook that one for 4 hours. Once finished, cool in an ice water bath. I generally cook my sausage sous vide for 1 hour for every inch that the sausage is wide. A 1-inch-wide sausage (25mm) I will cook for 1 hour
- SIMMERING | In a skillet with a little oil and on medium heat, pan fry your sausage till they take on a little color. Add your favorite cooking liquid (water, stock, beer) and simmer your sausage covered till you reach your desired internal temperature.
- BAKING | In a skillet with a little oil and on medium heat, pan fry your sausage till they take on a little color. Then place the sausage in a preheated oven 225f – 300f (107.2c – 148.8c) and bake till you reach your desired internal temperature.
Storage Instructions
- Fresh sausages are more perishable than cured sausages. So, refrigerate them and eat them within 1-2 days.
- You can also place these sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and freeze for later.
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away. If you make this at home, I’d love to hear about how it came out!!
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Great recipe that is easy to make. It is on my list to make.
Hey Eric
instead of the egg whites could I use milk powder and if so what percentage would you recommend.
Thanks
yes, I would mix in 2%
thanks. I’m doing this recipe with venison today
Eric – Sorry to be a roundhead…just confirming, when you indicate “mix in 2%” that is 2% of the weight of the meat, right? So, for example, with 1000 g meat, you would add 20 grams of the milk powder? Thanks!!
correct. When it comes to binders you can use between 2% and 5%.
just wanting to verify that the amount of nutmeg in the recipe is the appropriate amount. I am making this recipe today and it seems to be more than the other spices thank you in advance. I love your YouTube channel.
Yes. It is correct
I made this bratwurst yesterday had it tonight for dinner and it is incredible 5+ Stars!
Just made this recipe yesterday and cooked them up for lunch today. Spectacular flavor of the brats I’ve grown up with here northwest of Chicago. Have made several different brat recipes, but this will be my goto from now on. Yum!!