Brat presentation

[Saucy]

My team will be at the Hermann BBQ and Brats competition which includes a Brat category. Any advice or experience from you guys on Brats? On a bun or not? Garnish the box?
I'm a little dumbfounded by the category and feel like throwing some brats in a bun and shoving them in the box seems like the obvious thing to do but wanted to check with you guys.

Thanks,
Saucy(and I know it)

[tduffy]

If it was me I'd only put meat in the box and I'd garnish it. Put them in the box neatly in a row. But I could be completely wrong. If I am a judge and this is a meet contest I want nothing to do with the bun

[Ron_L]

What are the rules? Are you limited to KCBS garnish or is it anything goes?

Also, are there rules about what else ca be in the box?

We did well a few years ago at a Wisconsin competition where the brat category had to include brats, beer and mustard, and then anything else was fine beyond that. We cooked brat kabobs with red, green and yellow bell peppers, onions and brats, of course and made a spicy mustard beer glaze for them. I can't find a picture of the box but we maded a parsley bed and cut down the skewers to fit in the box.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d172/Ron_L/IMG_1370.jpg

We ended up with second place.

[rxcellentq]

It all depends on the rules for your event. I had brats once and I cooked them in beer and thin sliced onion. once the onions were falling apart i pulled the brats split them and charred them a little. then I made sandwiches on grilled rye with mustard, the onions, shredded cheese and the brats. First place.

good luck

[Saucy]

Thanks for responses guys.

At this point, I'm waiting for an email response about rules on the brat category. I gotta say though, that brat on rye sandwich sounds awesome. I was planning to do something similar but with a beer/mustard/onion sauce and was worried about sogginess with the bun. I can see serving without the bun but would think lettuce or parsley garnish would not hold up well to the sauce.

Dilemmas in BBQ.