Brat help

[ModelMaker]

Just made 8 lbs of cheesy beer brats yesterday and while they were pretty good I'm looking for great brats!
Do any of you sausage heads have a homemade seasoning recipe or a store bought source ?
Mine were 100 % pork with Hi Mountain brat seasoning with added 1T each black pepper and garlic powder.
Would adding some beef get me to the taste I'm after? I see some recipes add veal.
Ed

 

[Bbq_lover]

I use the LEM seasoning and use pork shoulders only. I tried cheese once and it overpowered the sausage. I have added some roasted chillies to them as well and it turns out fantastic. I got the jar of chillies from costco and i use them on eggs and other things, and the brats I made were great. I wish I made the whole 25lb batch with them.

 

[thirdeye]

When you mix your own formulations you know exactly how much of each ingredient goes in to the sausage. So you can make additions or subtractions to dial in the exact flavor you like. In general when I look at a new recipe, I'll almost always bump the garlic and black pepper amounts, but usually reduce the salt amount.

The POLI site will give you several choices in the Bratwurst family, including a Johnsonville clone recipe. You need to scroll down to the "German" section.

I make a lot of bulk sausage, and bratwurst is one of them. I would rather grill or fry a Brat pattie for a sandwich than eat it in link form. Hand rolling into skinnies for a hot dog bun or meatballs are other options. I also use the bulk for pizza topping. Anyways, here is the recipe for bulk Bratwurst I use. This is for 1 pound of ground pork butt, so you can make a small batch for next to nothing. I would not have a problem stuffing this sausage, but I might cut back on the sage as it performs differently inside a casing.

Bratwurst For each pound of ground pork butt:
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground sage
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Icy water if needed for consistency.

 

[MossyMO]

www.owensbbq.com/brat-seasoning.html

 

[Cheech and Chong]

When you mix your own formulations you know exactly how much of each ingredient goes in to the sausage. So you can make additions or subtractions to dial in the exact flavor you like. In general when I look at a new recipe, I'll almost always bump the garlic and black pepper amounts, but usually reduce the salt amount.

The POLI site will give you several choices in the Bratwurst family, including a Johnsonville clone recipe. You need to scroll down to the "German" section.

I make a lot of bulk sausage, and bratwurst is one of them. I would rather grill or fry a Brat pattie for a sandwich than eat it in link form. Hand rolling into skinnies for a hot dog bun or meatballs are other options. I also use the bulk for pizza topping. Anyways, here is the recipe for bulk Bratwurst I use. This is for 1 pound of ground pork butt, so you can make a small batch for next to nothing. I would not have a problem stuffing this sausage, but I might cut back on the sage as it performs differently inside a casing.

Bratwurst For each pound of ground pork butt:
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground sage
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Icy water if needed for consistency.

That's a great link. THANKS!!!!

 

[sudsandswine]

I’ve been pretty happy with Sausage Maker premix seasonings. I *could* take the time to procure all the different spice ingredients required and maintain their freshness, and maybe I will someday, but I am pretty happy with the results with the premix. I augment with things like roasted garlic, roasted jalapeños/peppers, cheese like you did, and make sure I have good quality grind going in.

 

[ModelMaker]

GRIND???
This batch I just ran the pork through the large die, hand mixed the pre-ground fat and folded in the cheese then in the stuffer we went. I was looking for a bit more texture is why I didn't grind big die twice or once through the small die.
What is the favorite grind method amongst the Brethren?
Ed

 

[thirdeye]

For most of my sausage I use the plate on the bottom row, left which is around 1/4". Sometimes I'll step down one plate size for about 1/3 of my sausage. Two grinds seem to bind together better than a double grind from the same plate. For hot dogs or bologna I'll make a run with the bottom row, right.